If something in your mouth just broke, fell out, or started hurting badly enough that you are reading this on your phone, skip to the section for your problem below and call us. Our number is (918) 834-2330, we see emergency dental cases the same day whenever the schedule allows it, and we are about a fifteen minute drive from most of Broken Arrow and twenty to twenty-five from Owasso.
The reason to call before you drive is simple. A two minute phone call tells us what you are walking in with, so the room and the equipment are ready when you get here instead of after. It also means we can tell you what to do in the meantime, and for a couple of these problems what you do in the first hour genuinely changes the outcome.
Is this actually an emergency?
Some dental problems need you in a chair today. Others feel awful but can wait for a proper appointment. Knowing the difference saves you a panicked evening.
Come in today for a knocked-out or knocked-loose tooth, a broken tooth with the nerve exposed, swelling in your face or jaw, a fever alongside tooth pain, bleeding that will not stop, pain severe enough that you cannot sleep or eat, or an injury to the jaw.
Call us but you can usually be scheduled soon rather than instantly for a lost crown or filling with no pain, a small chip that is not sharp, a dull ache that comes and goes, food stuck under the gum, or a broken denture.
If there is swelling that is spreading toward your eye or under your jaw, or you are having trouble breathing or swallowing, that is an emergency room situation, not a dental office one. Go. Infections in that area move fast.
What to do in the next ten minutes
A tooth got knocked out. This is the one where the clock really matters. Pick the tooth up by the crown, the chewing part, never the root. Rinse it gently with water or milk, no scrubbing and no soap. If you can, put it back in the socket and hold it there. If you cannot, put it in a cup of milk, or saliva, and get here. A tooth reimplanted within the first hour has a real chance. After a few hours it drops off sharply.
A tooth is cracked or broken. Rinse with warm water. Save any pieces you find. If the edge is sharp, cover it with sugarless gum or dental wax so it is not cutting your tongue. Cold compress on the outside for swelling. Do not chew on that side. We covered the repair options for a broken tooth separately if you want to know what comes next.
Severe toothache, maybe with swelling. Rinse with warm salt water. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication as directed on the bottle. Cold compress outside the cheek. Do not put aspirin directly on the gum, it burns the tissue. And do not wait it out hoping it settles, because a toothache with swelling usually means infection, and infection does not resolve on its own.
A crown or filling came out. Keep the crown if you have it, we can often reseat it. Do not use superglue. Temporary dental cement from a pharmacy is fine for a night or two. Avoid chewing there and keep the exposed tooth clean, because it is vulnerable now. More on that here.
Your denture broke. Do not try to glue it. Bring the pieces, including the small ones. Because we have our own lab in the building, a denture repair is often a same-day fix rather than a week without teeth.
Why the drive from Broken Arrow or Owasso is worth it
Here is what usually happens at a practice that does not do everything itself. You come in with an abscessed molar, they diagnose it, and then they refer you to an endodontist for the root canal, possibly an oral surgeon if it needs to come out instead, and back to them later for the crown. That is three offices, three waiting lists, and you are in pain through all of it.
We handle the root canal, the extraction, the rebuild, and the crown here. We mill crowns on site, so a lot of emergencies that would normally be a temporary crown and a two week wait get finished in one visit. When you are hurting, the number of buildings you have to visit is not a small detail.
And if the reason you have been putting off a dental problem is that you are anxious about the chair, we have sedation options and we use them for emergency work too. Fear is a real reason people let a small problem become a big one, and it is worth saying out loud rather than pretending everyone is fine with it.
What to bring
Your ID and insurance card if you have one. A list of your current medications, which matters more than people expect for anesthetic and antibiotic choices. Any pieces of the tooth, crown, or denture. And someone to drive you if there is any chance you will end up sedated.
If you are a new patient, you can call from the car and we will start the paperwork while you are on the way. Directions and hours are on our contact page.
Frequently asked questions
Do you take emergency patients who have never been here before? Yes. You do not need to be an existing patient. Call and tell us what happened.
How fast can I be seen? Depends on the day and what it is, but true emergencies get worked in same-day whenever we can. Calling early in the morning gives you the best shot.
Can you save a tooth that got knocked out? Sometimes, and the odds are much better inside the first hour. Keep it moist, do not touch the root, and get here fast.
What if it happens at night or on the weekend? Call (918) 834-2330 and follow the after-hours instructions. [TEAM: confirm the exact after-hours process with Rick before publishing, whether it is a voicemail, a forwarded line, or text, and put the real wording here.] For anything involving spreading facial swelling, trouble breathing, or a jaw injury, go to the emergency room rather than waiting for morning.
Is a lost crown urgent? Not usually urgent, but do not sit on it for weeks. The tooth underneath is unprotected and can shift or decay, and then a simple reseat turns into a bigger repair.
Will I need a root canal? Not always. Plenty of bad toothaches turn out to be a deep cavity or a cracked filling. We will not know until we look and take an x-ray, and we will tell you what we actually see.
If it hurts right now, call
You do not have to decide over the phone whether it is serious enough. That is our job. Tell us what happened, and we will tell you whether to come in now, come in tomorrow, or go to the ER.
Call or text (918) 834-2330. We are at 3747 E 11th St in Tulsa, an easy drive from Broken Arrow, Owasso, Bixby, and Sand Springs.