Guide · Emergencies

Toothache or dental emergency? What to do tonight in Edinburgh

Dental problems have a habit of starting at 9pm on a Sunday. Here’s what to do right now for the common ones, what can safely wait until morning, and the two situations that shouldn’t wait at all.

Toothache

• Pain relief: ordinary painkillers as directed on the packet. Never put a tablet against the gum or tooth — it burns the tissue and doesn’t help.
• Which painkiller: paracetamol or ibuprofen. Don’t give aspirin to children under 16. If you think you’ve taken more than the maximum dose, phone 111.
• Avoid the triggers: very hot, cold or sweet food and drink on that side; chew on the other side.
• Rinse: warm salt water can ease a sore gum around the tooth.
• What it usually means: throbbing pain that wakes you, or pain that lingers after hot or cold, often means the nerve of the tooth is inflamed or infected — that’s a root canal or extraction conversation, and painkillers only buy time. Book the same day.

A knocked-out adult tooth

The one dental emergency where minutes matter.

1. Pick it up by the crown (the white part) — never the root.
2. If it’s dirty, rinse it briefly — no more than about ten seconds — in milk or cold water. Don’t scrub, dry it, or use soap.
3. If you can, put it back in the socket the right way round and bite gently on a clean cloth to hold it.
4. If you can’t, keep it in milk (or inside your cheek if you’re an adult and won’t swallow it) — not water, not a tissue.
5. Get to a dentist within the hour if at all possible.

One exception: a child’s baby tooth should never be put back. Replanting a baby tooth can damage the adult tooth forming in the gum above it. Keep the tooth, bring it with you, and phone us so we can check the gum and the teeth either side.

A broken or chipped tooth

Keep any large piece (in milk), rinse your mouth with warm water, and avoid chewing on that side. A sharp edge cutting your tongue or cheek can be covered with sugar-free chewing gum until you’re seen. If the tooth is very painful or you can see pink inside it, the nerve may be exposed — book the same day. A small chip with no pain can wait for a normal appointment and is often repaired with composite bonding.

Lost filling or crown

Keep the crown if you have it — it can often be re-cemented. Keep the tooth clean and avoid sticky or hard food on it. Temporary filling material from a pharmacy can cover a sensitive hole for a day or two. It rarely needs to be seen the same night, but book within a few days: an exposed tooth decays and cracks quickly. Our dental fillings page explains replacing a lost or broken filling, on the NHS or privately.

Swelling or an abscess

A swollen gum or a “pimple” on the gum near a tooth is usually an abscess — infection from a dead nerve or deep gum pocket. A cold compress on the outside of the face helps; don’t apply heat, and don’t try to burst it. It needs draining and the tooth treating, so book the same day. Antibiotics alone don’t fix it. If the swelling is spreading towards the eye or neck, or affects swallowing or breathing, that’s the 999 situation above.

NHS inform says that if the infection spreads you may also have a high temperature, feel generally unwell, or find it hard to open your mouth fully. Any of those means seeing a dentist today, or phoning 111 out of hours; difficulty breathing or swallowing means 999. For abscess pain NHS inform prefers ibuprofen, or paracetamol if you can’t take it; adults can take both at the leaflet doses if one isn’t enough, but children under 16 shouldn’t.

Bleeding after an extraction

Some oozing for a few hours is normal. Bite firmly on a clean, damp gauze or handkerchief for 20 minutes without checking; repeat once if needed. Avoid rinsing, smoking, alcohol and hot drinks for the first day. If it’s still bleeding freely after two rounds of pressure, call us, or 111 out of hours.

Wisdom tooth pain

Usually the gum over a partly-erupted tooth becoming infected. Warm salt-water rinses, keeping the area as clean as you can, and painkillers get most people through the night; if there’s swelling or you can’t open your mouth properly, book the same day. Our guide on when wisdom teeth need removing covers what happens next.

Who to call in Edinburgh, day or night

For NHS care, it depends on the time and on whether you’re registered with a dentist.

• Registered, weekday daytime: phone your own practice first.
• Not registered, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm: Chalmers Dental Centre (below).
• Out of hours: NHS 24 on 111, registered or not. That means 6pm to 8am Monday to Thursday, and 6pm on Friday to 8am on Monday. On public holidays, check with your practice and phone 111 if it’s closed.
• A critical emergency: 999 or A&E, as in the box at the top. If you’re unsure, NHS Lothian asks you to phone 111 first.

NHS out-of-hours cover starts at 6pm, but we’re open until 8pm Monday to Thursday and until 5pm on Friday: if you’re our patient, or happy to be seen privately, phone us first on 0131 228 2442 (our same-day emergency dentist page explains how). If we’re closed and it can’t wait, phone 111. That includes 5pm to 6pm on a Friday, after we close and before NHS out-of-hours cover starts: NHS 24 will direct you to Chalmers Dental Centre if you need to be seen.

If you’re not registered with a dentist

On the NHS, phone Chalmers Dental Centre, 3 Chalmers Street, EH3 9EW, on 0131 537 8801 or 0131 537 8802, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm (NHS inform lists 0131 536 4800, which NHS Lothian says gives this information as a recording). It’s for urgent dental problems, and it isn’t a drop-in clinic: calls are triaged first, and NHS Lothian says that if you can’t phone and walk in instead, you may not be seen that day. Treatment runs 9am to 4pm, so phone early. The Edinburgh Dental Institute’s patient pages send unregistered patients to Chalmers too.

Privately, you can book an emergency appointment with us instead: what it costs, and how it works, is set out just below. Afterwards, it’s worth registering somewhere: our NHS list is open.

How same-day appointments work at City Dental Care

• You don’t need to be registered with us for a private emergency appointment.
• Private emergency appointment: £85, including any X-rays needed, a temporary filling or dressing to settle the pain, a prescription if needed, and a simple extraction if one can be done in the same appointment. Bookable online. Anything beyond that visit is quoted in writing first.
• NHS emergencies (registered patients): call 0131 228 2442 and reception will do their best to see you the same day. An NHS emergency visit ("unscheduled care") costs £17.32 on the NHS Scotland fee scale from 1 November 2025. That covers the assessment and the emergency treatment itself, such as a dressing, draining an abscess or re-cementing a crown; X-rays and any further treatment, such as an extraction, are charged on top at NHS rates. If you're under 26 or exempt from NHS charges, there's no charge: the NHS covers the fees for you.
• Hours: until 8pm Monday to Thursday, 5pm Friday — Earl Grey Street, a short walk from Haymarket, parking in the building.
• Imaging on site: X-rays, OPG and CBCT, so the cause is found the same visit.

Sources: NHS inform, Dental emergencies, updated 16 June 2026; NHS inform, Toothache and Dental abscess, both updated 14 November 2024; NHS Lothian, How to access urgent dental care, updated 28 July 2025; NHS Lothian, Right Care Right Place, updated 28 May 2026, and its public holidays page, updated 27 August 2026; University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Dental Institute, Unregistered patients, published 29 January 2024.