EMERGENCY DENTIST — ORMOND BEACH, FL

Putting Smiles Back on Faces

Woman in dental chair talking to emergency dentist in Ormond Beach

Why Choose Brown & Nawrocki Restorative and Cosmetic Dentistry for Emergency Dental Care?

  • We Encourage Same-Day Appointments
  • Availability on Weekends/Evenings
  • Walk-Ins Accepted

How We Treat Dental Emergencies

Doctor Nawrocki performing emergency dental exam on a patient
  • Speak Directly with a Team Member
  • Our Dentists Perform a Detailed Exam
  • Recommended Custom Treatment Plan
  • Estimated Costs Reviewed in Detail

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Doctor Nawrocki performing emergency dental exam on a patient

How We Treat Dental Emergencies

Dental emergencies can be sudden, inconvenient, and very scary. At Brown & Nawrocki Restorative and Cosmetic Dentistry, we have a simple philosophy when it comes to emergency dentistry. Taking care of you is our number one priority, even if it means we have to come in early, stay late, or work through lunch. Dr. Nawrocki will always find time to see urgent cases, providing experienced treatment and fast relief as soon as possible. If you’re in need of help, don’t wait — contact our dental office immediately to schedule an appointment for emergency dentistry in Ormond Beach. Patients from Port Orange, FL and other nearby areas are always welcome, too.

Here's how we handle your visit:

  • The moment you get in touch with our practice, you’ll be able to speak with a team member who can get you scheduled, take note of your symptoms, and provide first-aid tips over the phone so you can manage your situation before you arrive. We do our best to get you seen the same day that you call, so don’t hesitate to contact us.
  • After you arrive at our practice, either Dr. Nawrocki or Dr. Dennis will perform a detailed exam to confirm the cause and location of your dental emergency. This may involve capture of your mouth with digital X-rays, especially if the issue is not easily visible.
  • Following the exam, the dentist will go over their findings and explain their recommended treatment plan for your emergency. Not only can they help you get out of discomfort, but they’ll take the steps to ensure the problem does not come back later. They’ll also go over the estimated costs of your care.
  • Common treatments for dental emergencies include dental fillings, crowns, tooth extractions, or other services depending on your case.

The Most Common Dental Emergencies

After you’ve called us for your dental emergency, you’ll need to take care of your teeth and manage your pain until you can get to our office. Below, you’ll find some basic tips for dealing with the more common dental emergencies. Our team can also give you advice tailored to your specific situation during your initial call. Taking the proper first aid steps can make the rest of the treatment process much easier.

Toothaches

Is My Toothache a Dental Emergency?: The exact cause of a toothache isn’t always clear. It could be as simple as something stuck between your teeth, or it could be a potentially dangerous infection. Signs that emergency care for a toothache might be required include:

  • Persistent or severe oral pain
  • Discomfort whenever you use the affected tooth to bite or chew
  • Prolonged sensitivity to hot and/or cold foods and beverages
  • Swelling around the teeth in question
  • An unpleasant taste in your mouth
  • A pimple-like bump known as an abscess forming on the gums

How You Should Handle a Toothache: The first step is to rule out any potential causes that you can deal with yourself. Gently floss around the tooth in question and rinse with lukewarm saltwater; this will help remove food or anything else stuck between the teeth. If the pain does not stop, call for an emergency appointment immediately. Take over-the-counter pain relievers if you need to, and apply a cold pack to the area to reduce swelling. If you see a pimple-like bump, do not touch or pop it.

How We Treat Toothaches: We need to narrow down the cause of your toothache before we can begin treating it. Once we’ve examined the tooth and taken the necessary X-rays, we’ll consider possible next steps. We may prescribe antibiotics or mouthwash to reduce bacteria levels in the mouth and fight an existing infection. Depending on the severity of the infection and the damage already done to the tooth, you may need a filling, root canal therapy, gum disease treatment, or even an extraction.

Learn More About Tooth-Colored Fillings

Chipped Teeth

Doctor Dennis treating an emergency dental patient

Is a Chipped Tooth a Dental Emergency?: Minor chips may not put the tooth in immediate danger. However, they should still be examined and treated promptly. Ignoring them could cause the damage to grow worse, and at some point, it could become severe enough to compromise the tooth; it could also increase the risk of cavities.

How You Should Handle a Chipped Tooth: Rinse with warm water; you’ll want to keep the tooth clean and free of bacteria to minimize the risk of infection or decay. Swelling might occur depending on the cause of the injury, so put a cold compress on your face if you need to. Try not to chew with the affected tooth if you can avoid it.

How We Treat Chipped Teeth: A chipped tooth is often just a cosmetic problem. If the tooth in question is one that’s highly visible whenever you pull back your lips to smile, then you may want to consider getting a veneer to cover it. This simple restoration covers the entire front side of the tooth, completely hiding any damage.

