What a Dental Emergency Costs in Chicago, and What to Do First

Nobody plans for this. You bite down on something, hear a crack, and now it is nine at night. You want to know whether this can wait until morning, and what it is going to cost.

The short answer is that the price depends on what is wrong under the surface. Nobody can tell you that over the phone. What we can do is explain what changes the number.

What decides the price of an emergency visit?

Four things, and only one of them is the appointment itself.

The exam and the x-ray. Every emergency starts here. We have to see what is happening below the gum before anyone talks about treatment.

A tooth that looks cracked can be fine underneath. A tooth that looks fine can have an infection at the root.

Whether the nerve is involved. This is the big one. A chip in the enamel and a crack that reaches the nerve feel similar to you and mean two different treatments to us.

The first is often a filling. The second usually means a root canal.

Whether the tooth can be saved. Saving a tooth costs more today and less over your lifetime. A gap does not remain a gap: the teeth beside it drift, the bone underneath shrinks, and you pay for that later.

What has to go on top. A tooth that has had a root canal usually needs a crown afterwards so it does not split. That is a second appointment and a second cost, and it is the part people do not see coming.

Why we do not publish a price list

Because a price list for emergencies would be wrong for almost everybody who read it.

Two people can walk in on the same afternoon with the same broken molar. One needs a filling and leaves in forty minutes. The other needs a root canal and a crown across two visits.

One number on a page would mislead one of them badly.

Here is what we do instead. You get the exam, and you see the x-ray on the screen with us. You get the full price in writing before anyone picks up a drill.

If there is more than one way to treat it, you get both numbers.

What do I do in the first hour?

Before the cost question, this one counts for more.

A knocked out adult tooth is the one race against the clock. Pick it up by the crown, never the root. If it is dirty, rinse it in milk or saline and do not scrub it.

Put it back in the socket if you can and bite gently on a clean cloth. If you cannot, put it in milk and get to a dentist quickly.

A cracked or chipped tooth. Rinse with warm water and put a cold compress on the outside of the cheek. Save any piece you find.

If there is no pain, this can usually wait until morning.

A lost crown or filling. Save the crown and bring it with you. Do not glue it back with anything from a hardware store.

The tooth underneath is soft and often sensitive to hot and cold, so eat on the other side.

Pain that wakes you up, or swelling in the face or jaw. This one is not a cost question. Swelling that spreads, a fever, or trouble swallowing means an infection that is moving.

That is same day care or an emergency room, not a morning appointment.

Does dental insurance cover an emergency?

Usually some of it, and rarely all of it.

Most plans treat an emergency exam and an x-ray as basic care and cover a decent share. The treatment underneath is where it gets complicated.

Plans sort procedures into categories and pay a different percentage for each one. A filling and a crown on the same tooth can be covered at two different rates.

Every plan also has an annual maximum. If your emergency lands in November and you have used most of that maximum, splitting treatment across two plan years can be worth asking about.

Bring your card. We will look at your coverage with you before treatment, not after.

When is it fine to wait until morning?

More often than people think.

A chip with no pain, a lost filling with no pain, a sore spot from a rough edge: these are all next day problems. Sleeping on it and calling at nine is fine, and you get a proper appointment instead of the end of a busy day.

What does not wait: a knocked out tooth, spreading swelling, or bleeding that will not stop. Nor does a tooth pushed out of position, or pain that no painkiller touches.

What happens when you call us

We will ask what happened, what it looks like, and what the pain is doing. That is enough to tell whether you need to come in today or tomorrow.

If it is today, we find you a same day slot whenever we have one open. You get seen, you get the x-ray, and you get the plan and the price before anything starts.

Our page for the emergency dentist in Bucktown explains how we fit emergencies into the day. Or call us on (312) 602-0036 and we will work it out on the phone.