Emergency endodontic care in Rugby

Severe toothache seldom chooses a convenient moment. If a tooth is throbbing, keeping you awake, too sore to bite on or has a swelling beside it, get in touch and say your symptoms are urgent. We will arrange the earliest suitable appointment, treat the cause of the pain and make you comfortable before anything else is planned.

What we treat as urgent

constant or throbbing toothache, especially at night;
pain from hot drinks that lingers and is eased by cold;
a tooth too tender to bite on;
swelling of the gum, cheek or lip;
pain in a tooth recently filled, crowned or injured;
a tooth broken or knocked out — see dental trauma.

A swelling spreading quickly, affecting the eye or throat, or making swallowing or breathing difficult needs medical attention the same day: contact NHS 111 or go to A&E.

What happens at an emergency visit

Diagnosis, even in a hurry. Before anything is done, the tooth is tested and an X-ray taken — so that it is the right tooth that is treated.
Relief. Where the nerve is inflamed, removing the pulp tissue under local anaesthetic eases the pain within hours. Where an abscess has formed, establishing drainage and cleaning the canals achieves the same. A dressing is placed and the tooth sealed with a temporary filling.
A plan. Once you are comfortable, treatment is completed at a scheduled visit and the tooth is restored by your dentist.

Until you are seen

Take paracetamol and, if you can, ibuprofen as the packet directs; combined they work better than either alone.
Keep food and drink lukewarm rather than hot, and chew on the opposite side.
Prop your head up on an extra pillow at night; lying flat increases the throbbing.
Do not hold aspirin or any other tablet against the gum; it causes a chemical burn.
If a temporary filling has come out, sugar-free chewing gum can cover the hole.

No referral required

You can contact us directly for emergency care. If your own dentist has examined the tooth already, let us know their findings and any prescription; we keep them informed after your visit.

Completing the treatment

Emergency care removes the pain, but a tooth with a temporary dressing is not yet treated. Finishing the treatment and restoring the tooth promptly is what turns an emergency into a tooth you keep.

Related endodontic care

Root canal treatment

Root canal treatment ends the pain of an inflamed or dead nerve, clears the infection and keeps the tooth. In Rugby it is carried out under magnification, with the tooth fully numbed and isolated, and most teeth are completed in a single visit.

Root canal retreatment

When a root-treated tooth becomes painful or infected again, retreatment can usually save it. The earlier root filling is removed, the canal system is cleaned thoroughly — including any canals missed first time — and the tooth is sealed and restored once more.

Microscope-assisted endodontics

Root canals can be finer than a hair and hide behind calcified dentine. Working under an operating microscope gives bright, magnified sight of the inside of the tooth — the difference between guessing and seeing. It is how every root canal treatment and retreatment is carried out here.