Saturday morning, a soccer field in Evesham Township, and an elbow catches your son in the mouth. There is blood, there is a tooth on the turf, and you have no idea whether picking it up correctly matters. It does, and you have less time than you think. Dental emergencies in Marlton, NJ, are handled at our office on W. Greentree Road, and the single most useful thing you can do is call us right away and we will get you seen as soon as we can.
If you are reading this in the middle of one, skip ahead to the first aid steps below and make the call. Everything else on this page can wait until you are sitting in our chair.
Do not wait it out. Call our Marlton office at 856.983.9620, or request an appointment online if the situation is uncomfortable but stable.
Dental Emergencies in Marlton, NJ: Which Problems Cannot Wait
The honest answer is that most people underestimate. Pain that wakes you up is not a wait-and-see problem, and neither is swelling. Here is the rough sort we use.
- Call us right away: A knocked-out adult tooth, a tooth pushed out of position, uncontrolled bleeding, facial or gum swelling, or pain that over-the-counter medication is not touching
- Call us today: A cracked or broken tooth, a lost crown or filling, a broken denture, a sharp edge cutting your tongue, or a dull ache that has been building for days
- Call us this week: Mild sensitivity to cold that fades quickly, a small chip with no pain, or food catching in one spot
When in doubt, call. We would much rather talk you through something minor over the phone than see it three weeks later as a root canal.
The Emergencies We See Most Often
Severe Toothache
A toothache that throbs, radiates into your ear or temple, or wakes you at night usually means the nerve inside the tooth is inflamed or infected. Painkillers mask it for a while, and then they stop working. Treatment is typically a root canal to remove the infected tissue and save the tooth, followed by a crown to protect it. See what root canal treatment in Marlton involves.
Knocked-Out Tooth
An adult tooth that comes out whole can often be reimplanted, and the odds fall sharply with every passing minute. Handle it by the crown, never the root, and keep it moist. The steps below matter more than anything else on this page. A custom mouthguard prevents many of these.
Broken or Lost Crowns and Fillings
Losing a crown or filling is rarely painful at first, which is why people put it off. The tooth underneath is now unprotected and often hollowed out. Keep the crown if you find it, since we can frequently re-cement the same one.
Cracked and Fractured Teeth
Cracks range from cosmetic chips to fractures that run below the gum. Bonding repairs small chips. Pain when you release a bite is the classic sign of a crack that has reached the dentin. Caught early, a crown usually saves the tooth. Caught late, extraction may be the only option left.
Swelling and Abscess
Swelling means infection has spread beyond the tooth. A pimple-like bump on the gum, a puffy cheek, or a bad taste that keeps returning all point to an abscess. This is the category people wait on and should not. Call us the same day.
What Waiting Actually Costs
Emergency dentistry is one of the few areas where the fast choice is also the cheaper choice. We see this pattern constantly.
| Problem | If we see it promptly | If you wait it out |
|---|---|---|
| Deep cavity that has started to ache | Filling or root canal, and you keep the tooth | The nerve dies, an abscess forms, and you are looking at extraction and replacement |
| Cracked tooth | A crown holds the tooth together | The crack travels toward the root, and the tooth is no longer restorable |
| Knocked-out adult tooth | Reimplanted quickly, it often survives | The socket heals closed, so you need a bridge or an implant instead |
| Crown or filling that fell out | Re-cemented or replaced for a modest fee | The exposed tooth decays or neighboring teeth drift, and a bigger restoration is required |
| Swelling in the face or jaw | Drainage and antibiotics resolve it | Infection spreads into deeper tissue, which becomes a hospital problem |
Knocked-Out Tooth: The First Ten Minutes
If an adult tooth has been knocked out, do this before you do anything else.
- Pick it up by the crown. That is the chewing surface, the part that normally shows. Never touch the root, because the cells on it are what allow the tooth to reattach.
- Rinse it gently if it is dirty. Cool water or milk for a few seconds. Do not scrub it, do not use soap, and do not dry it off.
- Try to put it back in the socket. Line it up and press it gently into place, then bite softly on a clean cloth to hold it. This is the single best thing you can do.
