Dental Emergencies Over the Holidays: What Counts and What Can Wait

Something in your mouth hurts, and the office is closed. You are trying to work out whether this is a wait-until-Monday problem or a call-someone-now problem.

Here is the short version, in order of urgency. If you are in a hurry, the first section is the one to read.

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Go to the Emergency Room — Not a Dental Office

Some situations that start in the mouth are not dental problems anymore. Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room immediately if you have any of these:

• Difficulty breathing or swallowing. Swelling from a dental infection can spread into the tissues of the neck and throat and obstruct the airway. This is life-threatening and it can progress quickly.
• Swelling that is spreading — into the neck, under the jaw, or closing one eye
• Fever with facial swelling
• Bleeding that will not stop after 20 minutes of firm, continuous pressure
• A facial injury involving possible broken bones, a head injury, or loss of consciousness
• Severe pain with confusion or feeling generally very unwell

Do not wait to reach a dental office for any of the above, and do not wait to see whether it improves overnight. A spreading dental infection is a medical emergency, and the window in which it is straightforward to treat is measured in hours.

If you are uncertain whether swelling counts as spreading, treat it as if it does and go. Being wrong in that direction costs you an evening. Being wrong in the other direction costs considerably more.

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Call Us Today — Real Dental Emergencies

These need attention within hours to a day. Call the office; the voicemail will tell you how to reach the doctor on call.

Facial or gum swelling. Even mild swelling around a tooth means infection, and infections do not resolve on their own. Call the same day, and watch it closely — swelling that spreads moves this into the ER category above.

Severe, persistent toothache that is keeping you awake or not responding to over-the-counter pain medication. Pain of that intensity usually means the nerve or the surrounding bone is involved.

A knocked-out permanent tooth. The single most time-sensitive dental emergency there is — the chance of saving the tooth drops with every minute. Pick it up by the crown, never the root. If it is dirty, rinse it gently with milk or saline, never scrub it. If you can, place it back in the socket and bite gently on gauze. If you cannot, keep it in milk or saliva — never water, and never let it dry out. Get to a dentist within the hour.

A tooth pushed out of position or loosened by trauma. Time-sensitive. Do not force it back; call.

A fractured tooth with severe pain or a visible exposed nerve.

An abscess — a pimple-like swelling on the gum, often with a bad taste. This is a contained infection and it needs treating.

Bleeding that will not slow after 20 minutes of firm pressure, particularly after a recent procedure.

An implant that feels loose or painful. Implants should not move. A loose implant or loose component needs prompt evaluation.

Post-surgical problems — see the dedicated section below.

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Uncomfortable, But It Can Wait

These are worth a call when we reopen rather than in the middle of the night. Leave a message if you want to be first on the schedule.

A lost filling or crown with no significant pain. Annoying and sensitive, not urgent. Keep the area clean, chew on the other side, and avoid very hot or cold things. Temporary dental cement from a pharmacy can cover an exposed tooth for a few days — read the package and do not use superglue.

A chipped tooth with no pain. Save any pieces, avoid chewing on that side, and call when we are open.

Mild sensitivity to hot or cold that settles within a few seconds.

Food stuck between teeth that you eventually get out. If you cannot get it out at all, or the gum is swelling, that moves up a category.

A sore spot from a denture or appliance. Leave it out if you can and call.

Dull, low-level aching that over-the-counter medication handles and that is not getting worse.

A broken or lost temporary crown without pain. Keep the area clean, avoid chewing there, and call when we reopen.

The general rule: if it is stable and the pain is controlled, it can wait. If it is getting worse hour by hour, it cannot. Trust that trajectory more than the current intensity — something mild but steadily worsening deserves a call.

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Periodontal and Implant Situations

These are the calls we get that a general dentistry guide will not cover.

A loose implant. Implants do not become loose. If yours moves, call — there is a meaningful difference between a loose crown on top of the implant, a loose abutment, and the implant itself moving, and the last of those needs prompt attention.

Swelling or pus around an implant. Peri-implantitis is infection and bone loss around an implant. Caught early it is far more treatable, so this is worth a call rather than a wait.

A healing abutment or cover screw that falls out. Not usually painful, but the tissue can close over the site quickly. Keep the piece if you find it and call — this is often a quick fix if handled within a few days.

A gum graft that looks white or pale. Normal in the first week or two of healing. Spreading redness, pus, a foul taste, or tissue turning gray or black is not.

Losing some bone graft particles. Expected after a socket graft — you may feel them on your tongue. Losing a few is normal; the site suddenly feeling open or the sutures coming apart is worth a call.

Gums bleeding during holiday eating. Common if you have untreated gum disease, and not urgent on its own. Worth getting evaluated afterward rather than in the moment.

A tooth that has become noticeably loose without any injury. This usually means advanced bone loss. Not a middle-of-the-night emergency, but do not leave it until spring.

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What to Do While You Wait

For pain. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatories are generally the most effective choice for dental pain, as long as they are safe for you — check with your pharmacist if you take blood thinners, have kidney or stomach issues, or are unsure. Follow the package directions and do not exceed them.

Never place an aspirin directly against the gum or tooth. It does not help and it burns the tissue.

