Emergency Dental Care | Westmont Dentist | Same Day Service

Nobody likes having a toothache! That’s why we at Dr. Kathryn Kennedy’s dental office in Westmont, Illinois are keenly aware that when you have a toothache emergency, you’d like to get in right away! We typically schedule patients such that we can squeeze in a patient into the schedule for a true emergency. With COVID-19 new protocols, we do request as much notice as possible so that we can best serve you properly. Your health and safety, as well as that of our staff is critical, especially today.

Call our office, don’t email if it’s urgent. If, on the other hand, it can wait and it’s not an emergency such as uncontrolled bleeding or swelling affecting your breathing (which by the way, if that’s the case you should go to the emergency room), or a knocked out tooth, then you can use our appointment request form. We try to get true emergencies in that same day. A loose orthodontic bracket, or a small chip on a tooth might feel like an emergency, but typically those are ok to wait a few hours to have them handled.

If you should receive a large cut to the face or a dislocated jaw, you may want to contact a medical doctor. On the other hand, if a tooth should get knocked out, the sooner you can get into the office, the better the chances of it being re-implanted and survive. If you can gently rinse it off with water and try to re-implant it within a few minutes, the blood supply and nerve may reconnect. Unfortunately, even if you are able to reinsert it, there’s still less than a 50-50 chance of it staying in or the nerve reattaching. If we can stabilize the tooth and not put pressure on it for a couple weeks (out of the bite), then that can help as well. If you can’t put it back in, keep it moist either in your mouth – wet with saliva, or put it in a container with milk or water. Do NOT scrub the surface of the tooth as that can potentially destroy the fibers that would reattach.

If a filling falls out and it’s not sensitive, avoid chewing on that area, contact the office and we will get you in as soon as convenient. Sometimes, going to the pharmacist and putting a little putty into the hole can prevent bacterial infection and sensitivity.

Similarly, if a crown comes off, gently rinse off the debris inside and try to replace it if there is enough tooth structure to do so. Sometimes either putting a very thin coating of tooth cement from the pharmacy, or even a thin coating of toothpaste that will harden up once it’s repositioned will help until we can get to it. You don’t want to wait weeks or months to put a tooth back in as decay can set in or the adjacent teeth might shift making it very difficult to re-cement.

Something stuck between your teeth? Try swishing it out with water, or using dental floss, or possibly a toothpick, but be careful you don’t injure the gums if you use a toothpick.

Pressure or temperature sensitivity – call the office as soon as possible – we will help you!