Same-Day Dental Care IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Dr. Marta Rudat DDS provides same-day emergency dental care for severe toothaches, knocked-out teeth, cracked teeth, abscesses, and lost crowns or fillings. In most cases we can see you the same day.
Office hours Mon–Thu, 8am–5pm. Calling after hours? See after-hours emergencies below.
Quick Answer
A dental emergency is any problem that needs care today: severe tooth pain, a knocked-out or broken tooth, facial swelling, an abscess, or bleeding that won't stop. Dr. Marta Rudat, DDS, holds room in the schedule for same-day emergency visits. Call (714) 665-4200, describe what happened, and the team will tell you exactly what to do next.
Triage
If any of these is happening, call us at (714) 665-4200. These need a dentist today:
Go to the emergency room first, or call 911, when the problem goes beyond the teeth and involves your breathing, airway, face, or uncontrolled bleeding.
Go now if you have:
A hospital can address the immediate medical emergency safely. Once you're stable, we can take care of the dental damage and help restore injured teeth.
Not sure where you belong? Call us anyway. Describe what happened and we'll help you determine whether you should come to our office or go directly to the emergency room.
What we treat
Pain that strong usually means the nerve is involved, often from deep decay or infection. Dr. Marta finds the cause, gets you numb, and treats the tooth, which may mean a filling, a root canal, or a crown, depending on what the X-ray shows.
A knocked-out adult tooth can often be saved if you act within about an hour. Follow the steps below and get here fast. If the tooth can't be saved, Dr. Marta will walk you through replacement options, including dental implants.
Even a painless chip can let bacteria into the tooth, and a crack can spread with every bite. Depending on the damage, treatment ranges from smoothing and bonding to a crown that holds the tooth together.
A dental abscess is an infection, and it does not drain or heal on its own. Left alone it can spread beyond the tooth, so swelling plus fever is a same-day call, every time. Treatment usually means draining the infection and treating the tooth that caused it.
The exposed tooth underneath is soft and sensitive, and it can fracture quickly without its cover. Save the crown if you have it; Dr. Marta can often re-cement it the same visit.
A broken denture, bridge, or wire is an emergency for how you eat and speak. Call and we'll fit you in to repair or stabilize it. Denture patients can read more about repairs and replacement.
First aid
The Call
Tell us what happened and where it hurts. The front desk triages emergencies first and finds you the earliest opening, same-day whenever the schedule allows.
Dr. Marta examines the tooth, takes an X-ray, and gets you numb and comfortable. Diagnosis and options come once you can think straight again.
You'll hear what's wrong, what your options are, and what each costs before anything beyond the exam happens. Some emergencies are fixed in one visit; others get stabilized today with the full repair scheduled after the infection or pain settles.
Don't wait on a broken tooth
If a tooth has cracked, broken, or suddenly become painful, it's worth having it looked at sooner rather than later. Prompt care may preserve more of your natural tooth and help determine whether a crown can protect and restore it.
Cost
Emergency Exam + X-Ray
$100–$250
Typical range at Orange County dental practices
Re-Cementing a Crown
$100–$300
Typical local range
Simple Extraction
$200–$700
Typical local range
Emergency Root Canal
$900–$1,800
Depending on the tooth
These are area ranges to orient you; you'll get your exact numbers after the exam and before any treatment starts.
Most PPO dental plans cover emergency exams, and the front desk verifies your benefits while you're on the way in.
No insurance? Ask about payment options when you call. Cost worries should never keep a spreading infection untreated.
Call, and we'll figure it out together.
In their words
For over 15 years, Dr. Marta has been grateful to earn the trust of her patients, reflected in hundreds of five-star reviews.
I had an emergency with my front tooth - it cracked. So I wrote to the doctor and she found the nearest time for me (it was amazing because she was fully booked for a month or two). I was impressed.
I was searching for a dentist. I’m so glad to find Dr. Marta. I wanted veneers and Dr. Marta went above and beyond my expectations. She brought back my confidence and smile. I highly recommend Dr. Marta for your dental needs.
Dr. Rudat took me during an emergency I was having on her day off! Incredible! She is intelligent, kind and very compassionate. Thank you for everything you did for me Dr. Rudat!! You ROCK!!
Been putting it off? You're not alone.
A cracked tooth has a way of becoming "I'll deal with it later," and later turns into months. We get it. Dr. Rudat's job isn't to lecture you about how it got this far. It's to look at the tooth, tell you what can be saved, and start there.
Coming in is the hard part, and you've basically already done it by reading this.
When the Office Is Closed
If it's outside office hours, call (714) 665-4200 and follow the voicemail instructions.
