| $80 Emergency exam | Today or Tomorrow Usually able to see you | Mon–Sat Open Saturdays too |
Emergency Dentist, Box Hill
Sudden tooth pain, swelling, a broken tooth or an injury can be frightening, especially when it happens without warning. You don’t need to know what’s wrong before you call, that’s what the call is for.
When you call with a problem, there’s usually room for you, often the same day. We’re open Monday to Thursday 9:30am to 5pm, Friday 9:30am to 8pm, and Saturday 9am to 5pm.
Knocked out a tooth? Go straight to what to do. Is it your child’s tooth? Read this first.
Stop, do you need 000 instead?Call 000 or go to a hospital emergency department now if you have:
A dental infection that spreads into the neck or airway is a medical emergency. Do not wait for a dental appointment, and do not wait to see if it settles overnight. Any facial swelling should be seen the same day. Dental infections can move quickly, and swelling that looks minor at 4pm can be significantly worse by midnight. If your face is swollen at all, call us today; if we’re closed and it’s getting worse, go to a hospital emergency department rather than waiting for us to open. If you’re not sure which applies to you, call us and we’ll help you work it out. |
What to do right now, while you wait
Knocked-out adult tooth, act within minutes
This is the one true dental emergency where time changes the outcome. Find the tooth and pick it up by the crown, the white part, never the root. If it’s dirty, rinse it gently in milk or saline for a few seconds; don’t scrub it, and don’t use soap or tissue.
Put it back in the socket if you can, right way round, and bite gently on a clean cloth to hold it there, this gives the best chance of saving it. If you can’t reinstate it, keep it in milk, or in saliva inside your cheek, never in water. Call us immediately and get to a dentist as fast as you can. Every minute out of the socket matters; a tooth that’s been dry for an hour is unlikely to survive.
Baby teeth are different, don’t put a knocked-out baby tooth back in. Call us instead.
Broken or chipped tooth
Rinse with warm water and save any fragments in milk. If there’s a sharp edge cutting your tongue or cheek, cover it with sugar-free gum or dental wax, and avoid chewing on that side. Call us.
Severe toothache
Rinse with warm salt water, and take pain relief you’d normally take, paracetamol or ibuprofen, per the packet, if you can safely take them. Keep your head elevated when lying down, as lying flat often makes it throb harder. Never hold an aspirin or painkiller against the gum, it burns the tissue and makes things worse. Pain that keeps you awake, or that painkillers barely touch, needs to be seen.
Swelling or a suspected abscess
Don’t apply heat and don’t try to burst it. Keep your head elevated and watch it carefully. If swelling spreads toward your eye or your throat, or you develop a fever or difficulty swallowing, that’s 000, not us.
Lost filling or crown
Keep the crown if you have it, it can often be re-cemented. Avoid chewing on that side, and sugar-free gum can temporarily cover a sharp edge. This usually isn’t an emergency, but don’t leave it for weeks, as the exposed tooth can decay quickly.
Bleeding after an extraction
Bite firmly on clean gauze or a rolled clean cloth for 20 minutes without checking it, peeking restarts the bleeding. If it’s still heavy after that, or you’re soaking through gauze repeatedly, call us, and if you can’t reach us, go to an emergency department.
Children, read this before you do anything
Is it an adult tooth or a baby tooth? The answer changes everything, and getting it wrong can cause permanent damage.
Knocked-out adult tooth (usually age 6+): put it back in. Hold it by the crown, rinse briefly in milk if dirty, reinsert it into the socket, and have them bite gently on a clean cloth. Call us immediately, minutes matter. If you can’t reinsert it, keep it in milk and come straight in.
Knocked-out baby tooth: do not put it back in. Reinserting a baby tooth can damage the adult tooth developing in the gum underneath. Keep the child calm, control any bleeding with gentle pressure on clean gauze, and call us.
Not sure which it is? Call us and describe it, we’ll tell you, don’t guess. A knocked-out or broken front tooth in a child is frightening for everyone involved; call us, tell us it’s a child, and we’ll prioritise you.
