Newswise — CHICAGO -  With hospitals and emergency rooms overloaded, endodontist offices remain open for dental emergencies for those suffering from extreme tooth pain or other oral health related emergencies such as those that might require root canal treatment.

During the constantly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and emergency rooms are experiencing extreme surges of patients seeking urgent care, leading to longer wait times for patients in need, shortages of medicine and equipment and clinician and staff overload.

To help reduce the number of ER and Urgent Care admitted patients, it’s important that patients contact an endodontist office first for all dental-related emergencies. If you are experiencing severe dental pain, dental infection symptoms (e.g. bleeding, swelling) or a dental infection-related fever, please contact your endodontist immediately or go to findmyendodontist.com to find a local endodontist.

Endodontists are tooth pain and root canal treatment specialists trained in diagnosing and treating tooth pain. They consider their role during this crisis to alleviate tooth pain, manage oral infections and reduce the need for patients to seek emergency dental care at ERs and Urgent Care facilities.

Please refer to the following for more information:

                                                                                           ###

About the American Association of Endodontists: The American Association of Endodontists (AAE) is headquartered in Chicago and represents more than 8,000 members worldwide. Endodontics is one of nine dental specialties formally recognized by the American Dental Association. The AAE, founded in 1943, is dedicated to excellence in the art and science of endodontics and to the highest standard of patient care. The Association inspires its members to pursue professional advancement and personal fulfillment through education, research, advocacy, leadership, communication and service. For more information about the AAE, visit the Association’s website at aae.org. For more patient focused information, visit aae.org/patients.