A toothache never checks the calendar. If it hits you on a Friday night in St Petersburg, the practical question is not what to do about the tooth — a dentist decides that — but which doors in the city are actually open, and what you will pay. This is a logistics guide, not medical advice.
Emergency dental care does not depend on registration
The territorial compulsory health insurance fund of St Petersburg states that emergency dental care for acute conditions is provided regardless of which clinic a patient is registered with. Sixty dental clinics take part in scheduled care under the state insurance scheme — 49 municipal and 11 private. On weekends and public holidays, emergency care is covered by 19 of them, and only four run around the clock: clinics No. 12, No. 20 and No. 32 for adults, and children's dental clinic No. 6.
The night addresses
Clinic No. 20 at 14 Marshala Kazakova Street, building 3, sees scheduled patients on weekdays from 08:00 to 21:00, and runs its emergency dental service from 21:00 to 08:00 plus weekends and holidays; the service phone is 679-42-55, with technical breaks from 08:00 to 09:00, 14:00 to 15:00 and 20:00 to 21:00. Clinic No. 12 keeps its emergency room at 16 Blagodatnaya Street: weekdays from 20:00 to 08:00, Saturdays from 14:00, and around the clock on Sundays and holidays, phone 576-53-17. Clinic No. 32 at 22 Nastavnikov Avenue is formally on the round-the-clock list, but its own website says the emergency room is closed for building renovation and redirects patients to Marshala Kazakova. Children are seen at 34V Voznesensky Avenue, phone 314-25-65. The city also runs a free 24-hour medical information line: (812) 63-555-63.
Insurance, and what it does not cover
A Russian state insurance policy works across the whole country no matter which region issued it, and the fund calls any refusal based on an "out-of-region" policy unlawful. The scheme covers examination and consultation, X-rays, treatment of teeth and gums, extractions, scaling and physiotherapy. It does not cover prosthetics; implants, adult braces and whitening are private services too.
Paying out of pocket
Private clinics advertise 24-hour service: the Iceberg chain on Oktyabrskaya Embankment, Doblesti Street and Veteranov Avenue, and Stoma-Lux at 172 Moskovsky Avenue, where treatment starts from 5,500 roubles including consultation and anaesthesia. Published price lists put an X-ray at around 500 roubles, caries treatment at 6,200 to 8,500, and a tooth extraction between 5,500 and 10,000. Always confirm the total before the appointment, and call ahead: one clinic that calls itself round-the-clock currently opens at 10:00 because it has no night doctors.
When it is a hospital case
Growing facial swelling, fever, trouble opening the mouth, swallowing or breathing, or facial trauma belong to maxillofacial surgery, which operates 24 hours a day. Alexandrovskaya Hospital at 4 Solidarnosti Avenue takes emergency admissions around the clock and its duty doctors consult in the admissions department at any hour; City Hospital No. 15 at 4 Avangardnaya Street is one of ten large hospitals providing round-the-clock emergency care in all specialities; children go to the Rauhfus hospital at 8 Ligovsky Avenue. The ambulance number is 103, and emergency care does not depend on whether you have your policy with you.
Photo: Andrew Krizhanovsky / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
