Emergency Dentistry

A knocked-out tooth, a broken tooth, a bad toothache, or swelling: each one has a few calm steps you can take in the first hour. Call or text 425.643.5778. Dr. Victor Bauer, DDS Most dental emergencies come down to four situations: a knocked-out tooth, a broken tooth, serious pain, or swelling. Each has a few things you can do in the first hour that protect the tooth. Call or text 425.643.5778, and if swelling is spreading or you have trouble breathing or swallowing, go to th

Dr. Victor Bauer, DDS An infected tooth won't heal on its own. Left untreated, the infection spreads: the nerve dies, an abscess forms, and it can move into the surrounding bone and nearby tissues. You'll most likely lose the tooth, face more complex and expensive treatment, and in rare cases a dental infection can turn serious. A root canal stops all of that while the tooth can still be saved. Nobody's excited to hear they need a root canal, and "just wait and see" is tempti

What a root canal actually involves, start to finish, why it usually relieves pain instead of causing it, and how we decide a tooth is worth saving.

Dr. Victor Bauer, DDS A modern root canal is not painful. With current anesthesia and techniques, most patients describe the procedure as feeling similar to getting a filling. The pain associated with root canals is usually caused by the infected tooth before treatment, not by the procedure itself. If you have been told you may need a root canal, it is completely understandable to feel nervous. The words carry decades of cultural baggage. But the reality of a modern root cana

Dr. Victor Bauer, DDS If your dentist has mentioned a root canal, your first reaction is probably a mix of "why?" and "is there any way around it?" The honest answer is that a root canal is recommended only when the inside of your tooth, the pulp, where the nerves and blood vessels live, is in trouble that won't heal on its own. Below is a clear, no-pressure look at the situations where a root canal really is the right call, and a few cases where we'll point you toward a spec