The criteria for emergency dental care:
- Severe swelling with difficulty breathing or swallowing and a high temperature
- Limited opening of the mouth
- Difficulties in closing mouth
- Difficulty swallowing
- Trauma to the teeth or jaws
- Bleeding (e.g. following tooth extraction)
- Severe pain that does not resolve with painkillers and disturbs sleep
- Broken fixed dental brace that digs painfully into the gums and the pain cannot be lessened by padding the affected area with, for example, chewing gum or dental wax
Events where emergency oral health care is not needed
- Minor or not overly disruptive symptoms that have lasted for several days
- Pain caused by hot or cold
- Fracture in tooth or filling
- A lost crown or breakage of dentures
- Problems with removable dental braces
The contact details of daytime and out-of-hours dental emergency services can be found on the website of your local authority.