For swelling. A cold compress on the outside of the face, 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off. Keep your head elevated, including when sleeping. Swelling that is spreading needs the ER, not an ice pack.

For bleeding. Fold clean gauze, place it over the site, and bite down with firm, steady pressure for a full 20 minutes without checking. Checking every two minutes is the most common reason bleeding does not stop. A moistened black tea bag works in place of gauze. If it will not slow after 20 minutes of genuine continuous pressure, that is an ER situation.

For a lost crown or filling. Keep the area clean, avoid chewing there, and avoid extremes of temperature. Pharmacy temporary cement can cover it for a few days. Never use household glue of any kind.

For a knocked-out tooth. See the handling instructions above — the critical points are to hold it by the crown, keep it moist in milk or saliva, and get seen within the hour.

General comfort measures. Rinse gently with warm salt water, eat soft foods, chew on the other side, and sleep with your head propped up. Avoid very hot, very cold, hard, and crunchy foods.

What not to do: do not apply heat to a swollen area, do not take someone else's leftover antibiotics, and do not try to drain an abscess yourself.

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Recovering From Surgery Over the Holidays

If you had periodontal surgery, an extraction, a graft, or an implant placed recently, here is how to tell normal healing from a problem.

Normal in the first few days:

• Soreness that peaks around day two and then improves
• Swelling that peaks around days two to three, then subsides
• Light oozing or pink saliva on the first day
• Bruising, sometimes appearing a few days later and sometimes in surprising places
• Stiffness opening your jaw
• A graft site that looks pale or white
• Feeling a few bone graft particles on your tongue

Call the on-call doctor:

• Pain that increases after day three instead of improving. This is the clearest single warning sign — normal recovery trends downward.
• Swelling that worsens after day three
• Fever
• Pus, or a persistent foul taste
• Bleeding that will not slow with 20 minutes of pressure
• Sutures that have come apart and left the site open
• A graft or implant site that feels loose
• Numbness that has not resolved as expected
• Tissue turning gray or black

The pattern to watch is direction, not intensity. Discomfort that is improving day over day is healing, even if it is still uncomfortable. Anything that was improving and has started getting worse again deserves a call, regardless of what day it is.

One holiday-specific caution. Alcohol interacts with prescribed pain medication, interferes with healing, and increases bleeding risk. If you are within the first week after surgery, skip it. Smoking is worse — it is the single biggest cause of graft failure we see.

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Our Holiday Hours and How to Reach Us

Central Park (Denver)‍

• November closure: 11/ 26 & 11/27, reopening 11/30
• December & January closures: 12/24, 12/25, 1/2 day on 12/31, 1/1/2027, reopening 1/4/2027

‍Westpark (Westminster)

• November closure: 11/ 26 & 11/27, reopening 11/30
• December & January closures: 12/24, 12/25, 1/2 day on 12/31, 1/1/2027, reopening 1/4/2027

If you have an urgent problem while we're closed: call (720) 703-9116. Our voicemail will direct you to the doctor on call. Please call rather than using the online appointment form — the form is not monitored during closures, and anything urgent needs the phone.

If it can wait: leave a message and we'll call you back when we reopen to get you scheduled.

If it's a medical emergency — difficulty breathing or swallowing, spreading swelling, fever with facial swelling, uncontrolled bleeding — go to the nearest emergency room or call 911. Do not wait for a callback.

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Heading Off the Holiday Emergency

Most of the calls we field over the holidays are about something the patient already knew about.

If you have a known problem, deal with it in early December. A tooth that has been twinging for months, a crown that feels loose, a spot that catches food, a treatment plan you have been meaning to schedule. These things tend to pick the worst possible moment, and the worst possible moment is a Thursday evening when every office is closed.

There is also a scheduling reality: December books up early. By the second week, specialty appointments are scarce.

A few practical things:

• Travelling? Take the name and number of your dental office with you, and know what your insurance covers out of area
• Do not open packaging, bottles, or nuts with your teeth — holiday season is genuinely when we see these fractures
• Careful with hard candy, ice, and popcorn kernels
• If you grind your teeth and have a nightguard, keep wearing it; stress and travel make grinding worse
• Keep up your routine even when the schedule is chaotic

If you have unused dental benefits, they reset January 1 — which makes early December the sensible time to handle anything outstanding, for two unrelated reasons at once.

When in Doubt, Call

If you are reading this at eleven at night trying to decide whether your situation is serious, here is the honest answer: we would much rather take a call that turns out to be nothing than have you wait on something that was not.

Nobody is annoyed by a cautious patient. The calls that are hard are the ones that come three days late.

Related Reading

• The Four Stages of Gum Disease
• Food Stuck Between Teeth
• Use Your Dental Benefits Before December 31
• Peri-implantitis & Implant Complications

The post-op instructions link belongs in the surgery recovery section, and the implant complications page in the perio and implant section. Both are moments where a worried reader wants more detail immediately.

Contact Us

Central Park, Denver and Westpark, Westminster. Call (720) 703-9116.

Medically reviewed by Kyle Diehl, DDS, PhD, board-certified periodontist. Last updated November 2026.

This article provides general guidance and is not a substitute for professional evaluation. It cannot account for your individual circumstances, and nothing here should delay you from seeking care. If you believe you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room immediat