If you are in pain right now, call (224) 520-8665 — we hold same-day emergency slots and we will tell you on the phone whether you need to come in today. Dr. Henry Kim, DMD treats toothaches, broken and knocked-out teeth, abscesses, lost crowns and wisdom-tooth pain, with evening and weekend availability. New patients are welcome, and the $99 new-patient exam includes the X-rays needed to find the problem.
Find your situation. Do this while someone calls us.
Pick it up by the crown, never the root. Rinse it gently with milk or saline if it is dirty — do not scrub it. Try to slot it back into the socket and bite on gauze. If you cannot, keep it in milk and get here fast. This one is genuinely time-sensitive.
Rinse with warm water, save any pieces, and use a cold compress on the outside of the cheek for the swelling. Do not chew on that side. Sharp edges can be smoothed the same day so they stop cutting your tongue.
Rinse with warm salt water and floss gently either side of the tooth in case something is wedged there. Over-the-counter pain relief taken as directed helps. Never hold aspirin against the gum — it burns the tissue and makes things worse.
Facial swelling is the one that should not wait until morning. Call us. If the swelling is spreading toward the eye or under the jaw, or you have a fever or trouble swallowing or breathing, go to an emergency room — that is past what a dental office should be handling.
Keep the crown if you have it. Temporary dental cement from a pharmacy can hold it for a day or two; denture adhesive works in a pinch. Do not use household glue. Chew on the other side until we see you.
Fold clean gauze, press firmly on the spot for fifteen minutes without peeking, and stay upright. If it is still bleeding heavily after that, call us or head to an emergency room.
Most practices will not say. Here is how it actually works.
If you are new to us, the $99 new-patient exam covers the exam and the X-rays — which is what tells us whether that ache is a cracked filling, an infection or a tooth that has to come out. You are not paying for a guess.
Treatment is quoted before it starts. Nobody begins work in your mouth and hands you a number afterward. Once we have looked, you get the options and what each one costs, and you decide. If the fix can be split into "get you out of pain today, restore it properly next visit," we will lay that out too, because sometimes that is the right call for a budget.
We take most major insurance and will check your benefits before treatment rather than after. Financing is available for larger work such as a root canal and crown.
Same-day where the schedule allows, and we tell you honestly on the phone if it cannot be today.
Usually decay reaching the nerve or an infection building underneath. We find the cause, get you out of pain, and fix it properly.
Smoothed, bonded or crowned depending on how deep it goes. Sharp edges get handled the same visit.
The fastest appointment we offer. Re-implantation is possible when you get here quickly enough.
Infection is drained and treated. Left alone it spreads, and that is when a dental problem becomes a medical one.
Re-cemented or replaced. An exposed tooth is fragile and sensitive, so this is worth doing quickly.
Assessed on a 3D scan, then managed or removed — see tooth extractions and wisdom teeth.
Because getting this wrong costs people teeth in both directions.
Still call. We would rather tell you it can wait than have you sit on something that cannot.
The part most Bloomingdale offices cannot offer.
Teeth do not break on a schedule. We hold same-day emergency slots during the week and we are open on alternating weekends, which is often the difference between being seen and spending two days on painkillers waiting for Monday.
Call and ask what we have. If we genuinely cannot fit you and you should not wait, we will say so and point you somewhere that can — that is a better answer than a booking three days out while you are in pain.
Describe what happened. We triage on the phone and tell you straight whether this is a today problem.
Exam and X-rays to find the actual cause, not just the symptom.
The priority in the chair is comfort first. Everything else follows.
Options and costs in writing before anything is scheduled.
Pain does not care about town lines. We see emergency patients from Addison, Itasca, Bartlett, Roselle and Carol Stream, plus Glendale Heights, Wood Dale, Hanover Park and Medinah — all within about fifteen minutes of the office.
Including from people who came in on the worst day of their month. Read them here.
Dr. Henry Kim, DMD sees you himself. Browse everything the practice does on the services page.
Most days, yes. We hold slots for emergencies rather than booking the schedule solid. Call and describe what happened — we triage on the phone, and if we genuinely cannot fit you and you should not wait, we will tell you that and point you somewhere that can. A straight answer beats a booking three days out while you are in pain.
We have evening appointments during the week and we are open on alternating weekends. Call and ask what is available — weekend coverage is often the difference between being treated and spending two days on painkillers waiting for Monday.
If you are new to the practice, the $99 new-patient exam covers the exam and the X-rays needed to find the cause. Treatment is quoted before it starts, never after. We take most major insurance and check your benefits ahead of treatment, and financing is available for larger work like a root canal and crown.
Handle it by the crown, never the root. If it is dirty, rinse it gently with milk or saline — do not scrub it and do not use tap water for long. Try to place it back in the socket and bite on gauze; if you cannot, keep it in milk. Then call us immediately. This is the one dental emergency where minutes genuinely matter.
A dentist for the tooth itself. Go to an emergency room if the swelling is spreading toward your eye or under your jaw, if you have a fever with facial swelling, if you cannot swallow or breathe comfortably, or if there is significant trauma to the jaw or head. Hospitals can manage infection and trauma but they are not set up to fix the tooth — you will end up in a dental chair either way.
No. Facial swelling means infection, and infections do not resolve on their own or stay put. Pain is a poor guide here — a dying nerve often stops hurting right before things get worse. Call the same day.
Yes, over-the-counter pain relief taken as directed is fine and we would rather you were comfortable. Never hold aspirin against the gum — it burns the tissue. Tell us what you have taken and when, so we can plan the anesthetic properly.
Yes. Most of the people we see on an emergency day are new to us. There is no requirement to be an existing patient, and the $99 new-patient exam applies.
Call and describe what happened. We will tell you honestly whether it needs to be today, and if it does, we will find you a slot.
Once you are out of pain, the question is usually what to do with the tooth. If it can be saved, that is normally a root canal and a crown. If it cannot, we talk about replacing it — a dental implant keeps the jawbone working the way the original root did, and we cover the numbers in our guide to what implants cost in the Chicago suburbs.