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How To Deal With A Dental Emergency While Traveling
No one expects to get hurt or sick while on vacation but a simple accident can quickly turn your relaxing getaway stressful. When you’re traveling there are certain precautions you can take to prevent a dental emergency and ways to be proactive if something should happen.
Before leaving for your vacation, it’s always a good idea to schedule a dental checkup, especially if you’re traveling abroad where you might not have access to good dental care. If you have any of the following symptoms you should have them taken care of well in advance of your vacation to prevent pain or infection:
- Schedule a teeth cleaning, if you have gum disease
- Treat cracked or decayed teeth
- Complete root canal treatments
- Remove wisdom teeth
No matter how careful you may be, dental problems can happen to the best of us. When traveling, and away from your regular dentist, you need to decide if your symptoms need to be treated by a dental professional immediately or whether it can wait. Here are a few common dental problems that can occur and how you should handle the situation:
- Toothache
- Rinse mouth with warm water
- Carefully make sure there is no food or debris stuck in your teeth and gently use dental floss if
needed
- Depending on the level of pain and how long it continues, you may need to contact a dentist
- Rinse mouth with warm water
- Chipped or Cracked Tooth
- Rinse mouth with warm water
- Apply cold compress to control swelling
- Call a dentist or visit the emergency room immediately
- Knocked Out Tooth
- Hold the tooth by the crown and rinse it off with water
- Try to salvage the tooth by putting it in a cup of milk or under your tongue and get to a dentist immediately
It’s always a good idea to call your regular dentist or oral surgeon for advice or to see if they can recommend anyone in the area. If not, ask for a recommendation from the hotel concierge or your insurance company. If you’re traveling abroad and need a dental referral you can contact the American Consulate or the American embassy in the country you are visiting. Keep in mind that being proactive and having a checkup and scheduling any oral surgery before you leave is the best way to prevent existing problems.
To make sure you and your teeth are travel ready contact Dr. Elias and Dr. Matt Paonessa to schedule an appointment, 914-873-0045.