Dental Emergencies

During our regular office hours, if you call with a dental emergency, we’ll provide immediate attention to your situation and arrange to see you at our office as soon as we can in order to ensure that you get the urgent dental care you need.

Outside of our business hours, call our office and follow the instructions provided. The emergency number for the answering service is 505-857-3700. The answering service will page me immediately. If I am not available you will be referred to the dentist on-call. In case of a serious or life-threatening emergency, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room for treatment.

If you have a dental emergency, we’re always here to help. Call our office right away so we can schedule an appointment to get you the treatment you need. The earlier in the day that you call, the more likely it is that we’ll be able to see you for a same-day appointment.

If your toothache is interfering with your ability to sleep, eat, and participate in your normal activities or if the pain is constant, intense, and throbbing, it’s a sign that you have a dental infection and this is considered an emergency. If your toothache comes and goes or you only experience pain when eating hot, cold, or sweet foods, it’s more likely to be caused by a cavity; this needs to be treated sooner rather than later, but it doesn’t require a same-day appointment.

Yes, a tooth that has been knocked out can often be successfully re-implanted. The key is to act quickly. Once your tooth is back in place, we will use splints to stabilize it and encourage your gums to reattach.

Emergency rooms don’t have dentists on staff, so even if you go to the emergency room, you’ll still need to see a dentist to get the dental care you need. Emergency rooms can only help with pain management, prescribe antibiotics, and drain abscesses. That said, if you have a dental emergency that involves severe facial trauma or uncontrolled bleeding, you should go to the emergency room first and once the situation is under control, come to our office to address any damage to your teeth.