Dental Emergencies in Scarsdale, NY

We consider any of the following situations to be dental emergencies: prolonged bleeding, swelling, severe pain, knocked out teeth, and broken teeth. Other situations that may or may not require emergency dental care include loose dental implants and broken crowns or bridges. If you’re not sure if you need emergency care, call our office and we can provide assistance.

Emergency rooms do not have dentists on staff, so it’s always better to go to a dentist for a dental emergency—if you go to the ER, the doctors there can prescribe antibiotics and pain medication, but they cannot provide you with the dental care you need, so you’ll still need to make an appointment with us. That said, if you’ve suffered severe facial trauma or have uncontrollable bleeding, you should go to the emergency room first, then get the dental care you need once the situation is under control.

Yes, it’s possible to put a tooth back in after it has been knocked out. In order to do this successfully, it’s important to act quickly—call our office right away to make an emergency appointment. For the best chance of saving your tooth, hold it by the crown (never touch the root!) and rinse it gently with water, then reinsert it back into the socket; if you’re not able to do this, place the tooth in a small cup of milk or saliva and we will reinsert it at our office. We’ll also stabilize the tooth with splints, which will allow the gums to reattach.

Tooth sensitivity is not an emergency but tooth pain is an emergency in that it is something that needs to be addressed promptly.  Your tooth is giving you pain as a signal to you that there is something wrong and should not be ignored for too long.  Often a  toothache is associated with a dental abscess or infection.. A toothache that produces unbearable pain, that is constant, and that causes a throbbing sensation is likely caused by infection needing a prescription  for antibiotics. Call our office for an emergency appointment.

No, do not try to cement your crown back in.  Instead, use a small piece of dental wax  to cover the exposed tooth.  You can purchase dental wax in the dental care aisle of your local pharmacy. Please call our office if you do lose a crown and we can provide you with further instructions and schedule you an appointment.  Broken crowns are a dental emergency if you’re experiencing pain or if your tooth also broke off with the crown. But,  in most cases, we can book an appointment for you a few days out and either cement the crown or, if necessary, fabricate a new one for you. Each situation is unique.