If you are in pain right now, call 201-425-8600. We keep time aside every working day for emergencies and we will try to see you the same day. We are at 115 Christopher Columbus Drive, Suite 200, a two-minute walk from the Grove Street PATH station.
Most dental emergencies are not dangerous, but nearly all of them get worse and more expensive the longer they are left. A cracked tooth treated this week is usually a filling or a crown. The same tooth in a month is often a root canal, and sometimes an extraction. That is the honest reason to call early rather than wait and see.
Call us first, before you do anything else
When you call, tell us what happened and where it hurts. We are trying to work out one thing: whether you need to be seen today, this week, or whether it can safely wait for a normal appointment. That takes about a minute on the phone and it costs you nothing.
If you are a new patient, that is fine. We do not make you register as a patient before we will talk to you about pain. Call as early in the day as you can, because same-day slots are taken by mid-morning more often than not.
What counts as a dental emergency
Call us today
- A tooth that has been knocked out
- Pain that is keeping you awake or that painkillers are not touching
- Swelling in the gum, face or jaw
- A broken or cracked tooth, especially if the inside is showing
- Bleeding that will not stop after an extraction
- A dental injury after a fall, a sports knock or an accident
Call us, but it will usually keep a few days
- A lost filling or a crown that has come off, with no real pain
- A chipped tooth with a sharp edge but no pain
- A broken denture or a partial that no longer fits
- An orthodontic wire poking your cheek
- Food caught between teeth that you cannot shift with floss
Go to a hospital emergency room instead
A dental office is the wrong place for a small number of problems, and it matters that you know which. Go to an emergency room, not to us, if you have any of the following:
- Swelling that is closing your eye, spreading down your neck, or making it hard to swallow or breathe
- A fever along with facial swelling
- A suspected broken jaw, or an injury where you were knocked unconscious
- Bleeding you cannot control with firm pressure
These are the situations where the infection or the injury, rather than the tooth, is the immediate problem. Once you have been seen, come to us for the tooth itself.
What to do right now, before you get here
A knocked-out adult tooth
This is the one true race against the clock. A permanent tooth has a real chance of being saved if it is back in the socket quickly, and the chance drops sharply after about an hour.
Pick the tooth up by the crown, the part you normally see, and not by the root. If it is dirty, rinse it briefly in milk or saline. Do not scrub it, do not use soap, and do not dry it. If you can, push it gently back into the socket the right way round and bite softly on a clean cloth to hold it. If you cannot, put it in a cup of milk, or hold it inside your cheek. Do not store it in tap water. Then call us and come straight in.
If it is a child’s baby tooth, do not try to put it back. Doing so can damage the adult tooth forming underneath. Call us and we will tell you what to watch for.
Toothache
Rinse with warm salt water and floss carefully either side of the tooth, because trapped food is a surprisingly common cause. Take the painkiller you would normally take for a headache, at the normal dose. Hold a cold pack against your cheek, not against the tooth, for fifteen minutes at a time.
Do not hold aspirin against the gum. It is an old piece of advice that still circulates and it burns the tissue.
A broken or chipped tooth
Save any pieces you can find and bring them with you. Rinse your mouth with warm water. If the broken edge is sharp, a piece of sugar-free chewing gum or orthodontic wax over it will protect your tongue and cheek until you get here. Avoid chewing on that side.
A crown or filling that has come out
Keep the crown. In many cases it can be cleaned and cemented back on, which is far cheaper than making a new one. Temporary dental cement from a pharmacy will hold it for a day or two. Never use household glue of any kind. The tooth underneath may be sensitive to cold and to air, so keep it covered if you can.
Swelling or an abscess
Rinse with warm salt water several times a day and call us the same day. Do not put heat on the outside of your face, and do not try to burst it. If the swelling is growing quickly, read the emergency room list above again.
