Home / Treatments / Emergency dentist
Everyday dentistry · Same day
An emergency dentist appointment at Sardinia House in Holborn is for anyone in pain or with a damaged tooth who needs to be seen quickly. Call 020 7404 8600 and we will usually see you the same day, during our opening hours, to find the cause, settle the pain and plan what comes next. Emergency appointment £125, plus any treatment agreed on the day.
Guide fee
£125 for the appointment
Seen
Usually the same day
Call
020 7404 8600, also WhatsApp
With
All our dentists
Who it is for
Pain that wakes you, throbs, or is set off by hot and cold is usually a sign that the nerve inside a tooth is inflamed or infected. Painkillers mask it for a while; finding and treating the cause is what makes it stop.
Swelling means infection, and infection does not wait. We will see you quickly, drain or treat the source where we can, and prescribe antibiotics only where they are clinically needed alongside treatment.
A tooth that has fractured on something hard, or been knocked in a fall or on the sports field, needs protecting before the damage spreads. Bring any pieces with you, kept in milk if a whole tooth has come out.
A restoration that has come away leaves the tooth exposed and sensitive. We can usually re-cement a crown that is intact, or place a temporary filling, and then plan a lasting repair with you.
The difference
We keep space each day for patients who need to be seen urgently, so a call in the morning usually means an appointment the same day. Call rather than email: the front-of-house team can find the right slot while you are on the line.
Pain in one tooth can come from another, or from the gum, the sinus or the jaw. A scan, a digital X-ray and, where the picture is still unclear, CBCT 3D imaging on site let us see what is happening before we treat it.
All our dentists see emergencies, so you are booked with whoever can see you soonest. If a tooth needs surgical removal, Dr Shivan Dave or Dr Adam White take it on, with Shivan's hospital oral surgery background behind the harder cases. Should the tooth need root canal treatment, our endodontist Dr Spencer Richman is usually on hand, so there is no need to send you elsewhere.
The visit settles the pain and makes the tooth safe. Milling and 3D printers on site mean a broken or lost tooth can usually be replaced the same day, at least with a provisional: wherever we can, you do not leave without a tooth. The lasting repair is planned in writing, with exact fees.
The process
Phone 020 7404 8600, or message the same number on WhatsApp. Tell us what has happened and how much pain you are in, and we will offer the earliest appointment we can, usually that day.
We look at the tooth and the tissues around it, take a scan and any X-rays that are needed, and explain what we think is going on. You see the images on screen with us.
Depending on the cause, that may mean removing inflamed nerve tissue to relieve pressure, dressing the tooth, draining an abscess, smoothing a sharp edge or re-cementing a crown. The aim is for you to leave more comfortable than you arrived.
Some problems are fully dealt with on the day. Others need a second visit for the definitive treatment. Either way, you receive a written plan and a fee before anything further is booked.
Afterwards
Follow the instructions you are given on the day, including any antibiotics or pain relief. A tooth that has been dressed or temporarily filled should be treated gently and kept clean. If swelling spreads, you develop a fever or you have difficulty swallowing or breathing, treat it as a medical emergency and go to A&E or call 999 straight away.
Guide fees
Guide fees. Nothing is started until your plan, with every fee written down, is in your hands. See all fees
Good to know
The emergency appointment at Sardinia House is £125, which covers the examination and advice. Any treatment on the day, such as a temporary filling from £75 or X-rays at £30 each, is quoted before it is done.
In most cases, yes, if you call during our opening hours. We open at 8am Monday to Thursday and 8.30am on Fridays, and stay open until 7.30pm on Wednesday evenings. We are closed at weekends.
Take over-the-counter pain relief as directed on the packet, avoid very hot or cold food and drink on that side, and keep the area clean with gentle brushing. If a tooth has been knocked out, keep it in milk and come in straight away.
Not necessarily. Many painful teeth can be saved with root canal treatment, which we provide under the operating microscope in the practice. Extraction is only suggested when a tooth cannot be restored, and we explain the reasons and the options for replacing it.
The point of the visit is to take pain away. Local anaesthetic is used before anything that would be uncomfortable, and an infected area is numbed with a little more care and time. Most people feel noticeably better within a day.
Yes. Many of our emergency patients work nearby in Holborn or around Lincoln's Inn Fields and have never been to us before. You are welcome to stay for ongoing care afterwards, but there is no obligation.
Severe or persistent toothache, swelling, bleeding that will not stop, a knocked-out or broken tooth and a lost crown or filling are all reasons to call. If you are unsure, call anyway and we will tell you how urgent it is.
Call 020 7404 8600 or send a WhatsApp message to the same number and we will respond as soon as the practice opens; we are open Monday to Friday and closed at weekends. If we are closed and the problem cannot wait, for example severe swelling, bleeding that will not stop or a knocked-out adult tooth, contact NHS 111 for urgent advice.
Often, yes. An emergency appointment is for diagnosis and relief of pain, and where the tooth can be saved we can usually start root canal treatment at the same visit, with a crown milled on site when the case allows. If the tooth needs to come out and it is simple enough, that can also be done on the day, or booked shortly afterwards, with Dr Shivan Dave for surgical cases.
Related treatments
Book an appointment
Book online at any time, or call and speak to someone who will remember you.
Dental Group