Emergency Dentist in the Grand Rapids Area

Robinson Dental offers same-day emergency dental care.

Many hospitals aren’t equipped or staffed to deal with severe dental trauma. They may be able to stop the bleeding and treat your wounds. But only a dentist will be able to diagnose and treat the source of your pain.

We have four locations in Cascade, Coopersville, Caledonia, and Wayland, call us anytime at 1-888-WE-C-U-NOW and we can help repair the issue as soon as possible.

If you call us in the morning and schedule an appointment, one of our emergency dentists will see you today. If you call outside of our normal office hours, we’ll connect you with a provider who can help right away.

Online Scheduling for Emergency Dental Care:

If you have a life-threatening condition like a large dental abscess limiting your ability to breathe and swallow, you should go to the ER. Also, if you broke your jaw, you’d need to visit the ER. Serious medical issues like these are best addressed by hospital staff.

However, If you have a toothache or a small chip or crack in your tooth, don’t visit an ER or urgent care center. These facilities don’t hire dentists and can’t treat the underlying causes of toothaches. Most states ban non-dentists from extracting teeth and performing other dental work. Our dentists will be able to diagnose and treat the source of your emergency dental pain.

How to determine if you have a dental emergency

Emergency dentistry refers to treatment in response to trauma to the mouth or another condition that cannot wait a couple of days to see the dentist. Some people don’t know if they should go to the emergency room or call their dentist, and the answer is, there’s a time for both.

What are Common Dental Emergencies?

If you’re experiencing intense tooth pain or have a deep cut in the soft tissues of your mouth, then you should call our emergency dentists as soon as possible even if it is outside normal business hours. Other examples if dental issues that warrant an emergency appointment:

Severe toothache or tooth pain
Abscesses
Swollen gums
Bleeding gums
Fractured teeth
Pain while chewing
Inflammation around wisdom teeth
Loose teeth
Knocked-out teeth

What Isn’t a Dental Emergency?

Generally, if you can wait a couple of days, it’s not an emergency. For example, one of our dentists can repair a small chip in your tooth a few days after an accident as long as you’re not experiencing any pain. However, you still want to schedule an appointment sooner rather than later so the problem isn’t left untreated and doesn’t worsen to become an emergency. Some examples are:

Lost filling
Mild toothache
Small chip in tooth AND you don’t feel pain
Small crack in tooth AND you don’t feel pain
Lost crown

Bear in mind, you’ll still need to schedule an appointment with Robinson Dental if you experience any of the above symptoms. Once you’ve scheduled an appointment, we’ll give you instructions for protecting your teeth and gums until you’re able to see one of our dentists. It’s important that you follow our instructions exactly so that you can minimize any further injuries and relieve pain.

Steps to Take if Your Mouth Is Bleeding

Start by gently rinsing the inside of your mouth with warm water. Then you need to identify what is bleeding. If it is your tongue, gently pull it forward and apply pressure on the cut with gauze. If it is your gums or cheek, apply pressure with gauze.

Next, have someone call our office since it will be difficult to talk when holding your tongue/applying pressure in your mouth. If you’re experiencing any pain, we recommend taking acetaminophen as directed on the box’s label. Do not take aspirin or ibuprofen because these are anticoagulants and taking them will make you bleed more!

Steps to Take if Your Tooth Gets Knocked Out

Find your knocked-out tooth and pick it up by the crown, which is the part you use to chew, and be sure not to touch the root to avoid potentially damaging it. Next, place a towel or washcloth over the drain of the sink because you need to rinse your tooth but you don’t want to lose it. Do not use any soap, scrub, or other chemicals because they can harm your tooth.

If possible, place the tooth back in its socket. If that’s not possible, you want to make sure the tooth is always kept moist. One of the best ways to do this is to keep it in milk (whole milk works best). Do not use tap or bottled water because the root surface cells will eventually swell and burst.

If there’s no milk readily available you can put it in your mouth either under your tongue or between your lower lip and gums because it will stay the moistest there. Just be sure you don’t accidentally swallow it.

If you’re experiencing a dental emergency, don’t wait – call us right away

Restoring your oral health is our first priority. Our dentists, hygienists, and administrative staff are all dedicated to helping you heal from a dental emergency. Call us today!

Call Robinson Dental at 888-WE-C-U-NOW