- If it will not go back, keep it wet. Milk is ideal. A tooth preservation solution is better still if a sports kit has one. Saliva works in a pinch, held inside the cheek if the patient is old enough not to swallow it. Plain water is the last resort.
- Call us on the way. Tell us what happened and roughly when. Getting the tooth back into the socket within the first hour gives it the best chance.
Baby teeth are a different matter. Do not try to reinsert a knocked-out baby tooth, since that can damage the permanent tooth developing above it. Call us anyway so we can check the socket.
When the Emergency Room Is the Right Call
A hospital emergency department is not equipped to save a tooth, but there are situations where it is exactly where you belong. Go to the ER, or call 911, for any of these:
- Swelling that reaches your eye, your neck, or the floor of your mouth
- Difficulty breathing or swallowing
- Bleeding that will not stop after fifteen minutes of firm pressure
- A suspected broken or dislocated jaw
- A head injury, loss of consciousness, or persistent vomiting after facial trauma
For everything else, a dental office is faster, cheaper, and far more likely to solve the actual problem. An ER can give you antibiotics and pain relief. It cannot do a root canal.
Cost of Emergency Dental Care in Marlton, NJ
Cost depends on your treatment plan, and we’ll walk you through it at your complimentary consult.
The emergency visit itself is the small number.
What moves the number: which tooth is involved, whether the nerve is affected, and whether the tooth can be restored or has to come out and be replaced.
On insurance, most dental plans cover emergency exams and a meaningful share of extractions and root canals, though annual maximums get consumed quickly by a crisis. We verify your benefits before treatment and give you the out-of-pocket figure in writing. CareCredit financing is available, and the Monokian Membership Plan has no waiting periods, which matters when the need is immediate. No insurance? No problem. Our payment and insurance page covers every option.
Serving Marlton & South Jersey
Our Marlton office at 151 W. Greentree Road, Suite A is a short drive from most of Burlington County, which matters a great deal when minutes count. We see urgent patients from:
- Marlton
- Evesham Township
- Mount Laurel
- Medford
- Cherry Hill
- Voorhees
If you are closer to Camden County, our Haddonfield office on N. Haddon Avenue handles the same urgent care. Call whichever is nearer.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dental Emergencies
How much does an emergency dentist visit cost in Marlton, NJ?
Cost depends on your treatment plan, and we’ll walk you through it at your complimentary consult.
What should I do if a tooth gets knocked out?
Pick it up by the crown, not the root, rinse it gently with milk or cool water, and try to place it back in the socket right away. If it will not go back, store it in milk. Then call us right away and we will get you seen as soon as we can.
Can I be seen if I have never been a patient here?
Yes. You do not need to be an established patient to call us with an emergency. Bring a photo ID and your insurance card if you have one, and let us know your medical history and current medications when you call.
How do I manage the pain until I get there?
Over-the-counter ibuprofen taken as directed on the label works well for dental pain, and a cold compress on the outside of the cheek helps with swelling. Do not put aspirin directly on the gum, and avoid very hot or very cold food and drink.
Is a chipped tooth an emergency?
Usually not, if there is no pain and no sharp edge. Call us and describe it. A small chip can often wait for a normal appointment, but pain when you bite or sensitivity to air suggests the crack goes deeper than it looks.
Will I need a root canal or an extraction?
That depends on whether the tooth is restorable, which we determine with an X-ray and an exam. Our strong preference is always to save the tooth. Extraction is what we recommend when the structure left is not enough to support a restoration.
Can dental emergencies be prevented?
Many can. Regular checkups catch decay and cracks before they become painful, and a custom mouthguard prevents a large share of the sports injuries we treat. Chewing ice and opening packages with your teeth cause more emergencies than anyone admits.
Call Us Right Away
Dental pain does not resolve itself, and infections do not either. Reaching out early is almost always cheaper, faster, and less invasive than waiting.
- Call us: 856.983.9620, or 856.336.5086 if you are new to the practice
- Book online: Request an appointment if your situation is uncomfortable but stable
We have treated our patients like family since 1978, and that is never truer than on the day something goes wrong.