For swelling that affects breathing or swallowing, trauma to the jaw, or uncontrolled bleeding, don't wait for a callback.
Go to the nearest emergency room.
The closest to our office is Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Orange.
Dr. Marta Rudat DDS provides same-day emergency dentistry in Tustin, CA, and sees urgent patients from North Tustin, Irvine, Orange, Santa Ana, and the surrounding Orange County area.
The office sits on East First Street near the 55, minutes from Old Town Tustin and The Market Place.
Not sure if it can wait?
Call us at (714) 665-4200. If we're closed, follow the voicemail instructions.
Frequently Asked
What counts as a dental emergency?
Severe or worsening tooth pain, facial or gum swelling, a knocked-out or displaced permanent tooth, significant dental trauma, and some cracked or broken teeth warrant urgent dental evaluation. Pain and swelling commonly come from inflammation or infection involving the pulp or tissues around the root, while traumatic injuries may require rapid treatment to improve the chance of saving the tooth.
Swelling that is rapidly spreading or is accompanied by difficulty swallowing or breathing needs emergency medical evaluation rather than waiting for a routine dental appointment.
What should I do for a severe toothache until I can see the dentist?
For most adults who can safely take them, non-opioid pain relievers are the first-line approach for temporary dental pain relief. Evidence-based guidelines favor an NSAID such as ibuprofen, alone or combined with acetaminophen, over opioid medication for acute dental pain.
Pain medicine can make you more comfortable, but it does not treat decay, an inflamed or infected pulp, an abscess, or another underlying cause of the toothache. The tooth still needs to be evaluated.
Do I need antibiotics for a tooth infection or abscess?
Not necessarily. For most otherwise healthy adults with pain caused by pulpal or localized periapical conditions, antibiotics are not a substitute for dental treatment. Treatment is directed at the source of the problem and may include procedures such as root canal treatment, drainage, or extraction.
Antibiotics become more appropriate when an infection shows systemic involvement or other clinical circumstances make them necessary. This is why an examination matters rather than automatically treating every toothache with an antibiotic.
Can an abscessed tooth heal on its own?
The pain may temporarily decrease, but that does not mean the source of the infection has resolved. An acute apical abscess generally requires treatment of the source, which can include drainage through the tooth, incision and drainage, or extraction depending on the condition of the tooth.
Research has also found that adding antibiotics to appropriate local treatment does not provide additional benefit for every localized acute apical abscess. Treating the source of the infection is the important part.
Can a cracked tooth be saved?
Many cracked teeth can be saved, but the prognosis depends on how far the crack extends, the condition of the pulp, periodontal findings, and whether the tooth can be predictably restored.
A 2024 systematic review found high tooth-survival rates for appropriately treated cracked teeth. It also found substantially greater risks of complications or extraction when certain cracked teeth were restored without adequate cuspal coverage compared with full-crown restorations. A crack therefore does not automatically mean extraction, but it should be evaluated before it progresses.
What should I do if I break or chip a tooth?
Save any tooth fragment you can find and have the tooth examined. Treatment depends on the depth and location of the fracture and whether the dental pulp is exposed.
For uncomplicated crown fractures, options can include reattaching the tooth fragment or restoring the missing portion with composite. Deeper fractures involving the pulp may require vital pulp therapy or other endodontic treatment. The sooner the extent of the fracture is known, the better the dentist can determine how much of the natural tooth can be preserved.
What should I do if a permanent tooth gets knocked out?
A knocked-out permanent tooth is time-sensitive. If possible, handle the tooth by the crown rather than the root. If it is dirty, gently rinse it without scrubbing or damaging the root surface. Immediate replantation is preferred when it can be done safely. Otherwise, the tooth should be kept in an appropriate storage medium and urgent dental care should be sought.
The International Association of Dental Traumatology emphasizes that prompt and correct emergency management is important to the prognosis of an avulsed permanent tooth.
A knocked-out baby tooth should not be replanted.
Can the dentist actually stop severe tooth pain at an emergency visit?
In many cases, yes. The goal is to diagnose the source of the pain and, when appropriate, provide definitive or stabilizing treatment rather than simply prescribing medication.
For severe pain caused by conditions such as symptomatic irreversible pulpitis or symptomatic apical periodontitis, emergency procedures including pulpotomy or pulpectomy have been shown to provide meaningful pain relief. What is appropriate depends on the diagnosis and whether the tooth can be restored.
Always Ready when you Need us
A same-day exam can identify what’s causing the pain or damage, relieve the immediate problem, and show you exactly what needs to happen next.