Find an Emergency Dentist
in San Diego, CA

24/7 Emergency Dentist San Diego

If you’re viewing this page late at night, trying desperately to fight through the oral pain you’re going through, and are in dire need of an appointment with an emergency dentist in San Diego as soon as you can get one, you’ve come to the right place! For those in the local and surrounding San Diego area, we have a network of the best dentists, both regular and emergency dentists, which means we can have an appointment booked in your name for you in as little as 24 hours. Instead of waiting for regular office hours, call us today at (855)-352-6790 for immediate help.

Information You’ll Need to Take With You

It’s important to remember that emergency dentists operate like regular dentists. When you first visited your regular dentist, you had to fill out some paperwork before you appointment could start. The emergency dentist will need to have you do this, as well, so make sure you arrive at least 15 minutes early. If you’re unsure as to whether or not your emergency dentist will accept your insurance, calling ahead is the best way to figure it out. If they do, make sure you take all of the necessary forms, information, and details with you so the staff there will be able to make and process your claim while you are being seen by the emergency dentist. If they don’t, asking approximately how much your appointment will cost you is also a good idea. Any recent patient profile records, dental documents, and even a dental receipt that outlined the treatment you received during your last visit to your regular dentist will all be a big help to your emergency dentist. This type of documentation and information will help your emergency dentist to get a better feeling of you as a patient, the work you’ve had done before, etc. If you’re aware of any allergies or are currently taking any medications, no matter what you’re taking them for, it’s important that you let your emergency dentist and their team know the details. Finally, anxiety and fear over the dentist is something the emergency dentists we work with see on a daily basis, so don’t feel embarrassed if you’re overly nervous. They, paired with their teams, will do their best to make you feel welcome, comfortable, and as free of stress as possible.

The Most Typical Dental Emergencies

One thing that is important to understand, is that a dental emergency can occur based on one of two ways. Dental emergencies either show up immediately due to an accident, for example, while others are the final form of underlying oral health problems that have been left untreated, unnoticed, or even both. Lost or otherwise knocked out teeth, nasty oral infections, lost filling or crown, and emergency tooth extractions are some of the most typical dental emergencies that the dentists in our network see on a regular, if not daily, basis. Emergency dentists, however, are not equipped to deal with major injuries, such as trauma to the head. For these types of injuries, you need to get to your local emergency room as soon as possible.

Losing a Permanent Tooth

Adults should not be losing their permanent teeth, but there are instances, such as a car accident, for example, where that will happen. If you are injured with any form of trauma, especially to your head, you must seek help from your local emergency room immediately. If the only injury you currently have is a lost tooth or two, the first thing you need to do is try and find it. If you’ve managed to locate it, make sure you pick it up by the crown to ensure you’re not damaging the root. If the empty socket, or the tooth itself, isn’t severely damaged, you can try sticking it back into the socket. This is the best way to preserve the tooth until you can get to your emergency appointment. If you’re unable to put it back, rinse it off with some water and have it sitting in a cup of milk or water, which is another temporary preservation method.

Oral Infections and Abscessed Teeth

Believe us, nothing is more painful than an abscess that has finally decided to come out and make itself known. Oral infections are a sneaky and rather persistent dental emergency that you may not even know you have until you get hit by the pain train. Unfortunately, something as simple as a badly chipped tooth close to the gum line is enough to hold an open house for an oral infection. With this in mind, it’s important that, no matter what state your oral health is in, you keep a lookout for anything that closely resembles a pimple. If you see one, make sure you call us immediately. Oral infections, like any other infection, are a ticking time bomb that threatens your life sooner or later. If you’re experiencing severe to unbearable oral pain and flu-like symptoms, such as vomiting and a fever, you need to have us book you an appointment with one of our emergency dentists before it becomes a life-threatening, blood poisoning issue.

Fillings and Crowns Falling Out

Having a filling or a crown fall out can be quite alarming, especially if you didn’t realize it happened and now you’ve got a surprise dental emergency on your hands! Fear not, there are a couple of things you can do to ease the situation and lessen the pain. As soon as you realize you’ve lost your filling or your crown, get dressed, get in the car, and get to your local drug store to get your hands on some dental cement. If the store doesn’t have any dental cement, the next best thing is a cotton ball, a piece of gauze, or something you’ve come up with to cover the hole yourself. In all honesty, it doesn’t matter what you use to cover it, you just have to cover the hole. Debris, food, drinks, you name it, will all damage that tooth. What’s more, if the hole is a scarily deep one that’s bordering the nerves of that tooth, you need to plug it up and keep it covered until you can get to the appointment we’ve booked for you. The biggest problem when it comes to not protecting a tooth after a crown or a filling has fallen out, is that your emergency dentist may not be able to make any repairs to save the tooth.

Same Day Denture Repair in San Diego

For patients who struggle to find same day denture repair in San Diego, or even emergency denture repair San Diego, we have the immediate help you’re looking for. The emergency dentists within our 24-hour network have access to denture lab technicians, which means your dentures can be repaired on the same day you have your appointment. If your dentures are beyond saving, however, we can have you fitted for an entirely new pair during your appointment, as well, eliminating the need to have more than one appointment booked.

Having a Tooth Extracted

No one likes to think about having to get one or more of their teeth extracted, especially if it’s during an emergency situation. Fortunately for you, this is a very common procedure conducted by emergency dentists in San Diego. Your emergency dentist and their team will do everything in their power to save the tooth before they make the decision to extract it, so go in with some hope in your heart. If the tooth must come out, the procedure will begin by the emergency dentist freezing that area of your mouth to make sure you won’t feel any pain whatsoever. The only thing you might feel during the extraction is some pressure, but that’s not a big deal or anything to worry about. Once you’re completely numb, he or she will use a dental tool, which is usually dental pliers, to carefully rock the tooth out of its socket using a back and forth motion. If this doesn’t work, though, they will be forced to break the tooth up a little bit and remove it piece by piece. After all of that, your emergency dentist will go over aftercare instructions that you will be expected to do at home. In order to avoid developing an oral infection and to minimize the total amount of healing time, make sure you follow their instructions very carefully.

ER vs. ED – Where You Need to Be

Knowing the difference between needing an emergency room doctor at your local emergency room versus an emergency dentist will save you both time and money. Your emergency dentist will be able to help save your teeth and treat minor to moderate oral injuries, but they are in no shape to help treat any trauma you may have, especially if it’s related to your head. An emergency room doctor will be able to help you manage your pain, treat your major wounds and trauma, but they will not be able to help you when it comes to saving your teeth. Some emergency rooms have emergency dentists on call or right on staff, but don’t get your hopes up. This is very rare to find.