Emergency Dental

If you are experiencing a toothache, please call our dental office as soon as possible so that we can diagnose the issue. Normally the cause will be due to decay entering the nerve area. If this is the case, a root canal will most likely be needed.

Do not place aspirin on the tooth. A temporary sedative filling can be found in the dental section of most Seattle drug stores. Place this over the “hole” to help alleviate symptoms. A numbing agent such as Orajel can also be placed on the tooth for temporary relief of dental pain.

In the case of a dental toothache, an anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen or Aleve will help alleviate tooth pain better than Tylenol or aspirin, as long as you do not have any allergies to these drugs or are not taking any other medications that may have side effects with ibuprofen or Aleve.

Dental swelling is typically due to an infection. If the swelling is causing you difficulty breathing or causes your eye to become swollen, go directly to the hospital. It is likely you will need IV antibiotics.

Never put heat on a swollen area. This may cause the infection to spread more quickly.

Antibiotics will most likely be given and need to be taken as prescribed.

If you are calling after hours, please have your pharmacy number ready.

If there is no pain or sensitivity, it is likely the fracture is not near or does not involve the nerve or the tooth may already be root canaled.

If you do experience dental sensitivity you can get a temporary sedative filling at your local drug store to place over the area.  This will help reduce the sensitivity until you can get into our office.

You will need to call our dental office and schedule an appointment to repair the fractured area. If the fracture is large it may require a crown to be placed over the tooth.

If the fracture is small it may only require the area to be smoothed.

If you are wearing a temporary crown that breaks and you cannot come into the dental office right away, you can get orthodontic wax at your local drug store and place that over the tooth to cover it. You can also use softened candle wax. The wax will help with sensitivity until you can get to the office.

If the tooth has a root canal, you will not experience any discomfort. In this situation, you can leave the temporary off and return to the office at your earliest convenience.

If the temporary has fallen off but is intact, you can try to re-cement it with temporary cement that you can find at your local drug store in the dental section. The first step is to clean the temporary crown prior to putting the cement inside. Then, before cementing it, practice placing it on the tooth so you know how it fits. Finally, re-cement the crown with the temporary adhesive.

If a permanent tooth is accidentally knocked out, handle it by the crown instead of by the root. Carefully rinse the tooth with cold water but do not scrub it. Try to re-implant it immediately. If that is not possible, place the tooth in your mouth and keep it there until you can get to our office and we can re-implant it. You can also place it in a cup of milk, but holding it in your mouth is the optimal choice in an emergency.

Please schedule an appointment for Seattle emergency dental care and a personal diagnosis about any of these issues. Our staff will schedule you as quickly as possible.