Emergency Dental Care in Richmond, TX

The emergency room can give you pain medication, prescribe antibiotics for infection, and stabilize you if there is uncontrolled bleeding or facial trauma, but ERs cannot pull a tooth, perform a root canal, place a filling, or re-cement a crown. Hospital emergency departments do not have a dentist on staff in most cases. 

Emergency dental care is treatment for any oral condition with severe pain, uncontrolled bleeding, spreading swelling, a knocked-out or displaced tooth, broken facial bones, or a dental infection that is spreading.

Common examples are a knocked-out tooth, a dental abscess, a cracked tooth exposing the nerve, a lost crown causing pain, broken dentures cutting the mouth, post-extraction bleeding that will not stop, and trauma to the face. If you cannot eat, sleep, or function because of dental pain, treat it as an emergency and call (346) 843-8743.

Yes, diabetics can absolutely get dental treatment, including emergency care. The American Dental Association and American Diabetes Association both recommend regular dental visits for people with diabetes because high blood sugar increases the risk of gum disease, slows wound healing, and worsens dental infections. 

Before invasive procedures, your dentist will check your recent A1C, may test your blood glucose chairside, and will coordinate with your physician if your numbers are out of range. Acute infections are treated aggressively, since untreated dental infection itself raises blood sugar. 

Tell the dentist your diabetes type, current medications, last meal, and last insulin or oral diabetic medication dose at check-in.

The 3-3-3 rule is a short-term ibuprofen pain protocol used to control dental pain and inflammation while you wait to see a dentist. The most common version is 600 mg of ibuprofen (three 200 mg tablets), taken every 6 to 8 hours, for no more than 3 days, alongside seeing a dentist within those 3 days. 

Some clinicians describe it as 3 tablets of ibuprofen, 3 times a day, for 3 days. Either way, ibuprofen reduces the inflammation that causes most dental pain. The 3-3-3 rule is not a cure. 

Tooth infection requires definitive treatment such as a root canal, drainage, antibiotics, or extraction. Skip the rule entirely if you have a kidney problem, a stomach ulcer, are pregnant in the third trimester, take a blood thinner, or are allergic to NSAIDs. 

Call your dentist or pharmacist if you are not sure whether ibuprofen is safe for you.

In most cases, the same day, often within 30 minutes of your call. Glow Up Dentistry holds emergency time blocks open every weekday. After-hours calls go directly to the on-call dentist, who will either bring you in that night or first thing the next morning, depending on the severity.

An emergency dentist is trained and equipped to treat the actual dental problem, such as drilling out an abscess, performing a root canal, extracting a tooth, splinting a loose tooth, or placing a crown. 

An ER physician can manage pain and infection but cannot perform any of those dental procedures. Going to an emergency dentist first is faster, less expensive, and more likely to save the tooth.

Yes, often, but the window is short. Per the International Association of Dental Traumatology 2020 guidelines, a knocked-out permanent tooth has the best chance of being replanted within 15 to 30 minutes, and a meaningful chance up to 60 minutes. 

Pick the tooth up by the crown, rinse it briefly in milk if dirty, push it back into the socket if you can, and bite on a clean cloth on the way to the dentist. If you cannot replant it, store it in cold milk (best), saliva, or saline. Do not use tap water, do not scrub the root, and do not wrap it in a dry tissue.

It depends on the size of the chip and whether the inner tooth or nerve is exposed. Small enamel chips with no pain can usually wait 24 to 48 hours for a regular appointment. A chip that exposes the yellow dentin or the pink nerve, causes sharp pain, or has a sharp edge cutting your tongue is an emergency. Save the broken piece in milk and come in the same day.

If it is a baby (primary) tooth, do not replant it. Place it in a clean container, control bleeding with gauze, and bring your child in. If it is a permanent tooth, follow adult avulsion steps: pick up by the crown, rinse with milk, replant if possible, otherwise store in cold milk, and call us within 30 minutes. 

Per the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the first 30 minutes after dental trauma in children are the most critical for outcome.

Most PPO dental insurance plans cover a portion of emergency exams, X-rays, and treatment. Coverage varies by plan, deductible, and annual maximum. Glow Up Dentistry verifies your benefits before treatment begins and provides a written estimate so you know your share before any procedure. We file the claim with your insurer on your behalf.

When clinically appropriate, yes. We prescribe non-opioid pain medication (typically alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen) for most cases, which research shows controls dental pain at least as well as opioids with fewer side effects. 

Antibiotics are reserved for infections that are spreading, not for routine tooth pain, in line with current ADA antibiotic stewardship guidance.

Most emergency root canals are completed in a single 60 to 90 minute visit. Complex molars or curved canals can take up to 2 hours. 

Pain relief is usually immediate, since removing the inflamed nerve removes the source of the pain. A permanent crown is placed at a follow-up visit 1 to 2 weeks later. See our root canal page for details.

Call (346) 843-8743 anytime. Saturday appointments are offered by request, and Dr. Unegbu is available by phone after hours to triage and bring you in if needed

Yes. We accept cash, credit, HSA, FSA, and offer 0% interest financing through Cherry and LendingClub. Many emergency exams are billed at a flat rate so you know the cost up front.

Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, floss daily, see a dentist every 6 months for a cleaning and exam, wear a custom mouthguard for contact sports, do not chew ice or hard candy, and address small cavities or sensitivity early before they become root canal cases.

For Glow Up Dentistry patients in Richmond, TX, the answer is yes. The phone line at (346) 843-8743 is staffed or forwarded to the on-call dentist 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays.

In-office treatment is performed during open clinic hours, with after-hours emergencies triaged and scheduled for the next available slot.