In pain? Call us first.

Come In Today If

These are not wait-and-see symptoms

• Swelling of the face, jaw or neck — particularly if it is spreading, or if you have a fever or difficulty swallowing. This needs to be seen now.
• Severe, throbbing pain that painkillers are no longer controlling, or that wakes you at night.
• A tooth knocked out — see the box below and call immediately. Minutes matter.
• A tooth pushed out of position or loosened by a blow.
• A fractured tooth with pain, or with the pink pulp visible in the break.
• A gum boil that keeps returning, or a persistent bad taste from one area.

If a tooth has been knocked out

For an adult permanent tooth, what you do in the first thirty minutes largely decides whether it survives.

• Pick the tooth up by the crown — the chewing part. Never touch the root.
• If it is dirty, rinse it gently in milk or saline for a few seconds. Do not scrub it, and do not use soap or disinfectant.
• If you can, put it straight back into the socket the right way round and bite gently on a clean cloth to hold it.
• If you cannot re-insert it, keep it in cold milk. Saline or the patient's own saliva will do. Water is the worst option — it damages the root cells.
• Call us on the way. Do not wait until the morning.

What we will do when you arrive

Relief comes first. We test and image to identify precisely which tooth is responsible, get you comfortably numb, and in most cases begin treatment the same visit — removing the inflamed pulp is what actually stops the pain. If the tooth is not ours to treat, we will stabilise you and get you straight back to your dentist or to an oral surgeon.