Emergencies
What to do, in order.
Read the first row. If it applies to you, stop reading and go.
Triage
What it is, what to do, and why.
| Situation | Do this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Difficulty breathing or swallowing | Emergency department now — call 911 | Swelling in the floor of the mouth or the neck can obstruct an airway quickly. This is the one thing on this page that cannot wait. |
| Swelling crossing the neck or closing an eye | Emergency department now | A spreading fascial space infection. It needs intravenous antibiotics and often surgical drainage, in hospital. |
| Bleeding that will not stop | Call the after-hours line | First: one full hour of firm, uninterrupted gauze pressure sitting upright. If it soaks through after that, call. |
| Facial fracture — a blow to the face, a changed bite | Emergency department, then call us | A bite that no longer meets, numbness of the lip or cheek, or an inability to open all suggest a fracture. |
| A tooth knocked completely out | Act within 30 minutes | Hold it by the crown, not the root. Rinse gently in milk or saline — never scrub. Reimplant it into the socket if you can and bite on a cloth. If you cannot, keep it in milk and come straight in. Do not do this for a baby tooth. |
| Severe pain days after an extraction | Call in working hours | Most likely alveolar osteitis. Not an emergency, and very treatable — the dressing gives relief within minutes. |
| A swelling that is growing over hours | Call the after-hours line | Rate of change matters more than size. Something doubling over an evening is different from something stable for a week. |
| A lost dressing, a lost suture, a sharp edge | Working hours | Uncomfortable and not urgent. Salt-water rinses and call us in the morning. |
For referring practices
Send the patient, then call us.
If you are looking at a spreading facial infection or a facial fracture in your chair, the patient should be on their way to an emergency department while you are dialling. The after-hours line reaches the surgeon on call and we will meet them there or take the handover.
During working hours
Office(612) 555-0148
Referral line(612) 555-0150
HoursMon–Thu 7:00–16:30 · Fri 7:00–14:00
Address2100 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55405
A knocked-out permanent tooth is the only dental emergency where minutes genuinely change the outcome. Hold it by the crown, rinse in milk or saline without scrubbing, push it back into the socket if you can, and come straight in. If you cannot reimplant it, keep it in milk — not water, and not dry.
Questions
About calling.
One of our three surgeons, on a rota. Not an answering service and not a call centre. If it rings out, leave a message with a number and keep the phone with you — we will call back.
For a genuine post-operative emergency after surgery elsewhere, call and we will advise you. We would rather give ten minutes of advice than have someone sit at home frightened. For routine problems, please go to your own dentist first.
Airway, breathing, swallowing, uncontrolled bleeding or a head injury: emergency department, immediately, and call us afterwards. Anything else about a mouth, a socket or a wound: call us first, because we can usually tell you what to do without you leaving the house.
Bleeding that continues to soak a gauze pack after a full hour of firm, uninterrupted pressure, sitting upright, not talking, not checking. Most "uncontrolled" bleeding is a pack that has been changed every five minutes.