Emergency Dental Clinic Ballarat

If you are suffering from a dental emergency, it is important to attend a dentist as soon as possible. The best outcomes result from visiting a dentist within 24 hours. Please call us on (03) 5331 9285 to schedule an appointment.

If there is significant bleeding or you suspect that there are any broken bones, please present yourself at Ballarat Regional Hospital. In the meantime, there are some things you can do to prepare yourself for the visit.

If you have knocked out an adult tooth:

• Find the tooth: the tooth may still be in your mouth, but it is likely to have fallen somewhere nearby. Try and pick the tooth up at the crown end – the whiter part of the tooth that we normally see.
• Clean the tooth: It is best to rinse the tooth with milk to ensure it is free of dirt. If milk is not available, using your saliva is the second best choice. Do not use running water as this may remove the protective layer of the root.
• Place the tooth back into its socket: holding the crown end, slowly place the tooth back into the socket. Make sure someone helps you check the tooth so that it looks normal, and not the wrong way around. You can keep it in place by biting on a wet teabag, or wrapping aluminium foil around the teeth in place.
• If you do not feel comfortable placing it back, keep the tooth for the appointment: the best thing to store a tooth in is cow’s milk. If milk is not available, saliva is an alternative– just keep it in the person’s mouth on the outside of the teeth, just where the cheek meets the teeth. Be careful not to swallow it!
• Check for other associated injuries: This can include dizziness, nausea, difficulty opening and closing the mouth, ongoing and sever pain, and/or a bite that doesn’t feel the same. If so, please visit the emergency department of the closest hospital. Sometimes, a hit to the head can cause other injuries that need to be seen by a medical doctor.
• Keep the tooth fragment: sometimes we can bond the two tooth fragments back together. This should be kept in milk as mentioned above.
• Avoid biting on the tooth until it is seen: this can sometimes aggravate the injury. It is best to avoid eating until you can see us – otherwise you should stick to a soft diet.
• Check for other associated injuries: This can include dizziness, nausea, difficulty opening and closing the mouth, ongoing and sever pain, and/or a bite that doesn’t feel the same. If so, please visit the emergency department of the closest hospital. Sometimes, a hit to the head can cause other injuries that need to be seen by a medical doctor.
• Take some pain relief: Ibuprofen (Nurofen, Advil) is the best medication for toothache. It should be taken at the recommended dose every 4 hours. Paracetamol (Panadol, Panamax) can also help, and should also be taken at the recommended dose every 4 hours. It can be taken in conjunction with Ibuprofen: we recommend taking Paracetamol two hours after the first Ibuprofen dose, meaning you alternate medications every two hours.
• Warm packs: to the affected area can sometimes help. Sometimes, drinking warm fluids can ease the soreness until you can have an appointment made with us.

If it is a child tooth, do not attempt to place it back in: we can advise of the options available.

If you have broken a tooth from an accident:

• Keep the tooth fragment: sometimes we can bond the two tooth fragments back together. This should be kept in milk as mentioned above.
• Avoid biting on the tooth until it is seen: this can sometimes aggravate the injury. It is best to avoid eating until you can see us – otherwise you should stick to a soft diet.
• Check for other associated injuries: This can include dizziness, nausea, difficulty opening and closing the mouth, ongoing and sever pain, and/or a bite that doesn’t feel the same. If so, please visit the emergency department of the closest hospital. Sometimes, a hit to the head can cause other injuries that need to be seen by a medical doctor.

If you have toothache:

• Take some pain relief: Ibuprofen (Nurofen, Advil) is the best medication for toothache. It should be taken at the recommended dose every 4 hours. Paracetamol (Panadol, Panamax) can also help, and should also be taken at the recommended dose every 4 hours. It can be taken in conjunction with Ibuprofen: we recommend taking Paracetamol two hours after the first Ibuprofen dose, meaning you alternate medications every two hours.
• Warm packs: to the affected area can sometimes help. Sometimes, drinking warm fluids can ease the soreness until you can have an appointment made with us.

If you have broken your denture: try and find all the broken pieces and return it to us. Do not attempt to try and glue the pieces back together. This can make repairing the denture more difficult. We will usually take some moulds of your teeth and denture to best repair the dentures.

We also work in concert with other local providers to provide weekend emergency services to the Ballarat region. Please call us on (03) 5331 9285.