Cracked Tooth

Doctor Dennis treating an emergency dental patient

Is a Cracked Tooth a Dental Emergency?: A small crack that isn’t accompanied by any pain does not always need immediate attention, but you shouldn’t delay treatment for too long. Severe cracks need to be examined right away. Not all cracks will be visible; pain that occurs whenever you bite down could indicate that there’s unseen damage on your tooth, and you’ll need to see us as soon as possible so that we can determine how bad it is.

How You Should Handle a Cracked Tooth: You should rinse with warm water right away to clean the area before applying a cold compress to the face to reduce any swelling. A cracked tooth may suffer from further damage if you’re not careful with it, so avoid hard or crunchy foods for the time being.

How We Treat Cracked Teeth: The treatment we recommend will depend on how severe the damage is. More extensive damage will likely call for a dental crown to protect the tooth and hold the structure together. An extraction might be needed if there’s not enough healthy tooth structure left for repairs.

Learn More About Dental Crowns

Very Sensitive Teeth

Are Very Sensitive Teeth a Dental Emergency?: If the layers under your enamel or the roots of your teeth are exposed, you might start to notice discomfort when chewing or when the tooth is exposed to hot or cold temperatures. If the sensitivity leads to severe or long-lasting pain, or if it seems to only affect one or two teeth, it could be a sign of a dental emergency.

How You Should Handle Very Sensitive Teeth: Call our office and tell us about the symptoms you’re experiencing. We can help determine whether or not you need urgent care. Take care of your tooth by drinking lukewarm water, avoiding acidic or sweet foods, and taking over the counter pain relievers to reduce discomfort.

How We Treat Very Sensitive Teeth: Mild sensitivity can be treated with special toothpaste, prescription mouthwash, or a topical fluoride treatment to strengthen the enamel. However, if the underlying cause is a cavity or gum disease, treatments such as fillings, gum disease therapy, and root canal therapy may be required.

Learn More About Tooth-Colored Fillings

Knocked-Out Tooth

Is My Knocked-Out Tooth a Dental Emergency?: Your permanent teeth aren’t supposed to fall out of your mouth, so it’s always an emergency when you lose them – especially if they were physically knocked loose in an accident. The good news is that saving a knocked-out tooth is completely possible. However, it can only be done in a short period of time; if the tooth hasn’t been reimplanted within an hour or two, it will likely be lost for good. You need to act quickly as soon as the trauma occurs if you don’t want to have a tooth replaced, so call us immediately and make any arrangements necessary to get to our office promptly.

How You Should Handle a Knocked-Out Tooth: The tooth needs to be recovered immediately. Only touch the crown (the end used for chewing) when handling it. Attempt to place it back in its socket if you can. Alternatively, store it in your cheek or a container filled with milk or saliva. Remember that plain water can damage the roots of the tooth.

How We Treat Knocked-Out Teeth: As long as the tooth is still alive and hasn’t been damaged too badly, it might be possible to save it. This won’t always be the case, though, so be prepared to explore options for replacing the tooth, such as dental bridges, full or partial dentures, and dental implants.

Learn More About Dental Bridges

Learn More About Dentures

Learn More About Dental Implants

Lost Filling or Crown

Is a Lost Filling or Crown a Dental Emergency?: Crowns and fillings can last for a very long time, especially if you take care of them. Sooner or later, though, they will break or fall off, and while this likely won’t cause any pain, it’s in your best interest to have the restoration repaired or replaced as soon as you can.

How You Should Handle a Lost Filling or Crown: Save the restoration if you can. Rinse your mouth with salt water to keep the tooth clean. Continue to brush and floss regularly; be gentle around the tooth in question. Do not chew with the affected tooth. A lost crown can sometimes be placed on the tooth again; otherwise, you can protect the area with dental wax.

How We Treat Lost Fillings or Crowns: Naturally, the best treatment for a lost crown or filling is to either put it back or place a new one. We’ll examine the restoration carefully to determine whether it’s still viable or if it has been damaged too badly to be used anymore.

Learn More About Tooth-Colored Fillings

Learn More About Dental Crowns

Broken Denture

Is My Broken Denture a Dental Emergency?: You won’t be able to function normally without a full set of teeth. Furthermore, broken dentures can injure your gums and other oral structures. It’s best to have artificial teeth repaired or replaced right away.

How You Should Handle a Broken Denture: Never attempt to fix broken dentures yourself. Instead, keep them in a safe place so that you can bring them with you to your next appointment. Be gentle with them so as not to make the damage even worse.

How We Treat Broken Dentures: It’s sometimes possible to repair small chips and cracks with composite resin, and we can often adjust dentures to ensure they fit properly. New dentures may be provided if the old ones can’t be repaired. Replacing dentures could be a good opportunity to get dental implants.

