Emergency Dentist in Oklahoma City and Edmond, OK
If a tooth is painful, broken, loose or knocked out, call The Tooth Experience as early in the day as you can and we will fit you in where the schedule allows. Dr. Patel handles emergencies at both the Oklahoma City and Edmond offices, including the extractions and root canals many emergencies turn out to need. Call 405-634-4188.
What Counts as a Dental Emergency
Toothache that stops you sleeping or does not respond to over the counter pain relief
Facial or gum swelling, which can indicate an infection and should never be left
A tooth broken, cracked or knocked out
A crown, filling or bridge that has come out
Bleeding that does not stop after an extraction
Something stuck between teeth that you cannot remove yourself
What to Do Before You Get Here
A knocked out adult tooth
is the one genuine race against time. Pick it up by the crown rather than the root. Rinse it gently in milk or saline if it is dirty. If you can, put it back in the socket and hold it there. If you cannot, keep it in milk. Call immediately, because the chance of saving it falls sharply after the first hour.
A broken tooth
should be rinsed with warm water, with a cold compress on the outside of the cheek for swelling. Keep any pieces.
Swelling
needs to be seen the same day. Swelling that reaches the eye or the floor of the mouth is a hospital emergency rather than a dental one. So is swelling that comes with difficulty breathing or swallowing. Go to the emergency room.
A lost crown or filling
is usually uncomfortable rather than urgent. Keep the crown, avoid chewing on that side, and call in the morning.
What Happens When You Arrive
The first job is to find the cause, which usually means an examination and imaging of the affected tooth. The second is to get you out of pain. Where the definitive treatment can be done in the same visit, it is. Where it cannot, we relieve the pain and infection first and book the rest.
You will be told what is wrong, what the options are and what each one costs before anything is carried out.
Toothache Is Usually Infection
Pain that arrives at night, throbs, or is triggered by heat generally means the nerve inside the tooth is inflamed or infected. Pain relief masks it but the infection continues underneath, which is why a toothache that settles on its own is not a sign that the problem has gone. A root canal or an extraction is the usual answer, and the earlier it is seen the more likely the tooth can be kept.
Emergency Appointments Across Both Offices
Oklahoma City runs Tuesday to Friday and Edmond runs Monday, so there is somewhere to call on every working day. Ring 405-634-4188 for Oklahoma City or 405-348-9911 for Edmond. If you are calling outside those hours, leave a message with a number and a description of the problem and it will be picked up first thing.
After the Emergency
Most emergencies are the visible end of something that has been developing for a while. Once you are comfortable, it is worth getting back to routine general dentistry, because examinations and cleanings are what stop the next one.