What it costs to be seen
| Item | Cost |
| Emergency examination | $80 |
| X-rays, if needed | Quoted before we take any |
We explain your options first, what each involves, what it costs, how long it takes, and the pros and cons, and then you decide. Nothing gets done to you before you’ve agreed to it and understood the price.
No surprise bills, not while you’re in pain and not thinking straight. We check your health cover on the spot through HICAPS, so you know your real out-of-pocket cost. Payment plans are available (terms and conditions apply, we’ll explain them in full; see our Payment Plans page).
If money is the reason you’re putting off calling, call anyway. Pain that gets ignored becomes an infection, and an infection becomes a bigger, more expensive problem. Talk to us.
What we can help with
Even if the pain comes and goes, it’s worth having checked. Pain that disappears isn’t the same as pain that’s resolved, a dying nerve stops hurting too. |
“It stopped hurting, so I left it”This is the most common mistake we see, and it costs people teeth. A tooth that stops hurting hasn’t healed. Often it means the nerve inside it has died; the infection doesn’t stop when the pain does, it just stops announcing itself and quietly works its way down into the bone. The next time you feel that tooth, it may be as an abscess, a swollen face, or a tooth that can no longer be saved. If a tooth hurt badly and then went quiet, that isn’t good news, it’s the part where it goes underground. The same goes for a lost filling or crown you’ve been getting around to (the exposed tooth decays fast), a lump on the gum that comes and goes (usually an abscess draining, not gone anywhere), or a tooth that’s been a bit sore for weeks. Small problems are cheap; big ones aren’t. You don’t have to be in agony to be worth seeing. If something has been off for a while, that’s a good enough reason to call. |
What happens when you come in
We get you out of pain first, and plan the rest second.
| 1Assess Examine the area, X-rays if needed | 2Relieve pain Deal with the pain first | 3Explain options What’s involved, what it costs | 4You decide Not while panicking, not under pressure |
Sometimes the right answer today is to settle it now and treat it properly next week. We’ll tell you if that’s you.
Finding us, and what to bring
We’re in Box Hill, close to Box Hill Central, with public transport and local parking nearby (see our Find Us page for directions). Just come. Bring your Medicare card and private health card if you have them handy, but if you’re in pain, don’t waste time hunting for paperwork, we’ll sort that out at reception. Getting you seen matters more.
If it’s been years since you saw a dentist
A lot of people arrive at an emergency appointment carrying something heavier than a toothache, embarrassment. They’ve avoided dentists for years, they know it, and they’re braced to be told off. We won’t. Nobody here will comment on how long it’s been, sigh at your X-rays, or lecture you. You’re in pain and you called, and that’s the only thing that matters today.
If dental treatment frightens you, say so when you call and we’ll plan the appointment around it (our Dental Anxiety and Sleep Dentistry & Sedation pages cover how we support that).
Outside our opening hours?
We’re open Monday to Thursday 9:30am to 5pm, Friday 9:30am to 8pm, and Saturday 9am to 5pm. If you’re in danger, difficulty breathing or swallowing, spreading facial swelling, a fever with swelling, uncontrolled bleeding, or major facial trauma, call 000 or go to a hospital emergency department immediately.
If it’s not an emergency but it’s painful, leave us a voicemail on (03) 8899 6497 (we pick these up as soon as we open), message us on WhatsApp (we check it regularly), or manage the pain overnight using the guidance above and call us first thing. Public dental emergency care is also available through the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne for eligible patients.
 | Meet Dr NaMoo ParkEmergency care is led by Dr NaMoo Park, principal dentist and a registered dental practitioner with the Dental Board of Australia. He stays steady when things are urgent, explains what’s happening as he goes, and won’t rush you into a decision you don’t understand, even in an emergency appointment. |
In pain? Call now.(03) 8899 6497Mon–Thu 9:30am–5pm · Fri 9:30am–8pm · Sat 9am–5pm · Emergency examination $80. We can usually see you today or tomorrow. |