Walsall Emergency Dentist

Emergency practice:

Having once been the designated NHS emergency dental practice for the Birmingham and West Midland area, Scott Arms Dental Practice is well equipped to treat large numbers of emergency patients. Our dentists have extensive experience in all matters of dental emergency and, as a practice, we have treated over 100,000 emergencies in our 20 years of out-of-hours service.

We currently provide the largest service for emergency care in the West Midlands, offering appointments and treating walk-in patients up to 11 o clock at night.

Opening hours and appointments:

Call 0121 357 5000 to arrange an appointment, a walk-in slot, or for 24-hour advice over the weekend.

Emergencies patients can be seen from 9am to 11pm, seven days a week, 365 days a year. We offer a walk-in service during these times, but recommend phoning beforehand (the earlier the better) to arrange an appointment time and avoid a wait. Over the weekend, our dentists’ time is dedicated entirely to emergency patients and even NHS appointments can be offered each day on a first-come-first-serve basis.

If you have a problem between 11pm and 9am on a weekend, telephone our helpline, 0121 357 5000, to speak to one of our nurses; we’ll be able to give you advice on pain management and arrange an appointment for you for the following morning.

Travelling to us:

By bus – Scott Arms Dental Practice is located only five minutes from Walsall town and is easily connected via bus routes 51 and x51, which travel regularly 7 days a week. These same buses also connect both Walsall and Scott Arms Dental Practice to Birmingham city centre.

By train – The nearest railway station is Hamstead station, situated a twenty minute walk or short bus journey away.

By car – The practice is on Walsall road (A34), half a mile from junction 7 of the M6. We have on-site parking and can direct you to nearby car parks if we are full.

Dental emergencies:

• Toothache
• Abscess
• Soft tissue or dental trauma
• Oral swellings
• Severe pain following a tooth extraction
• Broken braces, other orthodontic appliances or dentures
• Painful braces, other orthodontic appliances or dentures
• Chipped tooth
• Lost, loose or displaced tooth
• Lost crown, bridge or other dental work
• A lost or chipped filling

Managing dental pain at home:

• Over-the-counter pain medication may ease a variety of dental pains. Most often recommended are ibuprofen to ease discomfort of an inflammatory nature (such as toothache and soft-tissue trauma) and paracetamol. Stronger analgesics include co-codamol, which contains paracetamol and codeine. For maximum effect, paracetamol and ibuprofen (or co-codamol and ibuprofen) can be taken at staggered intervals. Always read the instructions before taking analgesics and beware of taking paracetamol tablets alongside other paracetamol-containing medications. For more information about paracetamol safety, read our related article.
• Alternative anti-inflammatories may be even more effective than ibuprofen; Naproxen (branded Aleve) is a non-steriodal anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen but is often found to work exceedingly well against toothache. Always read the label before consuming and take caution when using Aleve alongside other non-steroidal anti-inflammatories.
• Difflam is an oral rinse/spray specifically designed for relief of oral pain. It contains an anti-inflammatory and an anaesthetic to reduce inflammation and provide numbness. Difflam is recommended for sore throats, ulcers and pain following dental surgery. As previously mentioned, read the label before using and speak to your dentist if you intend to use Difflam after any type of dental surgery.
• Half a teaspoon of sea salt dissolved in one cup of warm water can be used as a soothing and antibacterial rinse for a number of dental discomforts; any soft tissue lesion (ulcers, abscesses and inflammation associated with wisdom tooth eruption) will benefit from regular salt-water rinses. Take care not to use too much salt, as it can cause irritation.
  A hot compress (such as a hot water bottle wrapped in a blanket) may be useful in alleviating muscular pain, often caused by jaw joint disorders or trauma. Cold or hot compresses can also be used to ease toothache, though be sure to only apply for a maximum of ten minutes to avoid a burn.
• If you are suffering with dental pain during the night, sleep with an extra pillow under your head; raising the site of pain will slightly reduce the blood flow to the area, thus minimising inflammation.
• Both clove oil and vanilla extract have been indicated for topical pain relief from toothache.

West Midlands Emergency Dentists

Same Day Emergency Dental Service

Offering both emergency and general dental treatment, the Scott Arms Dental Practice sees and treats one of the highest number of emergency treatment patients in the West Midlands area. Having once been the official out-of-hours emergency contact for the Birmingham Dental Hospital patients, Scott Arms have over two decades worth of emergency management and specialise in same-day appointments with fast and effective pain relief.

Open all Year Round – Including Christmas

Open 365 days a year to treat any dental emergency, Scott Arms is a consistent provider of immediate treatment. Emergency appointments are available on the same day up until 11:00pm. We also operate a help-line which runs 24 hours over the weekend: our highly-trained nurses and are experienced at offering dental advice and can book you in for the first appointment of the following day at any time of night.

Dental Emergencies

The following are all described as dental emergencies by the West Midland Emergency Dentists:

• Toothache
• Abscesses
• Broken or chipped teeth
• Broken dentures
• Loose or lost bridges/crowns
• Having a tooth knocked out
• Broken braces or orthodontic appliances
• Any oral trauma, to either teeth of soft tissues
• Any acute oral pain, even if the origin is unclear

Dental emergencies most commonly involve toothache, though Scott Arms Dental Practice is experienced at dealing with and treating all of the above.

