Pain, swelling, a broken tooth or one knocked clean out. The first hour matters for some of these and not at all for others. Below is what to do right now, and the ten closest practices with urgent capacity.
Free to use. We're paid by verified practices, never by ranking position.
Emergency exam
$99 – $250
Pain relief visit
$150 – $400
Emergency extraction
$220 – $650
Median time to be seen
4 hours
Same-day slotsevery listed practice holds urgent capacity daily
Step 1 — your location
Ten emergency dentists near you, ranked by who can see you soonest.
For emergencies we invert the usual ranking — availability first, then distance, then reviews. Use the same-week filter and call the top two rather than emailing.
Your location is used to sort results and is never sold or shared with third parties.
Showing 10 emergency dentists near Austin, TXRanked by distance, review quality and published pricing
Facial swelling that is spreading, particularly towards the eye or under the jaw, is urgent and can become dangerous — that is an emergency department, not a dentist, if you are having any difficulty breathing or swallowing. A knocked-out adult tooth is a genuine sixty-minute emergency. Severe pain, a broken tooth or a lost crown are urgent and uncomfortable but not dangerous, and are best handled by a dentist within a day or two rather than in an emergency room that cannot treat teeth.
Call 911 or go to an ER for swelling with difficulty breathing or swallowing, or uncontrolled bleeding. This is the one that is genuinely dangerous.
A knocked-out adult tooth has a 60-minute window. Hold it by the crown, rinse in milk or saline, and reimplant it or keep it in milk on the way.
Never put aspirin on the gum. It burns the tissue and does nothing for the tooth. Take painkillers by mouth as directed.
A hospital ER cannot fix teeth. They will give you antibiotics and pain relief, then tell you to see a dentist. Go to the dentist first if you safely can.
Different emergencies have completely different clocks. Find yours below, then use the finder above.
01
Knocked-out adult tooth
Hold the crown, not the root. Rinse in milk or saline for ten seconds. Push it back into the socket if you can, or keep it in milk. Get seen within 60 minutes.
Within 60 min
02
Facial swelling
If it is spreading towards the eye or under the jaw, or you have any trouble breathing or swallowing, go to an emergency department now. Otherwise, same-day dentist.
Immediate
03
Severe toothache
Ibuprofen and paracetamol together work better than either alone. Cold compress outside the cheek. Dentist within 24–48 hours.
Within 24–48 hr
04
Broken tooth or lost crown
Keep the fragment or crown. Cover a sharp edge with dental wax or sugar-free gum. Dentist within a few days.
Within a few days
05
Bleeding after an extraction
Bite firmly on damp gauze for twenty minutes without checking. If it soaks through repeatedly for over an hour, call the practice or an ER.
Within 1 hr if persistent
Before & after
Emergency cases from practices on this list.
Submitted by listed practices, with the patient's written release and the fee they actually charged.
BeforeAfter
Knocked-out front tooth, reimplanted in 40 minutes
Cycling accident. Kept in milk on the way, splinted on arrival, root treated two weeks later. Tooth survived.
Duration
40 min to chair
Fee charged
$1,890
BeforeAfter
2am abscess, seen at 8am
Facial swelling with no breathing difficulty. Antibiotics overnight, drainage and root canal the next morning.
Duration
6 hours
Fee charged
$1,640
BeforeAfter
Crown lost on a Friday evening
Re-cemented Saturday morning at no charge beyond the emergency exam. Original crown intact.
Duration
14 hours
Fee charged
$140
Individual results vary with your diagnosis, anatomy and healing. Fees shown are what those specific patients paid at those specific practices and are not a quote. Photography on this page is licensed stock imagery, not photographs of the patients described.
Cost & insurance
What emergency dental care costs in 2026.
Ranges below are the 25th–75th percentile of fees published by listed practices. Any dentist we match you with has agreed to give you a written quote before treatment.
Treatment
Typical range
With 0% plan
Emergency examinationIncluding an X-ray of the tooth
$99 – $250
$0Often insured
Pain relief / drainageOpening a tooth to relieve pressure
$150 – $400
Bundled
Emergency extractionSimple or surgical
$220 – $650
Bundled
Re-cementing a lost crownIf the crown is intact
$95 – $250
Bundled
Temporary fillingTo settle things until definitive treatment
Ask about the out-of-hours surcharge when you call, not when you arrive. It is a legitimate charge and most practices publish it, but it is the single most common source of surprise on an emergency bill. Emergency examinations themselves are usually covered by insurance at normal diagnostic rates.
What insurance usually covers
Emergency examinations are usually covered at standard diagnostic rates on most PPO plans.
Palliative treatment has its own code and is generally claimable even when definitive treatment happens later.
Out-of-hours surcharges are rarely covered and come out of pocket.
A hospital ER visit for dental pain is billed as a medical claim and typically costs far more for far less treatment.
FSA and HSA funds cover this in full — it is a qualified medical expense.
In-house 0% plans at 6–24 months, offered by roughly two-thirds of listed practices.
Third-party financing at 24–72 months, typically 9.9%–17.9% APR once the promotional window ends.
Dental school clinics run 40–60% below private fees, with longer timelines and supervised residents.
Get it itemised, in writing — every time
Every component on a separate line. It is the only way two quotes ever become comparable, and every practice on this list has agreed to give you one before you pay a deposit.
Payment calculator
Work out the monthly number before you walk in.
Drag the sliders to your situation. Nothing is submitted anywhere — this runs entirely in your browser.
