Emergency appointments

If you’re in pain, we’re here for you

Whether it’s a dull toothache that’s niggling you, or an unbearable throbbing pain that you just can’t take any longer, it’s important to get dental care straightaway. At Shepherds Hill Dental Centre, we can help ease your pain, then take steps to address the underlying dental problem.

 

Our first steps if you come in with a toothache

We reserve a handful of emergency appointments within our appointment book, every day. In most cases, we’ll be able to offer you immediate relief for your toothache or dental pain.

 

5 top reasons to call us for an emergency appointment

#1 Dental emergency: a tooth that’s been knocked out

Keep the tooth and come in and see us.

For adult teeth, if you can, put the tooth back in the socket it came out from. However, if this isn’t possible, then hold it inside your cheek until you see us. If that isn’t suitable, then place the tooth in milk and bring it in as soon as possible. Hopefully, if it’s within the hour, we may be able replant the tooth and save the tooth. It’s also important for us to ensure that surrounding teeth and tissues haven’t been damaged during the trauma.

If a baby tooth is knocked out, you don’t have to replant the tooth. Please try to visit us as soon as possible to ensure that other teeth haven’t been damaged, and that the adult replacement tooth hasn’t been damaged by the trauma.

#2 A broken or chipped tooth

It can be quite easy to break or chip a tooth, be it through a sporting injury or through chewing some hard food. If a tooth breaks or chips, the pulp or nerve can become either irritated by the accident, or actually exposed if the break is large enough, leading to extreme pain. If you are in need of an emergency dentist Adelaide - call Shepherds Hill Dental. In order to save the pulp and avoid the need for complex treatment that can include root canal treatment or extraction, please come in and see us as soon as possible after the break occurs.

#3 Tooth infection or abscess

A tooth can become irreversibly inflamed or develop an abscess if the pulp or nerve inside it has been subjected to trauma through decay, a deep filling, a crack or a knock. When this happens, severe, constant pain that affects sleep and daily function can develop, and this can be debilitating.

While pain relief medication or antibiotics may mask the problem for a while, it’s recommended that you visit us to investigate and treat the cause of this pain before it progresses. If a tooth is irreversibly inflamed or has an abscess, the pain will not disappear unless the pulp or nerve inside the tooth is removed with root canal therapy, or the entire tooth is extracted.

#4 Broken or missing filling

It’s very common for patients to see us with a filling that has broken or fallen out. Depending on the size and location of the filling, this can lead to either no pain or extreme pain. It’s usually important to assess a tooth that has lost a filling, as the exposed area may decay if left for too long, leading to further pain and complications.

#5 Infected wisdom tooth

As wisdom teeth emerge from the gum, it’s not uncommon for them to become infected. This can lead to pain, swelling and the inability to open and close the jaw properly. It’s important that a dentist assess this straightaway to drain any pus, ease the pain in the gum, provide antibiotics, and possibly arrange for removal of the partially emerged wisdom tooth.

 

Emergency dentist Adelaide: toothaches and out-of-hours advice

We always reserve a handful of emergency appointments within our appointment book. In most cases, we’ll be able to offer you immediate relief for your toothache or dental pain.
We always reserve a handful of emergency appointments within our appointment book. In most cases, we’ll be able to offer you immediate relief for your toothache or dental pain.

If you’re in pain, we’ll try our best to schedule you an appointment as soon as possible – please call 08 8278 6858 and let our reception staff know that you’re in pain.

After-hours emergency dental treatment is available through the Australian Dental Association Emergency Service on 08 8272 8111, which operates between 5pm-9pm weeknights and 9am-9pm Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.

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