Emergency Dentist in Midtown Manhattan

When to call us, and when to call 911

Call the office if you have:

• a toothache that is severe, throbbing or keeping you up at night
• swelling in your gum or face, or a pimple-like bump on the gum, which can be a sign of an abscess
• a cracked, chipped or broken tooth
• a tooth that has been knocked out or pushed out of place
• a filling or crown that is loose or has fallen out
• bleeding in your mouth that is slow to stop

Call 911 or go to a hospital emergency room for a medical emergency, such as:

• swelling that spreads toward your eye or neck, or makes it hard to breathe or swallow
• a high fever with facial swelling
• bleeding you can't control with firm pressure
• a serious injury to your face, jaw or head

Our website, chat and online forms are not emergency services, so please don't use them to report an urgent problem.

What emergency dental care involves

The first goal is to find the cause of the problem and relieve your pain. The next is to stop infection or further damage and protect the tooth. Sometimes that means a temporary fix at the first visit and a lasting repair at a later one. Depending on what we find, care may include:

• Toothache: a filling, root canal treatment or, when a tooth can't be saved, an extraction.
• Abscess: treating the source of the infection, which may mean draining it, root canal treatment or removing the tooth. Antibiotics are prescribed when they're needed, but on their own they don't remove the cause.
• Broken or chipped tooth: smoothing a sharp edge, a tooth-colored filling or bonding, or a crown for a larger break.
• Lost filling or crown: replacing the filling, or cementing the crown back in place if the crown and the tooth are in good condition.
• Knocked-out tooth: putting the tooth back in its socket and stabilizing it, when that's possible.

Root canal treatment is another of Dr. Avner's areas of focus. Our practice also has an on-site dental laboratory that we use for restorations such as crowns, so if your tooth needs one, we'll explain the timing for your case.

Why prompt care matters and what to expect

Pain that fades doesn't always mean the problem is gone, because an infected nerve can stop hurting while the infection continues. Prompt care can ease pain sooner, keep an infection from spreading and give a damaged tooth a better chance of being saved. A small crack treated early may need a simpler repair than one left until the tooth splits.

We can't promise an appointment on the day you call, but we'll look for the earliest available time during office hours. We're open on Sundays and until 8 PM on Mondays and Thursdays, and closed on Saturdays. Dr. Avner speaks English, Spanish, Russian and Farsi.

At the visit, we examine the area, take X-rays if needed and explain what we found. Before we start treatment, we go over your options and the fees, and you're welcome to ask questions at every step. If you take any medications, bring a list.

What happens from your call to your follow-up

1. Call the office. Tell us what happened, where it hurts and when it started, so we can judge how urgent it is and look for the earliest available time.
2. Protect the area until your visit. Rinse with warm water and hold a cold compress against your cheek for swelling. Take an over-the-counter pain reliever only as the label directs, and don't put aspirin on the gum, because it can burn the tissue. Save any broken pieces of tooth, or a crown that came off, and bring them with you.
3. Exam and X-rays. Dr. Avner examines the tooth and the area around it and takes X-rays if needed to find the cause.
4. Relief and first treatment. We focus on easing your pain and stabilizing the problem, with local anesthetic when the treatment calls for it.
5. A plan for lasting repair. If the tooth needs more work, such as a crown or a root canal, we explain the options and schedule the next steps.
6. Follow-up. We check that the area is healing and that your bite feels right.