Learn More About Dentures

Learn More About Dental Implants

Loose Permanent Tooth

Is a Loose Permanent Tooth a Dental Emergency?: Permanent teeth should not come loose. Even if they don’t hurt, the looseness is a sign that they could fall out soon. Make arrangements to visit our office as soon as you can if you want to avoid losing the tooth altogether.

How You Should Handle Loose Permanent Teeth: If there’s any bleeding, bite down on some gauze. Call our office as soon as possible; we can give you first aid tips for stabilizing the tooth, and we’ll make arrangements to see you as soon as possible. Avoid using the tooth to bite and chew at all costs.

How We Treat Loose Permanent Teeth: Sometimes loose teeth can be saved with certain procedures such as bone grafting. If they’re beyond salvaging, however, they may have to be extracted entirely and replaced with dental implants or another appropriate restoration.

Learn More About Dental Implants

Injury to the Gums, Lips, or Tongue

Is an Injury to the Gums, Lips, or Tongue a Dental Emergency?: Oral bleeding can be linked to a variety of oral health issues. It can also be the result of an injury sustained while playing sports. If you notice quite a lot of bleeding, you should seek professional help immediately.

How You Should Handle an Injury to the Gums, Lips, or Tongue: First, rinse any debris or bacteria around the injury away with some water, then apply a clean piece of gauze to the area until the bleeding stops. An ice pack can help you numb the pain.

How We Treat Injuries to the Gums, Lips, or Tongue: Depending on the extent of the damage, we might need to clean the wound and stitch it shut. Call the emergency room if bleeding doesn’t stop within 10 minutes; we can address any dental issues once you’ve been properly treated and the danger has passed.

Jaw Pain

Is Jaw Pain a Dental Emergency?: Jaw pain might seem manageable at first, but if it gets bad enough or never goes away, it can start to interfere with your ability to function on a day to day basis. At some point, you might even have trouble opening or closing your jaw at all.

How You Should Handle Jaw Pain: The proper approach will depend on the situation, and we can give you additional instructions over the phone. Pain relievers and ice packs can help if the issue is limited to swelling and discomfort. Issues such as a broken or dislocated jaw warrant a call to the ER.

How We Treat Jaw Pain: The underlying cause of jaw pain can vary, so the treatment will be personalized according to your needs. You might receive a mouthguard to prevent further damage from grinding, or you might need to undergo TMJ therapy. Sometimes jaw pain is a sign that wisdom teeth are ready to be removed.

Learn More About TMJ Therapy

Something Stuck Between the Teeth

When something is stuck between your teeth, you’re likely to experience a lot of pain. You can often solve this problem by yourself, but do not use tweezers, toothpicks, or other sharp objects to do so. One wrong move could end up injuring your gums and cause an even worse problem. Instead, take some dental floss and clean the area around your mouth gently. Rinse your mouth out with water multiple times to try and dislodge the object. If you can’t remove it by yourself, please call our office and let us know what the problem is; we can take whatever steps are necessary to safely get rid of the object.

Understanding the Cost of Dental Emergencies

Dental team member showing a clipboard to a dental patient
  • Severity & Type of Treatment Affect Cost
  • Dental Insurance Can Reduce Cost
  • Low-Interest Financing Available
  • Don’t Leave Emergencies For Too Long

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Dental team member showing a clipboard to a dental patient

Understanding the Cost of Dental Emergencies

Protecting your oral health should come before all else during a dental emergency, but that doesn’t mean you can ignore the question of price. Sooner or later, you’ll need to start considering the cost of repairing your teeth and protecting your oral health. Our staff is here to go over the factors that will need to be considered when thinking about the cost of dental care, and they’ll work with your insurance company on your behalf so that you don’t have to deal with the stress of filing a claim on top of recovering from your emergency.

Factors That Can Influence the Cost of Emergency Care

Location: The cost of living tends to have a significant influence on how much a given practice is going to charge for its treatments. Call us to learn more about the prices we offer for fillings, root canals, and other treatments typically performed during an emergency.

Severity of the Problem: Some emergencies are relatively simple to deal with while others are more complex, and that tends to influence the types of treatments required and how long the entire process lasts.

Type of Treatment Required: The cost will obviously vary depending on the restorative care needed to save your tooth.

Dental Insurance: If you have dental insurance, it can reduce your out-of-pocket expenses quite significantly.

Financial Options Available

We accept a number of different insurance policies, and we’ll always give you a good faith estimate of the coverage that you are likely to receive. We’ll make sure that you are fully informed about the insurance process and when the entire balance is due to be paid in full. For those that don’t have insurance, you can apply for third-party financing through CareCredit or Wells Fargo. You can also sign up for our in-office savings plan to enjoy discounts on a variety of our restorative services.

