Emergency dental treatments

Emergency dental treatments in Sheffield: from examination to extraction

How pain, infection and injury are treated, in the order a dentist works through them, with what each step costs at Deepcar Dental Care.

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Treatment guides

How we stabilise pain, infection and trauma.

Emergency examination & X-rays

Diagnosis first: what the £30 assessment includes.

Emergency temporary filling

Stabilising a tooth after a lost filling or fracture.

Emergency root canal treatment

Immediate relief for pulp pain and infection.

Pulpectomy

Removing the infected pulp to control pain and infection.

Antibiotics for dental infection

When antibiotics help, and why they are not a cure.

Emergency tooth extraction

When removing the tooth is the safest option.

Knocked-out tooth reimplantation

Putting an avulsed tooth back, fast.

Irrigation & antibiotic dressing

Cleaning and dressing infected sites.

Occlusal adjustment

Easing a bite that is causing pain.

Clinically reviewed by Dr Ibraheem Ijaz, Principal Dentist · GDC 301711 · Last reviewed April 2026

The treatment ladder: the least that solves the problem

Emergency treatment runs up a ladder. Each rung does more than the one below, costs more, and takes away more of the tooth. We start at the lowest rung that will actually solve the problem, and we tell you which rung you are on. Examination. Temporary filling or dressing. Removing the nerve. Draining infection. Removing the tooth. Repairing what an injury has done. Most emergencies are settled on the second or third rung.

There is a second principle: do today what makes you comfortable and safe, and do properly what needs time. A root canal finished in a rushed 7pm slot is a worse root canal. So an emergency visit often does the first stage and books the second, with the price of both agreed before you leave.

Step one: examination and X-rays

Everything starts with the emergency examination: £30, 15 minutes, X-rays included. The dentist tests the tooth with cold, tapping and biting, checks the gum, takes a digital X-ray and, for cracks and buried roots, can take a CBCT scan (£150) in the same building. You leave that stage with a diagnosis and a written quote. Around eight in ten patients go straight on to treatment in the same appointment.

Settling pain: temporary fillings, dressings and pulpectomy

If a tooth has broken or a filling has fallen out and the nerve is still healthy, an emergency temporary filling seals the exposed dentine, stops the sensitivity and protects the tooth until a permanent filling or crown is made. A sedative dressing does the same job for a nerve that is irritated but recoverable.

If the nerve is inflamed beyond recovery, the pain is coming from inside a sealed chamber, and the only way to stop it is to open the chamber and remove the nerve. That is a pulpectomy, the first stage of emergency root canal treatment, from £200. Relief usually comes within hours. The canals are then cleaned, shaped and filled at a second visit under the microscope, from £450 in total, and a back tooth is normally crowned afterwards. For a filling that is simply too high and hurting on biting, an occlusal adjustment takes two minutes.

Clearing infection: drainage, irrigation and where antibiotics fit

Pus needs a way out. For a root abscess, drainage is through the tooth by opening the canal, which is the pulpectomy above. For a gum abscess or a swelling that has pointed under the skin, it is incision and drainage: a small cut under local anaesthetic, the pressure released, and often immediate relief. For pericoronitis around a wisdom tooth it is irrigation and an antibiotic dressing under the gum flap, with the upper tooth adjusted if it is biting on the flap.

Antibiotics are added, not substituted, and only when infection is spreading into the face or neck or you are unwell with it. A dead tooth has no blood supply, so tablets cannot reach the bacteria inside it. We follow SDCEP guidance on this and will explain if you were expecting a prescription and are not getting one.

After an extraction, a socket that starts to ache badly on day two to five is a dry socket. Dry socket management is irrigation and a medicated dressing, usually Alvogyl, and the relief is fast. It is not treated with antibiotics either.

Removing the tooth: simple, same-day and surgical extraction

Sometimes the honest answer is that the tooth is not worth saving, or you would rather it went. An emergency extraction is from £120 and, if the X-ray shows straightforward roots, is done in the same appointment as a same-day extraction. Where a tooth is broken at gum level, the roots are curved, or a wisdom tooth is partly in the bone, it becomes a surgical extraction, with a small flap of gum lifted and a little bone removed; wisdom teeth are £350 to £450. Nervous patients can have conscious sedation at £200 a session.

Before any tooth comes out we will tell you what replacing it would involve, from nothing at all to an implant, so the decision is made with the whole picture in front of you.

Repairs after injury: splinting, reimplantation and crowns

A tooth loosened or displaced by a knock is repositioned and joined to its neighbours with a thin wire and composite: splinting, left on for two to four weeks. A tooth knocked out completely is put back into its socket and splinted: reimplantation, which works best inside 60 minutes with the tooth kept in milk. Both usually need root canal treatment later in adults, and both are reviewed for months.

If a crown has come off intact, recementing the crown is quick and inexpensive provided the tooth underneath is sound. If the tooth has broken and a crown is needed but cannot be made today, a temporary crown protects it until the lab-made one is ready; all-ceramic crowns are from £750.

What each emergency treatment costs

Prices are ‘from’ and depend on the tooth. The figure is written down and agreed before we start. An out-of-hours charge applies after 6pm on weekdays and at weekends.

0% finance over 6 to 18 months is available through Tabeo, subject to status, with longer terms up to 60 months at 10.9% APR representative; see finance. The complete price list is on the fees page, and the conditions these treatments are for are explained in the conditions guides.

Treatment	Fee (from)
Emergency examination with X-rays	£30
CBCT 3D scan (where needed)	£150
Silver filling	£120–£160
White filling	£150–£220
Pulpectomy / emergency root canal, stage one	£200
Root canal treatment, completed	£450
Extraction	£120–£260
Wisdom tooth extraction	£350–£450
All-ceramic crown	£750–£1,000
Conscious sedation, per session	£200

Questions, answered

Common questions

What treatment will I get at an emergency dental appointment?

It depends on the diagnosis, but most emergencies are settled with a temporary filling, removal of the nerve (pulpectomy), drainage of an abscess, or an extraction. The £30 examination comes first and the treatment is priced before it starts.

Can a tooth be taken out on the same day?

Usually, yes, if the X-ray shows straightforward roots and there is no medical reason to wait. Around eight in ten emergency patients are treated in the same appointment, and extractions are the commonest example.

How much does an emergency root canal cost?

The first stage, which removes the nerve and stops the pain, is from £200. Completing the root canal at a second visit brings the total to from £450, and a back tooth will normally need a crown afterwards, from £750.

Is a temporary filling enough?

For a healthy nerve, yes, for a few weeks; it stops sensitivity and keeps food out while a permanent filling or crown is arranged. It is not a fix for an inflamed nerve or an abscess, which need the nerve removed or the infection drained.

Do I need antibiotics before an extraction?

Usually not. An abscessed tooth can be removed the same day and taking it out is itself the drainage. Antibiotics are only used alongside treatment when infection is spreading or you have a fever.

How long does a splint stay on a loose tooth?

Typically two weeks for a loosened or replanted tooth, up to four weeks for some displacement injuries and longer for a fractured root, then the tooth is reviewed for months afterwards.

Can I be sedated for emergency treatment?

Often, yes. Conscious sedation is £200 per session and can usually be arranged for nervous patients, though it depends on the dentist available, your medical history and having someone to take you home.

In pain? Don’t wait

Same-day emergency appointments, seven days a week.

£30 emergency examination including X-rays. Call now and a real person answers, or grab a slot online.

Call 0114 288 2121 See today’s emergency slots

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334 Manchester Road, Deepcar, Sheffield S36 2RH · Free parking