If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, please go to your local emergency room.

Dental emergencies are an unfortunate part of life. You’re eating something crunchy, and suddenly a tooth cracks or you wake up in the morning with swelling and pain in your jaw. Many people head straight to the emergency room when they have tooth pain. The truth is that this is inefficient and usually not very helpful.

Most emergency rooms aren’t set up to handle dental emergencies. They might be able to give you some antibiotics if your emergency is caused by an infection, but they will still advise you to see your dentist as soon as possible. For this small service, you are likely to be hit with a huge co-pay or bill. Call our office instead.

We’ll get you in as quickly as possible, depending on appointment availability, relieve your pain, and come up with a treatment plan for your problem. This saves you both money and time, not to mention days of dental pain. 

Common Dental Emergencies

What are the most common reasons that people need emergency dental care?

Sudden Tooth Pain – Significant tooth pain with no apparent cause results in many an emergency dental visit. Tooth pain should never be ignored. Many serious conditions can cause tooth pain including:

• Cavities that have penetrated deep into the tooth
• Advanced gum disease
• An abscessed tooth
• Exposed tooth roots
• An impacted tooth

These conditions should be treated promptly to prevent further damage to the tooth or the spreading of the infection.

Chipped or Fractured Teeth – Chipped or broken teeth can be caused by sudden trauma to the mouth or by simply biting down on a hard object. Sometimes this happens because you had a cavity and didn’t know it, and the internal structure has been weakened. If possible, keep the chip or piece that broke off of the tooth and bring it with you to your appointment.

Lost Teeth – Whether your tooth was knocked out due to an injury or you lost a tooth for no apparent reason, losing a tooth is a critical dental emergency. In some cases, we can replace the tooth if we can get to it fast enough, but sometimes a lost tooth will have to be replaced with a dental implant or a bridge.

Our chances of saving the tooth are best if you retrieve the tooth and quickly rinse it with cool water, avoiding the root area. Try to replace the tooth in the socket, but don’t force it. If you can't replace the tooth, keep it in a glass of milk. Call our office immediately.

Other Dental Emergencies

Some of the other reasons we would need to see you quickly include:

• A tooth has become dislodged (but not completely knocked out).
• An object is stuck between your teeth that you can’t remove with brushing or dental floss.
• A filling or crown has fallen out.
• You are experiencing a dental abscess.
• You have injured your gums or palate.

Call our office for an emergency appointment, and we will reserve time to see you as soon as possible, depending on availability.