Usually not. A Kentucky hospital emergency room treats spreading infection and injuries; it generally doesn't treat the tooth itself, and that includes pulling it. In Independence, call (859) 555-0147 and our dentists examine the tooth the same day and extract it when that's the right call.
A tooth that's grumbled all week finally quits on you at 9:00 PM, and the only lit-up building you can think of is the hospital. It's a fair thought. The hospital is open, it has doctors, and the pain is real. The trouble is that an emergency room and a dental office do different jobs. Knowing which one you need can save you a long night in a waiting room with the tooth still in your head. This article lays out the difference, written from the Independence office on Madison Pike you'd be calling.
Does a hospital emergency room pull teeth?
No, as a rule. Hospitals treat spreading infection and injuries; they generally don't treat the tooth itself. Pulling one counts as dental treatment. It takes dental X-rays to see the roots, dental numbing, and the instruments and training to lift the tooth out whole. That's work done in a dental chair, which is why a hospital visit for a toothache so often ends with the tooth exactly where it started.
That's not a complaint about hospitals. If an infection has moved into your face or neck, or a hit to the mouth has broken bone, the emergency room is where you belong, and nothing a dental office does replaces it. It comes down to matching the problem to the building.
Which ER is closest to Independence for a dental problem?
The two hospital emergency rooms nearest our office are St. Elizabeth Edgewood, 1 Medical Village Drive, about 9 miles away, 17 to 25 minutes (Madison Pike north to KY 17, then Dudley Pike and Thomas More Parkway), and St. Elizabeth Florence, 4900 Houston Road, about 11 miles away, 19 to 28 minutes. Both are the right destination for the problems in the next section, the ones where the infection or the injury is the danger rather than the tooth.
Once the hospital has handled that part, the tooth is still there. It still hurts, it's still infected or still broken, and it still needs a dentist. That's the point where you call us.
Symptoms that belong in a hospital tonight
Go to a hospital emergency room, or call 911, for any of these. Don't wait for Monday, and don't wait for us.
- Swelling that's making it hard to breathe or to swallow
- Swelling that's climbing toward your eye or spreading down your neck
- A tooth infection along with a high fever, chills, or a jaw that won't open
- A blow to the face that may have fractured the jaw, or a cut deep enough to need stitches
- Mouth bleeding that 20 minutes of firm, steady pressure hasn't slowed
- A knocked-out tooth that came with a head injury, a blackout or confusion
Every item on that list is about the infection or the injury, not the tooth. After the hospital has the dangerous part under control, call us. Monday through Thursday we can see you the same day.
What a dentist does that a hospital doesn't
Our dentists look at the tooth itself. At your visit on Madison Pike they take the X-rays needed to see the roots and the bone around them, test the tooth, and tell you whether it stays or has to come out. When extraction is the answer, we do it in our office, simple or surgical, often the same visit when the exam allows it. Our emergency tooth extraction page walks through what happens in the chair and what the first few days afterward look like.
Not every painful tooth needs pulling. An abscess at the root can often be drained and the tooth treated with a root canal instead. Our dentists explain the choice before anything happens, and the cost of whatever they recommend goes on paper and into your hand first. The dental abscess treatment page covers how an infected tooth is handled when it's caught in time.
How to manage the pain until you're seen
A pain reliever from the pharmacy at the dose on the label, unless your own doctor has told you to avoid it. Warm salt water rinses, half a teaspoon in a glass. Something cold against the cheek in short stretches. Head propped up at night. Chew on the other side. Don't lay an aspirin against the gum; that damages the tissue and does the tooth no good. These steps match the toothache first aid advice from the Mayo Clinic, and the MouthHealthy page on dental emergencies from the American Dental Association explains what counts as urgent. None of it fixes the tooth. It buys you a few hours.
When to call a dentist today
If none of the hospital signs apply, your problem is a dental office problem, and ours sits in the center of Independence at 5302 Madison Pike, Independence, KY 41051, with parking on site. Call (859) 555-0147. Monday through Thursday we hold same-day emergency openings at 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM, and the front desk gives you one while they last. Chairs run until 5:00 PM on Monday and Wednesday and until 6:00 PM on Tuesday and Thursday. Walk-ins aren't accepted, which makes the call the step that gets you a seat.
After hours, and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, someone real still picks up. The answering service takes your name, a number and a short note on the problem, then holds the first opening for you. For a weekend call, that's Monday at 9:00 AM. Our weekend and after-hours page fills in the full picture.
The $89 covers the emergency exam and the X-rays needed to diagnose the tooth, for patients paying without insurance. Treatment is priced separately and quoted to you in writing before any work starts.
Patients with PPO or traditional dental insurance have the exam and X-rays billed through their plan. Call with your card handy and we check before you arrive.
Frequently asked questions
Should I go to the ER for a toothache with no swelling?
If pain is the only symptom, with no swelling in the face or neck, no fever and no injury, a dental office is the right place. Hospitals treat spreading infection and injuries; they generally don't treat the tooth itself. Monday through Thursday, call us for one of the same-day openings. On a weekend, call anyway, and Monday at 9:00 AM is held under your name.
Can the ER pull a tooth if I don't have a dentist?
Not having a dentist doesn't change what a hospital is set up to do. Pulling a tooth is dental treatment, and it happens in a dental office. You don't need to be a patient of ours already. Call, and the front desk handles a first-time emergency call the same as any other: a same-day opening if one is left, and the cost of any treatment in writing before it starts.
What if the tooth started hurting on a Friday night?
Our office is closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Call anyway; whatever the hour, a real person answers and holds Monday at 9:00 AM for you. Use the steps above to get through the weekend. If any of the hospital signs show up in the meantime, go to St. Elizabeth Edgewood or St. Elizabeth Florence instead of waiting.
This article is general information, not dental advice. Call us or see a dentist for your own situation.