Our Salt Lake City office is not open on Sunday. The phone, though, is picked up by a real person every hour of the weekend: call (385) 480-0270, give your details, and Monday's 8:00 AM opening is held for you. For spreading swelling, trouble breathing or swallowing, or bleeding that won't stop, go to the nearest emergency room now.
The rest of this post is about what you can do with the next 24 hours: how to get through a toothache, what to do with a tooth that just got knocked out, how to judge swelling, and when a hospital is the right place to be.
What actually happens when you call us on a Sunday
Our chairside hours are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Thursday from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. The office is closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A Sunday call doesn't go to voicemail. A live answering service picks up, asks who's calling, how to reach you and what hurts, and logs it for the front desk. The first opening on Monday morning, 8:00 AM, is held for you.
The answering service doesn't give medical advice and doesn't decide how serious your problem is. The checklist below is written for that reason.
When Monday comes, the visit runs the same way it always does: exam and X-ray, a diagnosis in plain words, a written price, and then treatment, often at that same appointment. The call-first system is laid out in full on the same-day dentist page.
Your Sunday plan, step by step
- Run the ER checklist first. Swelling that's heading for the eye or the neck, difficulty breathing or swallowing, bleeding that 15 to 20 minutes of pressure hasn't slowed, or a possible broken jaw means go to the hospital, not to a dentist's voicemail.
- Call us anyway. Even if you end up at the ER, the tooth will still need treatment afterward. Calling on Sunday gets you Monday's first opening instead of the back of the line.
- Manage the pain. The standard first-aid steps: an over-the-counter pain reliever (follow its label), something cold held against the cheek, and a warm salt-water rinse.
- Protect what's left. Don't chew on that side, skip very hot and very cold drinks, and keep any piece of tooth or crown that came off.
- Write down what changed overnight. New swelling, fever, a bad taste, or pain that moved are all things the dentist wants to hear Monday morning.
Sunday toothache: getting through the night
A toothache that started Saturday and is worse on Sunday is usually the nerve inside the tooth reacting to decay, a crack, or a filling that has failed. It hurts, and it generally isn't dangerous on its own.
Use whatever over-the-counter pain reliever you normally take, following its label. Hold something cold against the outside of the cheek for 15 to 20 minutes, then take a break. Rinse with warm salt water. Floss gently around the tooth in case something is lodged there. Don't put an aspirin tablet on the gum; it scorches the gum tissue and never gets near the nerve. Sleep with your head propped up, which takes some of the pressure off the tooth. The same steps are on Mayo Clinic's first-aid page at Toothache first aid at Mayo Clinic.
When a cracked or broken tooth is the source of the pain, the toothache relief and broken tooth repair pages describe what Monday's visit will involve.
Knocked-out tooth on a Sunday: the clock matters
This is the one Sunday emergency where time changes the outcome. A permanent tooth that's been knocked out has its strongest odds of going back in and staying if it's replanted within the first hour or so, and the odds drop the longer it's out and dry.
The white part, the crown, is where you hold it; keep your fingers off the root. Dirt comes off with a quick swish in milk or water; no scrubbing. The ideal spot is back in its own socket, with a clean cloth bitten down over it. If that's not possible, milk in a cup or the inside of your cheek will do; plain water and tissues will not. The American Dental Association's patient guidance on handling a knocked-out tooth and other dental emergencies is at MouthHealthy: Dental Emergencies.
Then call us. A knocked-out tooth with no head injury or heavy bleeding is still a dental problem, and the earliest we can see it is Monday at 8:00 AM, which the answering service will hold for you. If there was a blow to the head, confusion, or bleeding that won't stop, the ER handles those first. Our knocked-out tooth page has the full set of instructions for the drive.
The rule for baby teeth differs: one that's knocked out generally isn't replanted, but the child should still be seen so the dentist can check the gum and the tooth underneath.
Swelling on a Sunday: how to tell what's urgent
Swelling signals infection, and infection is the dental problem with the potential to become a medical one. The question is where the swelling is and whether it's moving.
Swelling that's confined to the gum next to one tooth, maybe with a pimple-like bump that drains, is an abscess at the tooth. It needs a dentist soon, and Monday morning is usually soon enough if the rest of you feels fine. Rinse with warm salt water, don't press on it, and call us so the opening is held. The dental abscess treatment page explains what happens at the visit.
Swelling that has spread into the cheek, under the jaw, upward to the eye or downward into the neck, or that arrives with a fever, trouble opening your mouth, or any difficulty with breathing or swallowing, is a different thing. That is the infection moving beyond the tooth, and it needs a hospital today. Mayo Clinic lists the warning signs at Mayo Clinic: Tooth abscess.
When the emergency room is the right Sunday call
Utah emergency rooms treat spreading infection, facial injuries and uncontrolled bleeding. They do not pull teeth or do root canals, so a trip to the ER for a plain toothache usually ends with instructions to see a dentist. For the dangerous symptoms, though, they are exactly the right place, and the two nearest to our 4500 South office are Intermountain Medical Center on State Street at 5300 South and St. Mark's Hospital on 1200 East near 3900 South. When the hospital is done with the urgent part, the tooth is still ours to treat, so call us for Monday.
When to call a dentist today
Worked through the list above on a Sunday? Call (385) 480-0270 now and let the answering service hold Monday's 8:00 AM opening. If it's Monday through Thursday during office hours, the same call lands you a same-day appointment at our 4500 South office in the Murray area. We don't take walk-ins; your call is what books the chair and the dentist.
If you have no insurance, $99 is the charge for the exam and X-ray, and the visit starts there.
The $99 emergency exam fee is for patients paying without insurance. It covers a limited, problem-focused emergency exam and the X-ray needed to diagnose the tooth. Treatment is priced separately and quoted to you in writing before any work starts.
Frequently asked questions
Is any part of your office staffed on Sunday?
No. The office is closed Friday through Sunday, and no dentist is in the office on those days. The phone is the only thing that's staffed, by a live answering service that logs your details and keeps Monday's 8:00 AM opening for you.
What if my tooth starts hurting on Thursday afternoon?
Thursday ends at noon, so a Thursday afternoon call is handled the way a weekend call is: a real person takes your information and holds Monday morning's first opening. Thursday morning calls can still get a same-day time, so if the tooth has been bothering you all week, call Thursday at 8:00 AM rather than at 2:00 PM.
Will I be seen first thing Monday if I called Sunday?
If you called and the answering service logged your details, Monday's 8:00 AM opening is held for you. Call back Monday morning if anything changed overnight, especially new swelling or fever, so the front desk knows what to expect when you arrive.
This article is for general education and is not a substitute for an exam by a licensed dentist.