Estimates only. Actual approval, APR and term depend on the practice, the lender and your credit. Promotional 0% offers are usually deferred-interest products — if the balance is not cleared inside the promotional window, interest may be charged retroactively from the purchase date. Always read the credit agreement.
Compare your options
Dentist, emergency room, or wait until Monday?
The wrong choice here is expensive or, occasionally, dangerous. This is the honest triage.
Ask to see every option planned. A dentist who only ever recommends one route, regardless of the scan, is worth a second opinion.
Emergency dentist
Hospital emergency room
Wait for a routine visit
Typical cost
$99 – $650
$700 – $2,000+
$0 now
Can actually treat the tooth
Yes
No — antibiotics and pain relief only
Eventually
Typical wait
2 – 8 hours
3 – 9 hours
Days to weeks
Right for spreading facial swelling
If breathing is normal
If breathing is affected
Never
Right for a knocked-out tooth
Yes, within 60 min
Cannot reimplant
Tooth will be lost
Right for a chipped tooth, no pain
Within a few days
No
Yes
How to judge a practice
Four things that separate a good practice from an average one.
None of this is marketing gloss — each one measurably changes how predictable your result is. Ask the practices you shortlist which of the four they actually have.
Imaging
They show you the images
A practice that turns the monitor towards you and walks through what it is actually seeing is a practice that expects to be questioned.
Ask to see your own scan
Pricing
A written, itemised quote
Every fee on its own line, handed over before you pay a deposit. Every practice we list has agreed to provide one.
Non-negotiable on this list
Volume
They do this often
Skill compounds with repetition. Each listing shows how many cases of this type the practice has completed in the last two years.
Case counts shown on every card
Aftercare
Someone answers afterwards
A named contact for the week after treatment, and a written policy on what a redo costs if something is not right.
Checked at every renewal
Inside the network
What a listed practice looks like.
We visit or video-audit every practice before it goes on the list — the operatory, the sterilisation room, the imaging suite and the front desk that will handle your insurance claim.
The operatoryChair, imaging and delivery unitSecond surgerySo urgent cases aren't bumpedSterile protocolAudited at every renewalThe front deskFiles your claim, not youStreet levelParking and access checked
Free consultation
Tell us the situation. We'll do the calling around.
If you are in pain right now, use the finder above and call — do not wait for an email. This form is for urgent but non-critical problems where you want two or three options with fees.
Our Austin care team — 11 people, none on commission
1. You send the details
Ninety seconds. Your ZIP, what you need, and your insurance if you have it.
2. We shortlist and forward
We pick the three strongest matches on distance, case volume and price transparency — then send them your case.
3. You compare in writing
Three written estimates in your inbox within two business days. Pick one, or none.
Care team hours (Eastern Time)
Monday – Friday7:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Saturday8:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Sunday9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Open now — median callback time 41 minutes
Get up to 3 written estimates
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FAQ
Dental emergency questions, answered straight.
Reviewed by our clinical advisory panel in January 2026. General information, not a diagnosis.
Still deciding?
Talk it through with a care coordinator before you book anything. They don't work on commission and they can tell you when this is the wrong call.
Three things are genuinely time-critical: facial swelling that is spreading, especially with any difficulty breathing or swallowing; a knocked-out adult tooth, which has roughly a sixty-minute window; and uncontrolled bleeding. Everything else — severe pain, a broken tooth, a lost crown — is urgent and miserable but not dangerous, and is best seen by a dentist within one to three days.
Pick it up by the crown, never the root. If it is dirty, rinse it for about ten seconds in milk or saline — not water, and do not scrub it. If you can, push it gently back into the socket and bite on a cloth to hold it. If you cannot, put it in a cup of milk or hold it inside your cheek. Get to a dentist within sixty minutes; every extra ten minutes measurably reduces the chance it survives.
Only if you have spreading facial swelling with breathing or swallowing difficulty, uncontrolled bleeding, or trauma involving more than teeth. A hospital emergency department has no dentist and no dental equipment — they will give you antibiotics and painkillers and tell you to see a dentist. It typically costs $700 to $2,000 for that advice, against $99 to $250 for an emergency dental exam that can actually treat the cause.
Ibuprofen and paracetamol taken together are substantially more effective for dental pain than either alone, and more effective than many opioids — take them at the doses on the packet unless a doctor has told you otherwise. A cold compress on the outside of the cheek helps swelling. Sleep with your head raised. Never hold aspirin against the gum; it causes a chemical burn and does nothing for the tooth underneath.
Not usually, but do not lose it — keep the crown, because in many cases it can simply be re-cemented for under $250 rather than remade for $1,800. Do not attempt to glue it back with household adhesive; that contaminates the fitting surface and can make re-cementing impossible. If the exposed tooth is sensitive, sugar-free gum or dental wax over it helps until you are seen.
The examination and X-ray typically run $99 to $250. Whatever treatment follows is charged separately — pain relief and drainage $150 to $400, an emergency extraction $220 to $650. The line people forget is the out-of-hours surcharge, $75 to $250 for evenings, weekends and holidays. Ask about it on the phone before you travel.
Yes at every practice on this list — accepting emergency patients regardless of whether they are registered is one of our listing conditions. You will usually be asked to complete a medical history on arrival and to pay at the visit rather than being invoiced.
Use the finder above and call rather than emailing; most listed practices have an out-of-hours number that reaches a duty dentist. If you have facial swelling with breathing or swallowing difficulty, do not wait for a callback — go to an emergency department immediately. That specific combination is the one dental problem that can become life-threatening.
Imaging
Pricing
Volume
Aftercare
