Walk-In Dentist in Waterloo
Waterloo Dental Centre takes walk-ins Monday to Friday. We’re at 258 King Street North, Unit 7. No appointment and no referral needed, and you don’t have to be an existing patient.
A quick call to 519-883-0505 before you come is worth it. We’ll tell you how the day looks so you’re not sitting in the waiting room longer than you need to.
Hours
- Monday 9 AM to 7 PM
- Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 9 AM to 6 PM
- Friday 9 AM to 5 PM
- Closed on weekends
Monday is the late night. If your schedule is flexible, mornings usually give us the most room to actually treat the problem and not just look at it.
Who walks in
A lot of our walk-ins are students. You moved to Waterloo for school, your dentist is back home, and now a wisdom tooth is acting up in the middle of term. Others have just started a job in town and haven’t found a dentist yet. Some have a regular dentist who’s booked three weeks out. And some people simply haven’t seen a dentist in years and decided today is the day. All of that is normal here.
Common reasons to come in
- toothache, especially one that keeps you up at night
- a chipped or cracked tooth
- a filling or crown that came out
- swelling around a tooth, or pain when you bite
- a broken denture
- a cut inside your mouth that won’t stop bothering you
If you’re in a lot of pain, call ahead so we can plan around you. Our emergency dentist page covers urgent cases, and if you’d rather pick a time later in the day, see same-day appointments.
How it goes
Check in at the front desk and tell us what’s wrong. We’ll take a few details, plus your insurance or Canadian Dental Care Plan information if you have it.
In the chair, the dentist asks how long it’s been hurting, what sets it off, and whether it’s getting worse. Then an exam and usually an X-ray. We take digital and panoramic X-rays here in the office, so there’s no sending you somewhere else for films.
You’ll hear what’s going on and what we’d recommend, along with any other reasonable options. We go over the cost before we start. If you want to think about it, that’s up to you.
What we can usually do the same day
We won’t promise anything before we’ve seen the tooth, but these come up all the time:
- fillings for a cavity or a lost filling
- repairs to broken teeth, crowns and dentures
- root canal treatment to relieve an infected tooth
- pulling a tooth that can’t be saved
- recementing a crown
- bonding a chipped front tooth
- stitching a small cut inside the mouth
Some things take more than one visit, like a new crown, a bridge or new dentures. We’ll handle what’s urgent and then book the rest.
Children
We treat kids as well. If your child comes home from school with a toothache or a chipped tooth, you can bring them in. Calling first means we can have a room ready. More on how we work with kids is on our kids dentist page.
Insurance, CDCP and payment
We direct bill most insurance plans, and we direct bill the Canadian Dental Care Plan as well. In practice that means you pay your share at the visit and we deal with the insurer for the rest.
We accept cash, debit, Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Payment plans are available too, so if a bigger treatment comes up, ask us about spreading it out. Questions about CDCP specifically are answered on our CDCP dentist in Waterloo page.
Bring
- your insurance details
- CDCP information if you’re covered
- a list of your medications
If you’ve had dental work done somewhere else in the last while, it helps to know roughly what was done and when. Not essential though.
Nervous?
Lots of people are, and a sore tooth doesn’t help. Say so when you sit down. We’ll explain what we’re about to do before we do it, and you can put your hand up any time you want us to stop.
Wait times
We can’t give an exact number because it changes hour to hour. Some days you’ll be in the chair quickly. Other days we’re juggling a few urgent cases at once. Phoning ahead is the best way to find out, and if it’s a busy day we can give you a time to come back instead of having you wait.
If you’d rather book
That’s fine too. Call and we’ll find you the earliest spot we have.
After the urgent part
Most dental emergencies start as something small that nobody noticed. Once you’re out of pain, consider booking a checkup and cleaning, especially if it’s been more than a year. You’re welcome to become a regular patient. If you only needed us the once, no problem.
When to go to the hospital instead
Fast spreading swelling, trouble breathing or swallowing, a high fever with a swollen face, or a serious injury to the jaw or face all need the emergency department first. Call 911 or go to the nearest hospital. Come see us for the tooth afterward.
Location
258 King Street North, Unit 7, Waterloo. Phone 519-883-0505.