Emergency dentist · Lynchburg, VA
In pain? Call now. We always answer.
Day or night, weekends included, a call to our office gets you scheduled, usually into a same-day or next-morning emergency slot. Treatment happens Monday to Friday, 8 to 5, and we hold slots for exactly this.
Answered 24/7 · Same-day slots Mon to Fri
What to do right now
- 1. Call us: 540-315-3725. Any hour, any day. You'll talk to our smart answering system if it's outside office hours, and you'll hang up with an appointment, not a voicemail.
- 2. Manage the symptom. A warm salt water rinse, a cold compress on the outside of the cheek, and over-the-counter pain relief taken as the package directs cover most situations until your visit. Symptom-specific first aid is on each page below.
- 3. Know the ER signs. Swelling that affects breathing or swallowing, swelling spreading toward the eye or down the neck, fever with facial swelling, or a suspected broken jaw belong in the emergency room, not a dental chair.
Find your emergency
- Severe toothache: find the cause, end the pain, keep the tooth when we can.
- Broken or chipped tooth: from smoothing a chip to rebuilding a fracture.
- Knocked-out tooth: the most time-sensitive emergency there is. Minutes matter.
- Dental abscess: infection with swelling or fever, and clear guidance on when the ER is the right call.
- Lost crown or filling: protect the tooth before the damage spreads.
- Emergency extractions: when removing the tooth is the kindest fix.
Call at midnight. A real appointment by morning.
Most dental offices hand you a voicemail at 5:01 PM. We don't. Our phones are answered around the clock by our smart answering and scheduling system, so a cracked tooth at 9 PM on a Friday gets you a Monday-morning slot before you've finished the call, and a Tuesday 2 AM toothache is on the books for that same morning. We're straight with you about what that means: scheduling happens 24/7, treatment happens during office hours, Monday to Friday 8 to 5. Between the always-answered phone and the same-day slots we protect in our 15-operatory office, "I couldn't get in anywhere" stops being part of your story. Prefer not to call? The online scheduler on our booking page is awake all night too, and it books real emergency slots the same way.
Treated in-house, start to finish
Emergency care goes better when the office you call can actually fix the problem. Root canals, crowns, extractions, and implant planning all happen here on Thomson Drive: Dr. Kim and Dr. Azevedo handle in one building what many offices split across a referral network. If your emergency ends in a missing tooth, the replacement conversation happens with the same team, on the same 3D imaging, under the same roof.
When to go to the ER instead
Most dental problems are best handled in a dental office, but a few belong in the emergency room:
- • Facial swelling that's spreading toward your eye or down your neck
- • Trouble breathing or swallowing
- • Fever above 101°F with dental swelling
- • A suspected broken jaw
- • Uncontrolled bleeding that doesn't stop with pressure
Lynchburg General Hospital ER is the closest. Call them at (434) 200-3000 or 911 if you're not sure.
What it costs
Fear of the bill keeps too many people in pain. Here's how we handle it: the emergency exam and X-rays are a modest, defined cost, you get a clear quote before any treatment, and nothing irreversible happens without your OK. No insurance? The Virginia Dental Club ($279 a year) takes 20% off treatment, and financing can spread larger repairs into monthly payments. Waiting usually makes dental problems more expensive, not less.
Common questions
FAQs
- What counts as a dental emergency?
- Severe toothache, a knocked-out tooth, a cracked or broken tooth with pain, a lost filling or crown causing discomfort, a dental abscess (swelling, fever), or any trauma to the mouth or jaw. If you're not sure, call us. We'll help you decide whether it can wait or whether you need to come in.
- What if I call after hours?
- You'll still reach us. Our smart answering system picks up around the clock, nights and weekends included, and gets you scheduled on the spot, typically into a same-day or next-morning emergency slot. Treatment itself happens during office hours, Monday through Friday 8 to 5, but you never have to wait until morning just to get on the schedule.
- Do you see emergencies the same day?
- Yes. We hold same-day emergency slots Monday through Friday, and our recently expanded 15-operatory office gives us more room to say yes. Call as early as you can, or call the night before: the sooner you're on the schedule, the sooner you're out of pain.
- What should I do if a tooth is knocked out?
- Time matters. Pick up the tooth by the crown (not the root), gently rinse it with milk or saline (not water, no scrubbing), and try to place it back in the socket. If you can't, put it in a cup of milk and call us immediately. The first 30 to 60 minutes are the best window for saving the tooth.
- What if I have severe swelling or fever?
- A dental infection that's caused facial swelling or fever can become serious quickly. Call us right away. If swelling is spreading toward your eye or down your neck, or is affecting your breathing or swallowing, go to the ER. That's beyond what any dental office can safely manage.
- I broke a tooth but it doesn't hurt. Is it still urgent?
- Not always, but it's worth a call. A sharp edge can cut your tongue, and a fracture below the gum line may worsen if ignored. Call us, describe what happened, and we'll schedule you into the right slot, same day if needed.
- What about pain in the middle of the night?
- Call us. Our answering system will get you scheduled right then, usually for the next morning. Until your visit, over-the-counter pain relievers taken as the package directs, a cold compress on the outside of the cheek, and a warm salt water rinse usually keep things manageable. If pain comes with spreading swelling, fever, or trouble breathing or swallowing, go to the ER instead.
- Do you do extractions on emergency visits?
- Yes, when that's the right call. Some emergencies are best solved by saving the tooth (a root canal and crown); some are best solved by extraction. We'll talk through both options and the long-term plan before doing anything irreversible.
- What will an emergency visit cost?
- An emergency exam with the X-rays needed to find the problem is a modest, defined cost, and we'll quote treatment clearly before doing it. No insurance? Virginia Dental Club members get 20% off treatment, and financing is available for larger repairs. Cost should never keep you sitting at home in pain.
Call us first, any hour
If you're not sure whether it's an emergency, call 540-315-3725. We always answer, and we'll help you figure it out.