Emergency root canal treatment in Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Severe toothache rarely arrives at a convenient moment. A tooth that pounds, spoils your sleep, cannot be bitten on or has a swelling beside it should be reported to us as urgent. We will arrange the earliest appointment we can, deal with the cause of the pain and settle you before planning the rest.

What we treat as urgent

constant or throbbing toothache, especially at night;
pain from hot drinks that lingers and is soothed by cold;
a tooth too tender to bite on;
swelling of the gum, cheek or lip;
pain in a tooth recently filled, crowned or knocked;
a broken or knocked-out tooth — see dental trauma.

If a swelling is growing fast, closing the eye, reaching the throat or making it hard to swallow or breathe, that is a medical emergency — ring NHS 111 or attend A&E that day.

What an emergency visit involves

Diagnosis, even in a hurry. We still test the tooth and take an X-ray, because treating the wrong tooth helps no one.
Relief. An inflamed nerve, once removed under local anaesthetic, stops hurting within hours. If an abscess is present, draining it and cleaning the canals brings the same relief. The tooth is then dressed with medication and sealed temporarily.
A plan. Once you are comfortable, treatment is completed at a booked visit and the tooth restored by your dentist.

While you wait to be seen

Take paracetamol and, if you can, ibuprofen as the packet directs; together they are more effective than either alone.
Avoid very hot or very cold food and drink, and chew on the opposite side.
Sleep propped up on an extra pillow — lying flat makes the throbbing worse.
Never hold aspirin or any other tablet against the gum; it burns the tissue.
If a temporary filling has fallen out, sugar-free chewing gum can cover the hole.

Direct enquiries welcome

You can approach us directly for emergency care without a referral. If your dentist has already examined the tooth, tell us what they found and about any prescription; we keep them informed after your visit.

Completing the treatment

Emergency treatment takes away the pain, but a tooth with a temporary dressing is not yet treated. Finishing the root canal and restoring the tooth promptly turns an emergency into a tooth you keep.

Related treatments and assessments

Root canal treatment

Root canal treatment takes away the pain of a dying nerve, removes the infection inside the tooth and lets you keep the tooth. For patients in Ashby-de-la-Zouch it is performed under magnification, with the tooth fully numbed and isolated, usually in a single visit.

Root canal retreatment

A root filling can fail long after it was placed, but that rarely means losing the tooth. Retreatment removes the old filling, cleans the whole canal system — including any canal overlooked the first time — and seals and restores the tooth again.

Microscope-assisted endodontics

Canals can be thinner than a bristle and hidden under hardened dentine. The operating microscope gives a bright, magnified view inside the tooth — and it is how every root canal treatment and retreatment at the practice is carried out.