Dental appointments come around like clockwork every few months but every now and then we need to see a dentist in between our check-ups because of a particular problem. Usually you can just call your surgery and make an extra appointment, but what happens if someone in your family suffers a dental emergency outside of the clinic’s opening hours? After all, accidents and injuries can happen at any time of the night or weekend and dentists do not work on call like doctors.

If your dental emergency has been caused by an injury, perhaps you have lost a tooth after falling over or playing sports, then the best thing to do is to head to your local Accident and Emergency department. Not only will they be able to check you out and make sure that you haven’t suffered any less obvious injuries, but they will also be able to put you in touch with the emergency dental service in your local area.

Most towns and cities, including London, house excellent private dental practices that are happy to attend to your needs on the very day of your accident. Emergency appointments are readily available, and you will be put in contact with a team that is reassuring and accommodating.

In the event of a dental emergency, there are a few things that you can do to help your own dentist or the emergency surgery to treat you. For example, if one of your teeth is knocked out you should rinse it carefully and try to see if you can place it back in the hole – never force it into position. If this doesn’t work, put the tooth in a glass of milk and get it and yourself to a dentist as soon as possible; in many cases knocked-out teeth can be reattached so long as you get to a surgery within one hour.