Walk-In Dentist in Guelph

Yes, you can walk in. Guelph Royal Dental Centre sees walk-in patients during regular office hours, and you don’t need to be one of our patients already. Come to 18 Douglas Street downtown and let the front desk know what’s going on.

If you can, phone us at 519-837-1870 on your way. Some days are quieter than others, and we can usually tell you whether it makes sense to come now or a bit later.

Our hours

  • Monday 9 AM to 7 PM
  • Tuesday 9 AM to 6 PM
  • Wednesday 9 AM to 7 PM
  • Thursday 9 AM to 6 PM
  • Friday 8 AM to 5 PM
  • Closed Saturday and Sunday

Mondays and Wednesdays run until 7, which helps if you work downtown or have classes during the day. On Fridays we open at 8. If you think you’ll need more than a quick look, earlier is better, because a filling or extraction takes chair time and the afternoon fills up.

Reasons people come in without booking

Most walk-ins we see are in some kind of discomfort. A back tooth that has been aching for a few days and now keeps you up at night. A filling that came out with a piece of toffee. A front tooth chipped on a water bottle. A crown that popped off at dinner. Swelling near a tooth, or pain when you bite down on one side.

We also get a lot of people who just don’t have a dentist in Guelph yet. Students at the university who are hours from their family dentist back home. People who moved here for work and never got around to finding someone. Families who were with a dentist who retired. Walking in is a fine way to get started with us, toothache or not.

If the pain is bad, please call first rather than just showing up. We’d rather know you’re coming so we can make room. Our emergency dentist page has more on urgent visits, and if you’d prefer a set time later today, see same-day appointments.

What the visit looks like

At the front desk we’ll ask for your name, a phone number, and what’s bothering you. If you have dental insurance or you’re covered by the Canadian Dental Care Plan, have those details handy and we’ll sort out the billing side while you wait.

The dentist will start by asking a few questions. Which tooth, how long, does cold set it off, does it wake you up. Then a look in your mouth and, in most cases, an X-ray. A lot of what causes tooth pain sits under the gum or between teeth where you can’t see it. We do digital and panoramic X-rays here, and we have CBCT 3D imaging too for the cases where a regular X-ray isn’t enough.

Then we’ll tell you what we found and what we’d suggest. Sometimes there’s one obvious fix. Sometimes there are a couple of ways to go and it comes down to what you’d like to do. You’ll know the plan and the cost before anything starts.

Can it be fixed today?

Often, but it depends on what it is and how the day is going. Things we regularly take care of on a walk-in visit:

  • fillings, including replacing one that fell out
  • extractions, wisdom teeth and surgical ones included
  • starting a root canal on a tooth that’s infected, which usually takes the worst of the pain away
  • putting a loose crown back on, or making a temporary one
  • bonding a chipped tooth
  • fixing a broken denture

A new crown, a bridge, an implant or a full denture can’t be done in one sitting. In those cases we deal with the pain or the sharp edge today and book you back to finish.

Kids

We see children too. If your child has a sore tooth or knocked one at hockey or on the playground, bring them in. A phone call ahead helps, so we’re not keeping a scared kid in the waiting room any longer than we have to.

Paying for it

We bill most insurance companies directly, so you usually only pay the part your plan doesn’t cover. We also bill the Canadian Dental Care Plan directly. If you’ve just been approved for CDCP and aren’t sure how it works, our CDCP page walks through it, or just ask at the desk.

For anything left over we take cash, debit, Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

Bring with you

  • insurance details if you have coverage
  • your CDCP information if you’re on the plan
  • a list of medications you take

Also tell us if you’ve taken anything for the pain today and roughly when. If you’ve had X-rays at another office recently, mention it, though we don’t need them to see you.

If you hate going to the dentist

Plenty of the people who walk in are here because they put it off as long as they could. We get it, and nobody here is going to give you a hard time about how long it’s been. Tell us you’re nervous and we’ll slow down and talk you through each step.

We also have nitrous oxide, or laughing gas. You breathe it through a small nose mask, it takes the edge off within a few minutes, and it wears off soon after the mask comes off. You’re awake the whole time.

Once the pain is gone

A walk-in visit fixes the problem in front of us. If it’s been a while since your last checkup and cleaning, it’s worth booking one while you’re here, since the next toothache is usually something that could have been caught early. Some people stay on with us after a walk-in, some don’t. Either way is fine.

Go to the hospital if

you have swelling that’s spreading fast, swelling that makes it hard to breathe or swallow, a high fever along with a swollen face, or a bad injury to your jaw or face. Go to the emergency department or call 911. We can look after the tooth once you’re safe.

Finding us

Guelph Royal Dental Centre is at 18 Douglas Street in downtown Guelph. Call 519-837-1870, or use our contact page if you’d rather book than walk in.