Dental Emergency Care

Having regular Dental Examinations is best for prevention of dental disease and vital to your ongoing health. It will mean you’re less likely to end up needing emergency treatment and will save you money in the long-term.



A dental check-up with our Christchurch based dentists, Sally Woods and Chris Richmond, includes examination of your face, jaw, tissues inside your mouth (including cheeks, palate and tongue), gums, teeth and existing dental work (such as fillings, crowns, veneers, bridges or implants).

Generally, any pain or discomfort. This includes toothache, broken or chipped teeth, broken fillings, ACC accidents, hit teeth and teeth knocked out, abscesses, facial swellings, broken dentures, fractured veneers or crowns and emergency extractions.

This depends on what the cause of the issue is. Sometimes you may require a filling, but at other times you may require more complex treatment. Ideally you should try and see a dentist as soon as possible. If you are suffering from a toothache, using pain relief from the pharmacy may help until you are able to get a dental appointment. Raising your head with extra pillows while trying to sleep can help and cold compresses/ice packs will help to reduce any swelling.

You should get broken teeth looked at by a dentist as soon as possible. If left untreated, small issues can become painful and often costly with time. If your tooth is sharp and rubbing your cheek or tongue you can try covering it with a bit of chewing gum until you are able to be seen.

If it is a baby tooth, or you are not sure, do not put the tooth back in its place. Replacing a baby tooth can cause damage to the adult tooth growing in the jaw bone underneath.



For an adult or permanent tooth, try not to touch the root surface. You can give the tooth a gentle rinse with water, milk or saline and then reinsert the tooth into the socket. If you can’t insert the tooth into the socket the best place to keep the tooth is in your saliva. One option is to try and keep the tooth safe in your mouth between your cheek and gum. Alternatively, the next best option is to store the tooth in milk. The sooner you are able to see a dentist the higher chance of successfully saving the tooth.

If you knock a tooth out after hours then you should contact your local emergency department.

If your dental emergency is a result of an accident then our dentists Sally Woods and Chris Richmond at Dental on Kilmore are ACC registered. We can help you fill out the necessary ACC paperwork. ACC will contribute to some of the treatment but sometimes there may be a part payment required from the patient. We can discuss these costs with you at the time of your appointment.