Emergency Dental Advice

If you are suffering from toothache and aren’t available to see us, feel free to call one of our nurses for advice. Furthermore, below you will find some common alleviating home remedies to help ease the discomfort:

• Take standard pain medication such as ibuprofen. Co-codamol is often recommended as it contains both paracetamol and codeine, which can both be taken alongside ibuprofen for thorough pain relief. A successful way of incorporating all these drugs to maximum effect is to stagger their use. Always read the leaflet provided before taking any of these medications as they are not appropriate for everyone.
• Both Aleve (naproxen sodium) and Tylenol (acetaminophen) have been suggested as particularly effective against pain of dental origin. As before, always read the leaflet before consuming any medication.
• Warm salt-water rinses are always recommended for soft-tissue injuries. Swollen gums, irritated soft tissues, painful wisdom teeth, abscesses and previous extraction sites can all usually be eased by a gentle rinse with warm salt water.
• If you can’t see a dentist until the next morning, sleep with an extra pillow at night. Having the wound slightly higher will reduce the blood flow to the area, limiting inflammation.
• Clove oil can be used directly on a sore tooth to help ease pain.
• Difflam can be bought at a number of pharmacies and is effective at easing any soft tissue pain. Be sure to read the label and use appropriately.
• Ice/heat compress – wrapping either ice cubes or a heated press in a blanket and applying it to the face in the area of pain can often help. Sometimes you will know whether hot or cold will be most alleviating. Hot presses are often recommended for muscular pains, such as those associated with jaw joint pain, while cold presses may be better at easing tooth ache. Don’t use the pack for more than ten minutes at a time to avoid injury.
• Vanilla extract (not essence) can help ease tooth ache when applied to the tooth in question. It contains a low level of alcohol, which provides a numbing effect. The scent is often thought to be calming too.

Call Now for Emergency Dental Treatment

To make an appointment for West Midlands emergency treatment or to receive dental emergency advice, call 0121 357 5000, available until 11pm Mon-Thurs and 24 hours Fri-Sun.

Wisdom Teeth Advice from an Emergency West Midlands Dentist

Wisdom teeth are your third molars (the most posterior tooth in your mouth) and can be one of the most common causes of dental pain, luckily our emergency dentists in the West Midlands have years of experience dealing with these emergencies. Wisdom teeth are unpredictable teeth, which can either erupt (generally between the ages of 18 and 21) or not erupt at all. In some situations they may not even form; this is relatively common and is arguably beneficial for the person as wisdom teeth have very little functional involvement. Most problems that occur with wisdom teeth happen when they become impacted (stuck against another tooth) or partially erupted (where they only partially protrude from the gum). These problems can cause significant tooth and gum pain. If you are suffering from either of these problems, see one of our dentists as soon as you can. If the tooth is healthy and does not require extraction, he/she will advise you on how best to look after it and how to keep yourself out of pain. If the tooth is infected, decayed or causing damage to other teeth it may need to be extracted, though there is a degree of reluctance in taking out such a posterior tooth (which is renowned for its complex anatomy) if not completely necessary; some people may have to learn to live with wisdom tooth flare-ups and tackle them symptomatically.

Here are some ways to relieve the pain:

• Place an extra pillow under your head at night – most people find their wisdom teeth cause most pain whilst they are trying to sleep; by lying down more blood can flow to the wisdom tooth, which aggravates the pain caused by the inflammation. Less blood will flow to the area, resulting in less pain, if your head is slightly elevated.
• Take standard pain medication – One of the most successful medications in combating dental pain is co-codamol, which is a codeine and paracetamol combination medication. You can take ibuprofen alongside co-codamol for maximum pain relief. Two further medications recommended in combating tooth pain are Tylenol (acetaminophen) or Aleve (naproxen sodium). Be sure to always read the label before taking any medications and never exceed the recommended dose.
• Clove oil – use a standard clove to alleviate your pain by placing it onto the wisdom tooth, or place a few drops of clove oil onto it instead.
• Ice pack – hold an ice pack to the sore area to numb the pain. Make sure you only use it for a few minutes at a time as not to cause further pain.
• Vanilla extract (not vanilla essence) – add a few drops of vanilla extract to the wisdom tooth. It works by numbing the area (as it contains low levels of alcohol) and the scent had proved to be relaxing.
  To ease the gum pain:
• Warm salt-water rinses – if your wisdom tooth is partially erupted and the gum around it is sore, rinse with warm salt-water. Be sure to force the water to the back of the mouth so it bathes the wisdom tooth.
• Difflam – this is a liquid that can be purchased from chemists and is good at easing discomfort from sore gum tissue around partially erupted wisdom teeth.

Wisdom tooth care:

• Interdental cleaning – flossing around your wisdom teeth can be nearly impossible. Try different ways of interdental cleaning like water floss, tepe brushes, dental sticks, etc. to see which one may work for you. If it is futile, try to rinse hard with mouthwash in that area.
• Keep your wisdom teeth really clean – you can buy special single-tufted brushes, which are good at accessing the back of the mouth, and cleaning under flaps over gum overlying wisdom teeth.

If you’re experiencing further problems with your wisdom teeth and would like to see one of our emergency dentists in the West Midlands please contact the team on 0121 357 5000 where we will be happy to help.