Why You Need to Schedule a Consultation Immediately

Leaving a dental emergency alone for too long will typically make the problem worse. This can make your out-of-pocket costs go up in a couple of different ways. First of all, the treatments you need will become more complex; an issue that could have been treated with a filling early on might eventually require a root canal, for example. And as an indirect result of needing more complex care, your insurance coverage might change; minor restorative services are usually better covered than major services. In short, it’s always better for your finances (and your smile) to have an emergency consultation done sooner instead of later.

How to Prevent Dental Emergencies

Young man smiling while flossing his teeth
  • Visit Us Regularly
  • Maintain Good Oral Hygiene Habits
  • Stick to a Nutritious Diet
  • Wear a Mouthguard
  • Use Tools (Not Teeth) to Open Things

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Young man smiling while flossing his teeth

How to Prevent Dental Emergencies

In life, unexpected, uncontrollable things happen. You won’t always be able to prevent dental emergencies, but you can plan ahead to reduce your risk. Below are some of the steps you can take to keep your smile safe from harm.

Visit Your Dentist Regularly

What may be a little problem today can quickly turn into a painful, large problem in the future. That’s why staying current with your checkups and cleanings is so important. These appointments not only allow our team to catch issues early on, but also remove plaque so that we can stop cavities and gum disease before they have a chance to start.

Maintain Good Oral Hygiene Habits at Home

Do you brush your teeth for two minutes twice each day? Do you floss every day as well? These habits may seem trivial, but the truth is that they stop the buildup of plaque and tartar, which cause tooth decay. By taking excellent care of your teeth at home, you can keep your mouth free of infections and cavities.

Stick to a Nutritious Diet

If you crave sugary, carb-heavy foods, just remember that so do the bacteria in your mouth. They thrive on the bits of food left behind in your mouth and quickly form plaque. This sticky film adheres to your teeth, allowing erosive acids to damage your enamel. You need to make choices in your diet that don’t fuel harmful bacteria. In fact, you can actually help your smile when you eat healthier, more fibrous foods, such as apples, broccoli, leafy greens, carrots, and celery.

Wear a Mouthguard

For sports where contact occurs, you need to wear a mouthguard. Some research has shown that in the case of a blow to the head this little mouthpiece may not just protect your teeth but also your brain. While store-bought mouthguards can slip or feel uncomfortable, a custom mouthguard from our practice can ensure a great fit.

You may not be able to stop clenching or grinding your teeth at night, but a custom nightguard can prevent the enamel from wearing down, chipping, or cracking. We’re happy to provide this appliance to protect your teeth from unnecessary damage.

Use Tools, Not Teeth to Open Packaging

As tempting as it may be to pry something open or bite into a bag with your teeth, you need to resist! This habit puts immense pressure on your teeth and often results in chips or cracks. Take a few minutes to locate the tool (like scissors) you need to open the packaging properly. For the same reason, you should also avoid chewing on ice, pens, popcorn kernels, and other hard objects.

Dental Emergency FAQ’s

How Do I Know If I’m Having a True Dental Emergency?

It can be difficult to know if you need immediate care or not, but a good rule of thumb is to call us if you’re ever in doubt. That said, here are some examples of dental emergencies that need to be treated right away:

  • Anytime you can’t comfortably eat or sleep because you’re in too much pain
  • Loose or knocked-out teeth
  • Heavy bleeding
  • Facial swelling or a pimple-like bump on your gums, both of which can be signs of a deep cavity or infection
  • A chipped or broken tooth that’s causing pain

What Happens If I Wait to Get Emergency Dental Care?

In some cases, general health problems like a cold or flu will get better with time. Unfortunately, that doesn’t apply to dental problems, which only get worse!

To avoid further pain and damage to your teeth, we recommend calling us immediately to make the first available appointment, especially in cases like a knocked-out tooth. This is because we have a better chance of saving it if we see you within an hour.

Is It True That Putting a Knocked-Out Tooth in Milk Actually Helps?

Yes. A knocked-out tooth must be kept moist to stay “alive,” but milk is a better choice than water. It contains antibacterial agents, sugars that the cells on the root need to survive, and proteins to maintain the right balance of acids, all of which keep the tooth healthier and make it easier to save.

In a Dental Emergency, Will I Need an Extraction or Root Canal?

Not necessarily, but each situation is different, so it will depend on the type and severity of the problem. With that said, our main goal is to save your natural teeth whenever possible. To assess the damage, we’ll start with an exam and diagnostic images like X-rays. From there, we’ll discuss our findings and recommend the best type of treatment.

If you have a deep cavity or severe toothache, a root canal can relieve your pain and treat the infection while preventing the need for an extraction. Afterward, a dental crown can be done to restore the strength, function and appearance of the tooth.

However, if a cavity or injury has destroyed most of a tooth’s structure, an extraction may be necessary. In these cases, we’ll also discuss replacement options such as a dental implant or bridge.

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