When to Call Us (and When to Go to the ER)

Call Lamb Family Dental at (208) 344-6300 immediately for:

• Severe tooth pain that over-the-counter pain relievers aren’t touching
• A knocked-out tooth (time-critical, 30-minute replantation window)
• A broken, cracked, or chipped tooth
• A lost filling or crown
• A loose adult tooth
• A dental abscess or pus from the gum
• Soft-tissue injury to the cheek, tongue, or lip that won’t stop bleeding after 10–15 minutes of pressure
• A broken or displaced orthodontic appliance causing pain

Go to the emergency room (not us) for:

• Uncontrolled bleeding that won’t slow after 20+ minutes of pressure
• Jaw trauma with suspected fracture
• Fever plus facial swelling (may indicate spreading infection)
• Difficulty breathing or swallowing from oral swelling
• Loss of consciousness or concussion symptoms from a fall

After you’re stabilized at the ER, come see us for any dental repair work that follows. ERs handle the medical emergency; we handle the dental reconstruction.

What to Do While You’re Calling Us

Knocked-Out Tooth

Time matters. Adult tooth knocked-out success rates drop dramatically after 30 minutes. Pick the tooth up by the crown (the chewing surface), NEVER by the root. If it’s dirty, rinse it very gently with milk, not water, not soap. Try to place it back in the socket and hold it there with a clean piece of gauze. If you can’t reinsert it, put it in a small container of milk (or your own saliva). Call us at (208) 344-6300 immediately, and drive to our office. If the tooth is a baby tooth, don’t try to reinsert, just preserve it in milk and call us.

Broken or Cracked Tooth

Rinse your mouth with warm salt water to clean the area. If there’s a piece of tooth, save it in milk (we sometimes bond fragments back). Apply a cold compress to the outside of your cheek to reduce swelling. Take ibuprofen for pain, 400–600 mg works for most adults. Avoid chewing on that side. Call us.

Severe Tooth Pain

Rinse with warm salt water. Floss gently to dislodge anything stuck between teeth. Take ibuprofen, alternating with acetaminophen every 3 hours if ibuprofen alone isn’t enough. A cold compress on the outside of the cheek helps if there’s swelling. Do NOT put aspirin directly on the gum, it burns the tissue and doesn’t help. Call us.

Lost Filling or Crown

If it’s a crown that fell off and you have it, save it, we can often re-cement it. Temporary dental cement from any pharmacy is a short-term fix while you wait for your appointment. Avoid chewing on that side. Call us for a same-day slot.

Dental Abscess

A dental abscess looks like a pimple on the gum, often with throbbing pain and bad taste. Rinse with warm salt water several times a day. Do NOT try to pop it. Take ibuprofen. Call us, infections need prompt treatment before they spread. If you have fever or facial swelling extending to your eye or throat, go to the ER.

Same-Day Emergency Appointments for Boise Patients

We hold emergency slots open on every weekday, morning and afternoon, specifically for patients in acute dental pain. Call as early as you can in the day for the widest selection of same-day times. If you’re calling mid-afternoon with a true emergency, we’ll still work you in, we juggle schedules aggressively to keep patients out of pain.

You don’t need to be an existing patient. New patient? Tell us at check-in and we’ll do abbreviated intake so your treatment can start immediately. You’ll complete full new-patient forms later, once you’re comfortable and out of pain.

After Hours, Weekends, Holidays

If you call after 5:00 PM weekdays, after 2:00 PM Friday, or on weekends or holidays, our voicemail will give you specific instructions. Leave a callback number and a brief description of your emergency. For true emergencies that can’t wait (facial swelling, severe uncontrolled pain, trauma), go to urgent care or the emergency room. We’ll follow up first thing the next business morning to continue care.

What Emergency Treatment Costs in Boise

Cost depends entirely on what needs to be done. Rough ranges, pre-insurance, for the most common emergency scenarios:

• Emergency exam + X-rays: $75–$200
• Re-cement a crown: $100–$200
• Tooth extraction: $150–$400 (simple), $300–$800 (surgical)
• Composite filling for cracked tooth: $150–$350
• Root canal (molar): $900–$1,500, often followed by a crown
• Porcelain crown: $1,000–$1,800
• Reimplant knocked-out tooth + splint: $300–$600, often followed by root canal

Most dental insurance covers emergency diagnosis and basic treatment. We help verify your coverage and file claims so you know what you owe up front. For uninsured patients, our in-house membership plan provides a 15 percent discount on emergency treatment, and CareCredit financing covers larger follow-up work.

Emergency Care for Kids

We see children from age 1+ in the general practice and handle most pediatric dental emergencies, chipped baby teeth from a fall, knocked-out adult teeth in school-age kids, toothaches, orthodontic injuries. For very young children with severe trauma or behavior challenges that require specialist sedation, we refer to a pediatric specialist; we’ll call ahead and coordinate with the specialist so you’re not making multiple calls while your child is in pain.

One specific note: if your child knocks out a baby tooth (primary tooth), don’t try to reinsert it, baby teeth reimplanted can damage the developing permanent tooth underneath. Preserve the tooth in milk and call us so we can check the adult tooth underneath.

Meet the Dentists Who’ll Take Your Emergency Call

Emergency Dental FAQs

Emergency Dental Care Across Boise, Eagle, and Meridian

Our West Boise office is 10 minutes from downtown Eagle, 15 minutes from downtown Meridian, and 15 minutes from downtown Boise. For emergencies, we coordinate by phone first, call (208) 344-6300 while you’re still on the way, and we’ll tell you exactly what door to come to, what paperwork to bring, and what to expect when you arrive. See our Boise dentist, Eagle dentist, or Meridian dentist pages for location-specific drive times.