Toothache that keeps you awake
Throbbing pain, sensitivity to heat, or pain that lingers after cold usually means the nerve. Nearly always treatable the same day.
Emergency dentistry
In pain today? Call, do not book online.
We hold slots open every weekday for exactly this. Call before 2:00 PM on a business day and you will be seen before we close. After hours and on Sundays the number on our voicemail reaches the on-call doctor directly — a real dentist, not an answering service.
If any of these are true
Go to an emergency room, not to us.
- Swelling that is closing your eye or throat
- Difficulty breathing or swallowing
- Bleeding that will not stop after 20 minutes of pressure
- Jaw injury from a fall or collision, or any loss of consciousness
A spreading dental infection is a medical emergency. Call 911 or go to the nearest ER — HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn is 1.4 miles away.
What we treat same-day
If it woke you up, it counts.
You do not need to justify the call. Nobody here will tell you it could have waited — that is our judgment to make once we have looked at it, not yours to make at 6 AM in a bathroom mirror.
Broken or chipped tooth
Bring any fragments in milk or saline. With CEREC we can often finish a permanent crown in the same visit.
Swelling or abscess
Facial swelling needs treating today, not Monday. Antibiotics alone do not fix it — the source has to be drained or removed.
Knocked-out tooth
The most genuinely time-critical dental emergency there is. Under thirty minutes gives the best chance of saving it — see the instructions below and call from the car.
Lost filling, crown or bridge · broken denture · orthodontic injury
Rarely painful, usually quick, and worth handling before the tooth shifts or the exposed dentine starts to hurt. Bring the crown with you if you still have it — it can often simply be re-cemented.
Usually 30 minutesBring the piece
Right now
What to do while you're on the way.
General first-aid guidance, not a diagnosis. Call us and we will talk you through your specific situation — that call costs nothing.
Tooth knocked completely out
- Pick it up by the crown — the white part. Never touch the root.
- If it is dirty, rinse for ten seconds in milk or saline. Do not scrub it and do not use tap water.
- If you can, put it straight back into the socket and bite gently on a clean cloth.
- If you cannot, keep it in milk. Saliva works; water does not.
- Call us on the way. Under thirty minutes gives the best odds.
Broken or cracked tooth
- Rinse your mouth with warm water.
- Save any fragments in milk or saline.
- Cold compress on the outside of the cheek, twenty minutes on, twenty off.
- Ibuprofen works better than paracetamol for dental pain if you can take it.
- Avoid chewing on that side until we have seen it.
Swelling or abscess
- Rinse with warm salt water — half a teaspoon in a glass — several times a day.
- Cold compress outside the cheek for comfort.
- Do not apply heat to the face; it can spread the infection.
- Never place aspirin against the gum. It burns the tissue.
- Call today. If the swelling reaches your eye or throat, go to the ER.
Lost crown or filling
- Keep the crown — it can very often be re-cemented.
- Clean the inside of it gently with a toothbrush.
- Temporary cement from a pharmacy will hold it for a day or two. Never use household glue.
- If the tooth is sensitive, avoid very cold and very sweet things.
- Call for a next-available slot — this rarely needs to be same-day.
What it costs
The emergency exam is $95.
That covers the examination, a focused X-ray, and a diagnosis with the price of the fix in writing before we do it. If the fix can be done in the same visit and you want it done, the $95 comes off the treatment fee.
| Common emergency treatment | Fee |
|---|---|
| Emergency exam & focused X-ray | $95 |
| Re-cement an existing crown | $135 |
| Temporary filling / sedative dressing | $185 |
| Root canal, molar (start to finish) | $1,285 |
| Extraction, simple | $265 |
| Same-day ceramic crown | $1,340 |
We file your insurance the same day and never ask for payment before you know the number.
After hours
Call the main line and follow the prompt. It rings the on-call doctor's mobile. If we cannot help you over the phone, one of us will come in.
(480) 555-0142Not a patient here?
Does not matter. We treat emergencies for anyone who calls, and there is no expectation that you transfer your care to us afterwards. Plenty of people we have seen once at 4 PM on a Friday went straight back to their own dentist, and that is entirely fine.