Addressing A Trend: Florida Children Seeking Emergency Care for Tooth Pain

Last summer, the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health released a report about a concerning trend for kids in Florida. Unfortunately, our state has the highest rate of children seeking emergency care for non-traumatic dental conditions.  

The good news is that the most common diagnoses for kids visiting the emergency department with tooth pain are “conditions that are largely preventable with routine preventive oral health care,” according to CareQuest health experts. 

Most families know the importance of teaching good dental hygiene, but getting professional dental health care for kids can be difficult for some due to financial and physical barriers. At Brevard Health Alliance (BHA), we believe that every child deserves quality care, and we’ve built an approachable and compassionate team that specializes in comprehensive pediatric care. 

Increasing access to quality dental care 

Our team at BHA offers pediatric dental care to all children up to 21 years of age and we take patients with and without dental insurance. In addition to providing a sliding fee scale for uninsured children, we can help you navigate the state-based insurance options that may be available to your child.   

Our five dental clinics are home to pediatric dental specialists and are conveniently found throughout Brevard County in Titusville, Port Saint John, Barton/Rockledge, Sarno/Melbourne, and Palm Bay. For families who live in the Cocoa area, we offer pediatric dental care at Endeavour Elementary School twice a month. 

Taking an integrated approach to your child’s health 

Dental health is an important dimension of your child’s overall health and it’s critical to find a primary care provider (PCP) that can help you coordinate dental and other types of care. At BHA, we specialize in providing primary care for the whole family and our pediatric team focuses on prevention and early detection of physical health issues, and managing children’s behavioral, developmental, and functional social growth. 

Good pediatricians know that dental health is closely linked to overall health, so at BHA, we offer pediatric primary and dental care all “under one roof.” This approach makes it easier to get connected to quality dentists and can help your child avoid long-term health issues from untreated dental problems early in life. 

For young patients that develop more serious dental issues, our providers have an extensive network of connections so your child can be referred to the dental specialist that can give them the care they need.  

Taking the Next Steps in Your Child’s Dental Care 

We recommend dental visits for children every 6 months, so if you haven’t been to the dentist in a while, this is your first step. Children can start seeing a dentist once they get their first tooth or are one year old, whichever comes first.  

If your child is experiencing tooth or mouth pain, we recommend getting them a dental appointment as soon as possible. If you are unsure if you should seek emergency care, check out this article for tips on identifying and dealing with a dental emergency.  

In addition to professional dental care, you can support your child’s dental health at home. Encouraging kids to eat fruits and vegetables for snacks rather than sweets and serving water at mealtime instead of juice or soda will go a long way to protecting their teeth. Check our article about Children’s Dental Health Month for many more ideas for your family! 

We’re Here to Help 

We know that there’s so much to manage with it comes to your child’s health and our team is here to provide compassionate and coordinated care. Together we hope to reduce the number of kids visiting emergency rooms for dental issues in our part of the state and improve our children’s health overall.  

To get started, call us at 321.241.6800 to find the right care for your family.