Going home after your visit
Dental pain & problems
How to ease the pain and get the right dental help.
You have a dental problem. Emergency departments cannot carry out dental treatment — a dentist is the right person to fix the cause. Here is how to ease the pain and get the right help while you wait to see one.
Your care details
To be completed by the team before you leave.
this Emergency Department your nearest A&E other:
none needed
Go to A&E now — call 999 if severe — if any of these happen
A spreading dental infection can become serious quickly and needs urgent care.
- Swelling spreading towards your eye, a painful eye, or sudden eyesight problems
- Swelling spreading to your neck, or a lot of swelling under your tongue or in your mouth
- Difficulty breathing, swallowing or speaking
- You cannot open your mouth properly
- A high fever and feeling very unwell
- Bleeding from your mouth that will not stop
CALL 999 Call 999 if breathing or swallowing is hard, or you feel very unwell.
Easing the pain until you see a dentist
- Take paracetamol or ibuprofen if you can take them — ibuprofen often helps dental pain.
- Hold a cold compress against your face for swelling.
- Avoid very hot, cold or sugary food and drink.
- Keep the area clean and gently rinse with warm salty water.
- For a knocked-out adult tooth, put it back in the socket if you can, or keep it in milk, and see a dentist at once.
Getting dental help
Contact your own dentist first. If you do not have one, or it is out of hours, call NHS 111 — they can direct you to an urgent or emergency dental service. A&E cannot fill, pull or repair teeth, so a dentist is the right person to see.
Where to get help
999
Life-threatening emergency, or a red-flag symptom above
111
Urgent but not life-threatening, or you're not sure — call or visit 111.nhs.uk, 24/7
Your team
Use the department phone in Your care details above