If a tooth has been knocked out, broken, or is throbbing hard enough to keep you awake, you need an emergency dentist — and in Calgary that means calling a clinic that actually answers after hours, not waiting for Monday. Ours is answered 24/7 at 403-266-3100. Here's how to tell a real emergency from something that can wait, what to do in the first ten minutes, and when a hospital is the better call.
What counts as a dental emergency
The short version: pain you can't manage, bleeding that won't stop, swelling, or a tooth that has moved out of place. Call the same day for any of these.
- Severe or persistent toothache, especially with swelling or a fever
- An adult tooth knocked out, pushed loose, or shoved out of position
- A broken tooth with a sharp edge, or one where the inner part is exposed
- Facial or gum swelling, pus, or a sudden bad taste — those point to an abscess
- Bleeding after an extraction that hasn't settled down
- A blow to the mouth or jaw, even if the teeth look fine
And some things that feel alarming but usually aren't emergencies:
- A small chip with no pain
- A filling or crown that came out and doesn't hurt
- Food caught between two teeth
- Mild sensitivity to cold
- A broken retainer or night guard
Book those, just not at midnight. And if you can't tell which list you're on, phone us. Sorting that out over the phone takes about two minutes and costs nothing.
What to do in the first ten minutes
A knocked-out adult tooth
This is the one where minutes genuinely matter. The Canadian Dental Association's guidance is blunt about it: a tooth put back in place within 10 minutes has a fair chance of taking root again, and after two hours the chances are poor.
- Pick the tooth up by the crown — the part you chew with. Don't touch the root.
- If it looks clean, put it back in its socket and hold it there by biting gently on a clean cloth.
- If you can't get it back in, or there's any chance of swallowing it, put it in a container of cold milk.
- Don't scrub it, don't let it dry out, and don't wrap it in a tissue.
- Come straight in, or go to the nearest dentist if you're far from us.
If it's a child's baby tooth, don't try to push it back in. Call us and we'll tell you what to watch for.
A chipped or broken tooth
Rinse with warm water and hold a cold compress against the outside of your cheek for swelling. Save any pieces you find. Chew on the other side until you're seen. Small breaks can often be repaired with a white filling; a deeper one may need a root canal or a crown, which is a decision the dentist will walk you through once they can see it.
A toothache that won't quit
Take an over-the-counter pain medication that normally works for you — but don't put the pills against the sore tooth or gum. That burns the tissue and makes things worse. Use cold on the outside of the cheek rather than heat, rinse with warm salt water, and floss gently in case something is trapped between the teeth. Then call. A toothache that has gone from annoying to constant is usually telling you something has reached the nerve.
A lost filling or crown
A piece of softened sugarless chewing gum pressed into the gap works as a temporary cover until you can be seen. Keep the crown if you still have it and bring it with you — sometimes it can go straight back on.
A badly bitten lip or tongue
Press on the spot with a clean cloth to stop the bleeding, and use an ice pack if the lip is swelling. If the bleeding doesn't stop, go to a hospital emergency department.
Something wedged between your teeth
Try dental floss, gently. Never a pin, a knife tip, or anything else sharp — the damage people do digging at their own gums is often worse than what was stuck there. If floss doesn't free it, call us.
Go to a hospital emergency department — or call 911 — instead of a dental office if: you're having trouble breathing or swallowing, swelling is spreading toward your eye or down your neck, you have a fever along with facial swelling, bleeding won't stop, or you've taken a hard blow to the head, face, or jaw. Alberta's public health guidance is to call 911 for trouble breathing, and to seek care immediately for increasing pain, swelling, warmth or redness, red streaks leading away from the area, pus, or a fever. Not sure? Health Link at 811 is free, answered around the clock by registered nurses, and they'll tell you where to go.
When to call an emergency dentist in Calgary, and when the hospital is the better call
It's worth knowing the difference before you're standing in a waiting room at 1 a.m. A hospital handles the medical side of a dental problem well — a spreading infection, an airway that's closing, a fractured jaw, bleeding that won't stop. What most emergency departments can't do is fix the tooth. You'll typically leave with antibiotics or pain relief and a note telling you to see a dentist, which means the actual problem is still there in the morning.
So the rough rule: anything tooth-shaped, start with a dentist. Anything breathing-, bleeding-, or fracture-shaped, start with the hospital and see the dentist after.
What happens when you call us
Our line is answered 24 hours a day, which is the part most people are surprised by. You'll talk to a person, describe what happened, and get told either come in now, come in today, or here's what to do tonight and we'll see you first thing. We keep room for same-day appointments because emergencies don't schedule themselves.
We're at 465 Aviation Rd NE, Unit 113, just east of Deerfoot and McKnight, so we're a short drive for most of northeast Calgary. English and Spanish are both spoken in the clinic. If dental work makes you anxious — and for a lot of people an emergency visit is the most anxious version of it — we offer sedation options, so say so when you call. You can read more about how we handle urgent visits on our emergency dental page.
The goal of a first emergency visit is simple: get you out of pain, and leave with a plan you understand. The rest can be scheduled.
Does the CDCP cover emergency dental treatment?
Often, yes. The Canadian Dental Care Plan is built to cover services that relieve pain and deal with urgent problems, alongside exams, x-rays, fillings, extractions, and oral surgery. What's covered in your case, and what share you'd pay, depends on your coverage and your income tier — so it's a conversation to have before treatment starts, not after.
Aviation Dental bills Sun Life directly, so if you're on the plan you only pay your own share, if you have one. We also help people apply if you've been meaning to and haven't. There's more detail in our CDCP coverage guide. For anything the plan doesn't cover, we offer payment plans through Medicard, and we'll tell you what you're looking at before any work begins. Nobody should be doing math in their head while their face hurts.
A few things that prevent the 2 a.m. phone call
Most of the emergencies we see weren't sudden. They were something small that got ignored.
- A tooth that's been "a bit sensitive" for a month is worth a look while it's still a small fix.
- Wear a mouthguard for hockey, basketball, and anything else with elbows in it.
- Ice, popcorn kernels, and pen caps break more teeth than accidents do.
- If you grind at night, a night guard is cheaper than a cracked molar and easier to sleep in than you'd think.
- Keep your checkups. It's the boring answer, and it's still the right one.
If something's wrong right now, though, skip the prevention talk and call. That's what the 24/7 line is for.