Medical emergency? Call 911 first
Sudden neck and lower jaw pain may be angina or a heart attack even without chest pain. Call 911; do not wait for a dental appointment. Trouble breathing or swallowing, rapidly spreading face or neck swelling, or high fever also needs emergency medical attention.
Emergency Root Canal
Same-Day Appointments
Severe tooth pain, swelling, or dental trauma? We hold emergency slots every day — including weekends — for the South Bay communities of Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, San Jose, and Santa Clara.
Mon–Fri 8am–7pm · Sat–Sun 8am–3pm · Same-day emergency slots held daily
Written by the Silicon Valley Endodontics and Microsurgery editorial team. Both emergency pages in English, Spanish, Persian, Hindi, Korean, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese were clinically reviewed and approved by Dr. Jason Kung, DDS, MS, on September 30, 2026. Approval applies to the current content, not future edits.
Don't be the 60%. In a May 2026 national survey commissioned by the American Association of Endodontists (n=2,000 US adults, Atomik Research, ±2pp at 95% CI), 60% admitted to delaying dental care they knew they needed — and 51% of those said the delay made things worse. For other tooth pain, contact your dentist promptly for assessment. What the survey reveals →
Signs You Need Emergency Care Today
These symptoms often indicate infection or nerve damage that won’t resolve on its own — and can worsen rapidly without treatment.
Severe or throbbing tooth pain that won’t go away
Pain that wakes you up at night
Swelling in your gum, cheek, or jaw
Extreme sensitivity to heat that lingers after the stimulus is removed
A knocked-out or displaced tooth from trauma
A cracked or fractured tooth with sharp pain when biting
A pimple-like bump on your gum (dental abscess)
Tooth pain after a recent crown, filling, or dental work
Not sure if your situation is urgent? Call us and describe your symptoms — we’ll tell you honestly whether you need to come in today.
What to Do Right Now
Rule out a medical emergency first
Call 911 for sudden neck and lower jaw pain, even without chest pain. Trouble breathing or swallowing, rapidly spreading face or neck swelling, or high fever needs emergency medical care.
Contact your dentist promptly
For other dental pain, contact your dentist for assessment rather than deciding to wait weeks. For severe pain, swelling, or trauma, seek urgent dental attention. If appropriate for you, use over-the-counter pain medicine only as directed on the label while awaiting care.
For a knocked-out permanent tooth
Handle only by the crown (never the root). Rinse gently with water — do not scrub. Keep it moist in milk or saliva and seek urgent dental care within 30–60 minutes for the best chance of saving it.
Follow the dental assessment
Your dentist can assess what care is needed and whether to refer you to an endodontist. If you are referred to us, our team can perform a focused exam and imaging if needed.
Not in pain but still concerned about a tooth? See our guide on tooth infections without pain.
Why Come to a Specialist for an Emergency?
Accurate Diagnosis
Tooth pain has many causes. Dr. Kung uses CBCT 3D imaging and the Zeiss operating microscope to pinpoint the source immediately — avoiding guesswork.
Treatment the Same Day
We don’t just prescribe antibiotics and send you home. In most emergency cases, we provide definitive treatment the same visit so you leave comfortable.
Specialist Expertise
Dr. Kung completed a full two-year endodontic residency. For complex emergencies — dental trauma, abscesses, cracked teeth — specialist training matters.
Serving emergency patients from: Sunnyvale · Cupertino · Mountain View · San Jose · Santa Clara · Los Altos · Campbell · Saratoga
Emergency Root Canal — Common Questions
How quickly can you see me?
For medical warning signs, call 911 or seek emergency medical care first. For dental symptoms, contact your dentist promptly; if you need specialist care, call (669) 234-2354 and describe your symptoms. We hold emergency slots every day.
Will the root canal hurt?
The procedure itself is done under local anesthesia and most patients feel little to no pain during treatment. The relief from the pre-existing toothache is typically dramatic. Any soreness afterward responds well to over-the-counter ibuprofen.
Can I just take antibiotics and wait?
Antibiotics can temporarily reduce infection but they don’t treat the source — the infected pulp inside the tooth. Without removing that source, the infection will return and can spread. Same-day treatment is almost always the better path.
How much does an emergency root canal cost?
Cost depends on which tooth and how many canals it has. We’re an out-of-network specialist office that works with most major PPO plans — your PPO typically reimburses a portion of the treatment. We’ll provide a complete cost breakdown before any treatment begins. Call us and we’ll give you a clear estimate.
What if my regular dentist is closed?
If you have medical warning signs, seek emergency medical care first. Otherwise contact your dentist promptly; if your dentist is unavailable, call us for dental triage. We maintain weekend hours.
Sources informing this guidance
- For a knocked-out adult tooth, the under-60-minute window and moist-storage advice on this page follow the International Association of Dental Traumatology (IADT) avulsion guidelines.[1]
- When canal anatomy is complex, we use a small-volume CBCT protocol consistent with the AAE/AAOMR Joint Position Statement on the use of CBCT in endodontics.[2]
- Same-day diagnosis, pain relief, and root canal treatment follow the standard of care set out in the AAE Guide to Clinical Endodontics.[3]
- Harvard Health Publishing notes that sudden neck and lower jaw pain can be heart-related even without chest pain. Its article was reviewed by Anthony L. Komaroff, MD; he did not review this page.[5]
Emergency root canal — serving 30+ Bay Area cities
Dr. Jason Kung provides emergency root canal to patients across Silicon Valley from our Sunnyvale office. Evening and weekend hours, same-day emergencies, free on-site parking.
Related on this site
- Weekend emergency endodontistOpen Saturday & Sunday 8 AM–3 PM for urgent care.
- Emergency root canal — CupertinoSame-day & weekend care, ~7 min via Stevens Creek Blvd.
- Emergency root canal — Santa ClaraSame-day & weekend care, ~12 min via Lawrence Expy.
- Emergency root canal — San FranciscoSame-day & weekend care for SF patients, ~45 min south on I-280.
- Emergency root canal — Palo AltoSame-day & weekend care for Palo Alto / Stanford, ~22 min south.
- Emergency root canal — Mountain ViewSame-day & weekend care, ~10 min east on Central Expy.
- Emergency root canal — Redwood CitySame-day & weekend care for mid-Peninsula, ~25 min south.
- Emergency root canal — San JoseSame-day & weekend care, ~15 min via US-101 / Lawrence Expy.
- Emergency root canal — FremontSame-day & weekend care, ~25 min via I-880 N.
- Emergency root canal — Los AltosSame-day & weekend care, ~7 min via El Camino Real.
- Dental trauma first aidFirst-60-minute steps for knocked-out, fractured, or displaced teeth.
- Is a root canal an emergency?How to tell when tooth pain needs same-day care versus next-week scheduling.
- Will my root canal hurt?How modern anesthesia keeps emergency treatment comfortable.
- Why a root canal sometimes won't go numbWhy a hot, infected tooth can be hard to numb — and how a specialist fixes it.
- After your root canalRecovery timeline and what's normal in the first 48 hours.
- Root canal flare-ups: pain or swelling after treatmentWhat distinguishes normal soreness from a problem that needs an unscheduled call.
- Root canal treatment overviewWhat endodontic treatment involves, step by step.
- Root canal flare-ups: when pain or swelling needs a callA 2026 review found a 2.83% average severe flare-up rate across 15 studies, but the evidence certainty was low.
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