Emergency dentist in Lower Manhattan, NYC — same-day urgent care

The American Dental Association defines a true dental emergency as uncontrolled bleeding, swelling that compromises your airway or ability to swallow, or severe pain that cannot be managed at home. Beyond that clinical line, same-day evaluation is appropriate for a dental abscess with swelling, a knocked-out permanent tooth, a fractured tooth with nerve exposure, and significant soft-tissue injuries. Minor chips without pain, a lost filling with no discomfort, and mild sensitivity are urgent but not emergencies — they can usually be seen within a day or two. When you call, describe your symptoms precisely so we can triage appropriately. Swelling that affects swallowing or breathing, or fever alongside dental pain, requires an ER visit in addition to contacting us.

For most dental pain — toothache, abscess, broken tooth, lost restoration — go to a dentist, not an ER. An emergency room can prescribe antibiotics and pain medication and manage a systemic infection, but it cannot perform dental procedures, so it refers you to a dentist afterward. The only reasons to go to an ER first are swelling affecting your airway or ability to swallow, high fever alongside facial swelling, or uncontrolled bleeding. In those situations the ER manages the systemic emergency while you contact our office for the dental follow-up. For the vast majority of dental emergencies, coming straight to a dentist is the faster, more definitive path to resolution — and Centre Dental keeps walk-in access when the office is open for exactly that reason.

Yes to both. We keep same-day availability for walk-in emergency patients when the office is open — calling ahead lets us prepare and give you a wait-time estimate, but it isn't required. Patients with active pain, swelling, or trauma are seen as quickly as possible. Our staff speaks English and 中文, so Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking patients in Chinatown and Lower Manhattan can describe symptoms, understand the diagnosis, and discuss treatment options in their own language, without a family member translating through the pain. If your emergency involves swelling that affects breathing or swallowing, proceed to an ER first and call us for follow-up.

Our office hours are synced from our live scheduling system and can vary by day, so check the clinic-hours calendar or call (212) 925-7066 before visiting. An after-hours line is available for guidance outside office hours. If you have swelling affecting breathing or swallowing, or a fever alongside facial swelling, proceed to the nearest ER immediately and call us for dental follow-up once you're stable.

You'll receive a written estimate for your specific situation before any treatment begins — an emergency exam and diagnostic X-ray, plus whatever the exam shows is needed, whether that's a temporary measure, a root canal, or an extraction. Most dental insurance plans cover emergency exams and diagnostic X-rays; coverage for specific treatments depends on your plan's annual maximum, deductible, and how each procedure is classified. We verify your benefits on arrival, explain what's covered before we proceed, and offer financing and payment options for patients without insurance. What we won't do is start treatment before you've seen the cost and agreed to it.

Handle the tooth by the crown only — never the root, where the cells that allow reattachment live. If it's clean, gently reinsert it into the socket and bite on gauze to hold it in place. If you can't reinsert it, store it in cold milk or saline. Do not scrub the root, do not let the tooth dry out, and do not store it in tap water. Then get to our office as fast as you can and call ahead so we're ready. The periodontal ligament cells on the root begin dying quickly out of the socket, so the sooner the tooth is properly replanted, the better the long-term outcome — the first hour matters most.

A dental abscess is a bacterial infection that needs prompt treatment — today, not next week. In most cases, root canal therapy or extraction combined with antibiotics resolves it fully. The concern with delay is anatomical: the tooth roots sit near the connective-tissue spaces of the face and neck, and an untreated infection can track into them. Antibiotics alone quiet an abscess temporarily but don't remove the source, which is why an ER visit for an abscess so often ends with the problem returning. Fever, difficulty swallowing, difficulty opening your mouth, or significant facial swelling alongside tooth pain are signs the infection may be spreading — go to an ER immediately and call us for follow-up. Without those systemic signs, contact us for same-day evaluation.

A crown that's come off or a broken tooth is uncomfortable and leaves the tooth underneath exposed, but it's rarely life-threatening unless there's sharp pain or visible nerve tissue. If the crown is intact and seats back over the tooth without forcing it, pharmacy dental adhesive can hold it temporarily — never super glue, which damages the tooth and crown. Call us to schedule a same-day or next-day visit for proper recementation or replacement; depending on the tooth, the definitive fix may be a same-day CEREC crown. Leaving a crown off for several days risks the underlying tooth shifting or fracturing, which turns a simple recementation into a bigger repair.