Emergency Dentistry

What Counts as a Dental Emergency

Not every dental issue requires emergency care, but some situations definitely do. Real emergencies involve severe pain, significant bleeding, trauma to your teeth or jaw, or situations where waiting could result in permanent damage or tooth loss.

Dental emergencies that need immediate attention include:

Knocked-out teeth (adult teeth can sometimes be saved if treated within an hour)
Severe toothaches that don’t respond to over-the-counter pain relief
Broken or cracked teeth with sharp edges or exposed nerves
Lost fillings or crowns causing pain or sensitivity
Abscesses or infections causing swelling in your face or gums
Uncontrolled bleeding from your mouth
Injuries to your jaw that affect how you bite or cause intense pain

If you’re experiencing any of these, call us right away. Dr. Anirudh Patel, Dr. Jennifer Zhou, and Dr. Sandeep (Sunny) Konda all handle emergency cases and will get you the care you need as quickly as possible.

Handling Knocked-Out Teeth

Time matters desperately when a tooth gets knocked out. If you can get to us within 30-60 minutes, we might be able to save and reimplant the tooth. Here’s what to do immediately: find the tooth, handle it only by the crown (the white part you normally see), rinse it gently with water if it’s dirty, and try to place it back in the socket if possible. If that’s too uncomfortable, keep it in a container of milk or your saliva—not water—and get to our office immediately.

Don’t scrub the tooth or remove any attached tissue fragments. Those tiny fibers help the tooth reattach to your jaw. Every minute counts, so call us on your way so we’re ready when you arrive.

For children who lose baby teeth, reimplantation isn’t typically done since it could damage the permanent tooth developing underneath. Still, call us so we can check for other injuries and make sure everything’s healing properly.

Dealing with Severe Toothaches

That throbbing, can’t-think-about-anything-else tooth pain usually signals infection or significant decay that’s reached the nerve. Toothaches don’t improve on their own—they get worse because the underlying problem continues progressing. What starts as occasional discomfort can escalate to constant, severe pain within days.

When you call with tooth pain, we ask questions to understand the severity and schedule you accordingly. Mild sensitivity might warrant a next-day appointment, but severe pain that’s disrupting your sleep and daily activities gets you in immediately. We diagnose the cause, provide pain relief, and address the infection or decay causing the problem.

Sometimes the solution is a filling, sometimes a root canal, occasionally an extraction if the tooth can’t be saved. Whatever the treatment, getting you comfortable again comes first.

Broken, Cracked, and Chipped Teeth

Teeth break for all kinds of reasons—biting something hard, facial trauma, weakened enamel from old fillings, or grinding your teeth at night. How urgently you need care depends on the severity. A tiny cosmetic chip might wait a few days, but a deep crack exposing the nerve or creating sharp edges that cut your tongue requires immediate attention.

Emergency dentistry in Chambersburg and Shippensburg addresses broken teeth by assessing the damage and determining the best repair approach. Minor chips often need simple bonding. Larger breaks might require crowns. Severe fractures extending below the gum line sometimes mean extraction and planning for replacement options.

Don’t try to fix broken teeth yourself with superglue or other household adhesives. Those products aren’t safe for your mouth and can make professional repair more difficult.

Lost Fillings and Crowns

Losing a filling or crown exposes vulnerable tooth structure to bacteria, temperature changes, and pressure from chewing. The tooth might hurt immediately or develop pain gradually as the exposed area becomes irritated. Either way, you need that tooth protected and restored quickly.

We can often replace a lost crown the same day if you bring it with you and it’s still in good condition. Lost fillings require cleaning out any decay that’s developed and placing a new filling. Temporary solutions exist if you can’t get in immediately, but they’re just that—temporary. Don’t rely on drugstore dental cement for more than a day or two.

Abscesses and Dental Infections

Dental abscesses are serious infections that form at the root of a tooth or in the gum tissue. They cause intense, throbbing pain, swelling in your face or jaw, fever, and sometimes a foul taste in your mouth from draining pus. Left untreated, these infections can spread to other parts of your body and become life-threatening.

If you notice swelling in your face along with tooth pain, call us immediately—this isn’t something to wait out. We need to drain the abscess, prescribe antibiotics, and address the underlying cause, which is usually severe decay or gum disease. In some cases, the tooth needs a root canal or extraction.

Never ignore facial swelling or assume antibiotics alone will fix the problem. The infection’s source needs professional treatment.

Managing Dental Emergencies Until You Reach Us

While you’re waiting to get to our office, a few things can help manage pain and prevent further damage. Rinse your mouth with warm salt water to clean the area. Take over-the-counter pain relievers following the package directions. Apply a cold compress to your face if there’s swelling. If a tooth is broken or has sharp edges, cover it with dental wax or sugar-free gum to protect your soft tissues.

Don’t put aspirin directly on your gums—it causes chemical burns. Don’t use numbing gels excessively, as they only provide temporary relief and can irritate tissues. And definitely don’t try DIY extractions or repairs that could create worse problems.

Why Quick Treatment Matters

Dental emergencies get worse when you delay treatment. That cracked tooth can split completely. That mild infection can become an abscess. That knocked-out tooth becomes impossible to save after a couple of hours. Emergency dentistry in Chambersburg and Shippensburg exists specifically to prevent these escalations.

Beyond preventing complications, there’s also the pain factor. Why suffer through days or weeks of discomfort when we can address the problem and get you feeling better within hours? You deserve relief, and your dental health deserves immediate attention when something goes seriously wrong.