City guides › Collierville: Emergency dentist
Emergency Dentist in Collierville, TN: Where to Go, What It Costs & First-Hour Steps
A tooth emergency is two problems at once: the tooth, and the clock. This page sorts out which one you have, what to do in the first hour, what care is likely to cost, and where Collierville residents can actually get seen — including the low-cost clinics in Memphis that take patients from anywhere in Shelby County.
The short answer
Knocked-out tooth: you have 30–60 minutes. Hold it by the crown, rinse gently, reinsert it or keep it in milk, and get to a dentist fast. The nearest verified flat-fee emergency dental option for Collierville is the UTHSC clinic in Memphis ($100, first-come, first-served). Severe swelling or trouble breathing or swallowing means the ER or 911.
How to read the numbers on this page: no Collierville office published an emergency fee schedule we could verify, so every price here is a national estimate, labeled as one. An estimate tells you the ballpark before you call — it is not a quote. The one hard number on this page is the UTHSC clinic's published flat fee, and it is labeled as published, not estimated.
Dentist or ER? The 60-second triage
Most dental emergencies belong with a dentist. A short list belongs in an emergency room, because the risk there isn't the tooth — it's your airway and a spreading infection. Sort yourself first, then act.
Go to the ER or call 911
- Severe facial swelling
- Trouble breathing or swallowing
- Fever along with dental pain
- Facial trauma — a blow, fall, or accident
- Bleeding that won't stop
Find an emergency dentist
- Toothache
- Knocked-out tooth
- Chipped or broken tooth
- Lost filling or crown
One honest limit of the ER: emergency rooms treat infection and pain, but they don't do extractions or root canals. If the tooth itself is the problem, the ER can stabilize you — a dentist still has to fix it. That is why the affordable-care section below matters even if you start at the ER: ask the ER for a referral list on discharge, and book the dental follow-up the same week.
Knocked-out tooth: the first hour decides it
A knocked-out permanent tooth can often be saved — but the window is 30 to 60 minutes, and what you do with the tooth in the first five minutes matters as much as how fast you drive.
- Pick it up by the crown — the white chewing part — never by the root. The root surface carries the living cells that make reattachment possible, and fingers crush them.
- Rinse gently if it's dirty. A brief rinse under water is fine. Don't scrub, don't use soap, and don't wrap it in tissue.
- Put it back, or keep it wet. Try to push it back into the socket facing the right way and hold it in place. If that won't work, keep it in cold milk — or inside your cheek, if you can do that safely without swallowing it.
- Get to a dentist within 30–60 minutes. Call ahead while you travel so they are ready. Don't let the tooth dry out at any point — drying kills the cells that make reattachment possible.
Baby teeth are different
A knocked-out baby tooth is not reinserted — pushing it back can damage the adult tooth forming underneath. Skip the socket step, keep your child calm, and call the dentist for guidance instead.
What an emergency visit costs
Emergency dental pricing has two separate parts, and offices don't always say so up front: the visit fee, which buys the exam and diagnosis, and the treatment, which is quoted after they see the tooth. Budget for both.
| Service | Typical cost (estimate) | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency exam with x-rays | $50–$350 (estimate) | Exam, x-rays, and a diagnosis — finding out what's wrong. Treatment is extra. |
| Simple extraction | $75–$500 (estimate) | Removal of a tooth that comes out without surgery. Surgical extractions cost more. |
Estimates are national ranges for patients without insurance. The visit fee usually covers diagnosis only — treatment is quoted separately, so ask for the full plan itemized, with a price per line, before agreeing to anything.
One gap we won't paper over: no Collierville-metro fee survey was found. We looked for a published survey of what offices in the Collierville and greater Memphis area actually charge for emergency care and couldn't find one, so this page uses national estimates rather than dressing up a guess as local data. The published exception is the UTHSC flat fee in the next section.
Affordable emergency care: the Shelby County safety net
Straight up: there is no verified Collierville-specific emergency dental clinic. We won't imply one exists. What does exist is a Shelby County safety net — teaching clinics, federally funded health centers, and nonprofit clinics in Memphis — and it serves patients by need, not by ZIP code. Living in Collierville doesn't lock you out of any door below. Listed nearest-first.