Bleeding after an extraction
Fold a clean gauze pad, place it over the socket and bite firmly for thirty to forty-five minutes without checking it every few minutes, because lifting the pad restarts the clot. Avoid rinsing, spitting, smoking and drinking through a straw for the rest of the day. If it is still bleeding heavily after an hour of steady pressure, call us.
Why not just go to an urgent care clinic
You can, and if you are in real distress out of hours it is a reasonable thing to do. But it is worth knowing what you will get. An emergency room or urgent care clinic can give you antibiotics and pain relief. They almost never have a dentist, a dental x-ray or a drill, so they cannot open the tooth, clean out the infection, or fix the crack.
That means the problem comes back once the antibiotics finish. You will be told to see a dentist. If the choice is between waiting for an urgent care queue and calling us first thing, call us first.
What emergency treatment costs
We will tell you the cost before we do anything. An emergency visit usually starts with an examination and an x-ray of the tooth, so we can see what is actually happening below the gum. That is the part that decides everything else.
We take most major PPO dental plans and our front desk will check your benefits while you are in the chair rather than sending you a surprise afterwards. We do not take Medicaid, plans through the state, or DHMO and DMO plans. If you are not sure which you have, call with the card in front of you.
If you have no insurance, say so when you call. We will tell you what the visit costs and what the options are, including doing the urgent part now and the rest later.
Treating it here rather than sending you elsewhere
Many practices of our size refer emergencies out. If your tooth needs a root canal, an extraction, or a crown, that is a second appointment somewhere else, with a second waiting list.
We handle nearly all of it in the same chair with the same dentist. Dr. Singal earned her Doctorate in Dental Surgery at the New York University College of Dentistry and treats her own patients from diagnosis through to the finished work.
Getting here quickly
We are at 115 Christopher Columbus Drive, Suite 200, in the Medical Arts Plaza building. From the Grove Street PATH turnstiles it is about a two-minute walk and you do not cross a main road. If you are driving, the Grove Pointe garage at 100 Christopher Columbus Drive is directly opposite.
If you are coming from further out, both the Grove Street and Exchange Place pages have directions from those stations.
Our hours, and what to do when we are closed
- Monday 9:00am to 6:00pm
- Tuesday 9:00am to 5:30pm
- Wednesday 9:00am to 5:30pm
- Thursday 9:00am to 6:00pm
- Friday 9:00am to 6:00pm
- Saturday 9:00am to 3:00pm
- Sunday closed
If you are in pain outside those hours, leave us a message so that you are near the front of the list when we open. Manage the pain overnight with the advice above. If the swelling is spreading or you are struggling to swallow, do not wait for us to open. Go to an emergency room.
Can I be seen today?
Usually, yes. We keep time aside each working day for emergencies. Call 201-425-8600 as early in the day as you can, because those slots are often gone by mid-morning.
Do I have to be an existing patient?
No. We see new patients in an emergency. Call and tell us what has happened and we will find you a time.
How long do I have to save a knocked-out tooth?
The best chance is within the first thirty minutes to an hour. Hold the tooth by the crown rather than the root, keep it in milk or in your cheek if you cannot put it back in the socket, and come straight in.
Should I go to the emergency room instead?
Go to an emergency room if you have swelling that is spreading down your neck or closing your eye, a fever with facial swelling, difficulty swallowing or breathing, a suspected broken jaw, or bleeding you cannot control. For the tooth itself, a dental office is the right place, because hospitals rarely have a dentist or dental x-rays on site.
What will emergency dental treatment cost?
We tell you the cost before we start. An emergency visit normally begins with an examination and an x-ray so we can see what is happening below the gum. We take most major PPO plans and check your benefits while you are here.
Can you take the pain away today even if the full treatment takes longer?
In most cases yes. Getting you out of pain and stopping the problem getting worse is the first appointment. The permanent repair can often be planned for a later date that suits you.
My crown came off. Can I glue it back myself?
Please do not use household glue, as it makes the tooth much harder to save. Keep the crown, use temporary dental cement from a pharmacy if you need to get through a day or two, and bring the crown with you. It can often be re-cemented.