(Bradenton, FL) – Patients in dental pain now have somewhere to turn when they can’t reach their dentist. An innovative model of emergency dental care, designed to help patients, dentists, and emergency room staff, is opening a new facility in Bradenton.
Urgent Dental Care (UDC) is based on the model of urgent health clinics, which sprouted up across the country to ease the burden on hospital emergency room visits. But those urgent health clinics are not prepared to handle dental emergencies that might come from slip and fall accidents, sports injuries, or other acute dental-related issues. Now patients have immediate professional help during an unexpected dental emergency—especially if their regular dentist is closed or booked. UDC also helps ease the burden on hospital emergency rooms where suffering patients may otherwise go to relieve pain.
“This is a first-of-its-kind service in the country,” said dentist Thomas R. Sansone, DDS, who founded UDC. “It’s a collaborative win-win that helps solve critical needs in the dental community. Patients appreciate someone seeing them right away. Dentists appreciate us working with them to support their patients, and the emergency rooms can focus on what they need to.”
The Urgent Dental Care model also allows dental practices to offer continuity of care to their patients. If an emergency happens after hours, UDC can see the patient to address the immediate issue, and return the patient back to the practice for continuation of ongoing care and treatment. UDC’s new facility is located at 1906 59th Street West, Suite C, in Bradenton and will begin evaluating and treating patients starting June 15th. UDC will employ up to five dentists, five dental assistants, five support staff and an office manager in a state-of-the-art 1,500 square foot facility.
Dr. Sansone established Urgent Dental Care by hiring a team of skilled dentists with complimentary backgrounds to create a broad range of expertise. This coverage model allows UDC to see patients on the same day of an emergency call. Though UDC dentists are trained to handle virtually any dental emergency, the facility specializes in extractions, cavity treatment, toothache and pain management, re-cementing crowns, abscess treatment, root canals, repairing broken or chipped teeth, treatment of abscessed teeth, and more.
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“When someone calls with dental pain, they can’t always wait until the next day or after the weekend to see their dentist. We can see them any day of the week,” explained Wendy Brooks, UDC’s new Office Manager. “It’s always gratifying to help patients in distress and see them leave feeling better.”
“We are uniquely positioned to help,” said Dr. Sansone. “Just like a family would go to an Urgent Care clinic if they couldn’t see their doctor in an emergency, they can now come to us for a dental emergency. There is no reason to suffer in pain.”
Urgent Dental Care’s services also include support for local practices. UDC offers 24-hour live scheduling coordinators, insurance processing, and other office management support. UDC also provides services agreements to dental practices. For a low monthly fee, UDC acts as an extension of the practice providing seamless integration for patient coverage including weekends, holidays, and after regular business hours for 365 days a year.
Dr. Sansone believes his background in dentistry helps him establish credibility as he drives Urgent Dental Care. He has practiced for more than 25 years since he graduated from University at Buffalo in 1995. Dr. Sansone says improved patient care is always the ultimate goal.
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