UTHSC Emergency Dental Clinic — Memphis
Where: 875 Union Ave, Memphis (University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Dentistry).
When: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Doors open 7:30 a.m. and patients are seen until the clinic is full — first-come, first-served, so arrive early.
Cost: $100 flat fee (published) covering x-ray, exam, diagnosis, and a single-tooth extraction.
Call: Adults: 901-448-6200 (option 2) · Children 13 and under: 901-448-6240
This is the nearest verified flat-fee emergency dental option for Collierville, and the one to try first on a weekday morning.
Christ Community Health Services — Hickory Hill
Where: 5366 Winchester, Memphis — the Hickory Hill dental center, the closest safety-net option to Collierville on this list.
How fees work: as a federally qualified health center, fees are on a sliding scale based on income. Bring proof of income when you go.
Call: 901-842-3173
Health Loop–MidSouth — Memphis
Where: 1955 Third St, Memphis.
How it works: walk-ins for immediate care on weekdays, with a $15 minimum fee.
Call: 901-515-5800
Church Health Center — Memphis
Where: 1350 Concourse Ave, Suite 142, Memphis.
How fees work: a nonprofit clinic serving working uninsured patients; fees are income-based.
Call: 901-272-7170
Cawthon Dental Clinic — Orange Mound
Where: 1000 Haynes St, Orange Mound, Memphis.
Call: — (no phone number published in the safety-net directory; go through the directory in Sources for current contact details.)
TennCare: check this before you pay cash
If you have TennCare — or think you might qualify — check your dental coverage before paying out of pocket for emergency care.
TennCare has covered adult dental benefits since January 1, 2023; this is not just a children's program anymore. The covered categories include the emergency-adjacent care most urgent visits involve, like extractions and exams.
TennCare's dental benefits manager is Renaissance (since November 1, 2025) — reach them at 866-864-2526. Call Renaissance to find a participating dentist near you and confirm your coverage before you book. A five-minute call can be the difference between a covered extraction and a full cash bill.
After hours and weekends
Dental emergencies don't check the calendar. Honest answer first, then the practical fallback.
No verified weekend emergency dental clinic in the area
We looked for a dedicated weekend or after-hours emergency dental clinic serving Collierville and found none we could verify. The UTHSC emergency clinic runs weekday mornings only — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday — and is closed on weekends. Any site claiming a specific Collierville weekend clinic should be checked carefully before you rely on it at 9 p.m. on a Saturday.
So the after-hours default is the triage at the top of this page. If you have a regular dentist, call their office line — many practices route after-hours calls to the dentist or a covering colleague, and that call costs nothing. If you don't have one, or the symptoms match the ER list — severe swelling, fever with dental pain, trouble breathing or swallowing, trauma, bleeding that won't stop — go to the ER or call 911. For pain without those red flags, the until-morning steps below are how you get safely to the next weekday morning, when the UTHSC clinic doors open at 7:30 a.m.
Getting through the night: a 5-minute prep list
When the right move is "dentist tomorrow," tonight is about pain control and not making the tooth worse. Five minutes, four habits:
- Over-the-counter pain relievers, as directed on the label. Follow the package dosing — more than the label says doesn't help more and can hurt you.
- Cold compress on the cheek, on and off in short stretches, for pain and swelling. Don't apply heat to a swollen face.
- Don't chew on that side. Stick to soft food, and keep very hot or cold food and drink away from the tooth.
- Never put aspirin on the gum. The old folk remedy burns the gum tissue chemically and does nothing for the tooth. Swallow pain relievers with water, as the label directs — don't park them against the tooth.
And set the morning up before you sleep: know which door you're going to (the UTHSC clinic fills early), have your insurance card or proof of income where you can grab it, and write down when the pain started and what makes it better or worse — the dentist will ask.
Go deeper: our cost and insurance guides
Our Tennessee dental cost guide has price tables for 25 procedures and a working cost estimator, so you can sanity-check any quote you get after the emergency visit. Our guide to how dental insurance works explains how emergency claims typically process, what in-network actually does to a bill, and how to read a quote line by line.
Emergency dental questions, answered
The questions Collierville patients actually ask at the worst moment — answered straight, with the same wording we give our own structured data.
You have 30–60 minutes. Pick it up by the crown (the white chewing part), never the root. Rinse it gently if dirty — don't scrub. Try to push it back into the socket facing the right way, or keep it in cold milk (or inside your cheek). Then get to a dentist immediately. Don't let it dry out — drying kills the cells that make reattachment possible. (Baby teeth are not reinserted — call the dentist.)
ER or 911 for: severe facial swelling, trouble breathing or swallowing, fever with dental pain, facial trauma, or bleeding that won't stop. Emergency dentist for: toothache, knocked-out / chipped / broken tooth, lost filling or crown. The ER can treat infection and pain but won't fix the tooth — you'll still need a dentist after.
Swelling plus fever, trouble swallowing, trouble breathing, or swelling that's visibly spreading = go to the ER now; dental infections can become dangerous quickly. Localized swelling without those symptoms = call a dentist the same day. Don't wait out facial swelling to see if it improves on its own.
Days, usually — but don't ignore it. Cover any sharp edge with orthodontic wax or sugar-free gum so it doesn't cut your tongue, avoid chewing on it, and see a dentist within a few days. If the tooth darkens or becomes sensitive to temperature weeks later, the nerve may be dying — mention the chip at the visit.
Nationally, an emergency exam with x-rays runs about $50–$350 (estimate); a simple extraction $75–$500. The visit fee usually covers diagnosis only — treatment is quoted separately, so ask for the full plan itemized before agreeing. Sliding-scale clinics (listed in the affordable-care section) base fees on income; bring proof of income. TennCare covers emergency-adjacent categories like extractions and exams.
Three moves: (1) ask for the treatment plan itemized with a price per line before anything begins; (2) ask what's actually urgent today versus what can be phased — stabilizing the tooth now and finishing later is often legitimate; (3) check the low-cost doors in the affordable-care section and your TennCare status (Renaissance 866-864-2526) before assuming you can't afford care. Our insurance guide explains how emergency claims typically process.
The UTHSC emergency clinic runs Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings only — no weekends. For a weekend emergency: call your dentist's after-hours line if you have one; for severe swelling, fever, trouble breathing or swallowing, or trauma, go to the ER. The Health Loop–MidSouth (901-515-5800) takes walk-ins for immediate care on weekdays.
Generally no — ERs treat the infection (antibiotics) and the pain, but they don't do extractions or root canals. You'll still need a dentist for the tooth itself. That's why same-week dental follow-up matters: the ER visit handles the crisis, not the cause. Ask the ER for a referral list on discharge.
Sources & method
Where the checkable facts on this page come from — and, just as important, what we couldn't find.
- UTHSC College of Dentistry — emergency dental services: clinic days and 7:30 a.m. first-come, first-served intake, the $100 flat fee, and both phone numbers. UTHSC emergency services
- Tennessee Oral Health Coalition — safety-net clinic directory (updated June 2026): the Christ Community, Health Loop–MidSouth, Church Health, and Cawthon listings and contact details. Safety-net directory
- TennCare: adult dental coverage since January 1, 2023, and the Renaissance dental benefits manager (since November 1, 2025). TennCare dental
Method & honest gaps: every clinic, hour, address, phone number, and fee on this page was taken from the institution's own published listing or the state safety-net directory — nothing was estimated except prices, which are labeled national estimates throughout. What we could not verify, and so do not claim: a Collierville-specific emergency dental clinic (none found), a dedicated weekend emergency dental clinic in the area (none found), and a Collierville-metro fee survey (none found). If any of those exist, we want to know — see the note below.
Water quality in Collierville
Curious about your tap water? Tennessee Water Authority has the full Collierville water quality guide — contaminant data, utility details, and filter recommendations.