Dental Emergencies while traveling

It seems like tooth emergencies always happen at the worst possible times, and tooth mishaps during traveling are unfortunately no different. Fortunately if you are travelling in the U.S. there is typically a dental office within a reasonable distance. For tourist destinations like Las Vegas, Nevada or Orlando, Florida, there will be dentists that cater to travelers experiencing urgent oral issues. And in most major cities, there will be emergency dental offices, perhaps with after hours appointments like South Kansas City Emergency Dental in Kansas City. If you are overseas, it can be a little more challenging depending on where you are in the world. I've been to several 3rd world countries, including spending a lot of time in the Philippines with my wife and I'm glad I didn't have any dental or medical emergencies while there.

Dental emergencies while traveling can really be a major bummer, so if you do become one of the unfortunate few who end up with a dental emergency while traveling, what the heck do you do? First and foremost, remain calm! If you have a normal dentist at home, call their office to see what their suggestion is. A dentist usually can give you a pretty good idea as to what is going on in your mouth just by your description of the problem. If you have an infection in your mouth, something that is a frequent cause of tooth pain and dental emergencies, your dentist will likely be able to call in a prescription for you. Antibiotics will temporarily calm down the infection and relieve pain.

If you don't have a regular dentist, then you will have to go at finding emergency dental care yourself. This means going online, typically using Google search for "emergency dentist near me". In most areas of the U.S. even if there is no "emergency dentist" per se, there will still be dentists who will see dental emergencies during their normal office hours. As soon as the office opens, call to inquire about their availability and services and make an appointment as soon as possible. When you call, be sure to ask what the cost will be, whether or not they will accept your insurance, if they perform root canals and if they extract teeth. Unfortunately some dental offices will have you come in, take a X-ray, charge you a bundle, then refer you to an oral surgeon for a tooth extraction, or an endodontist for a root canal. Yeah thanks for nothing. A quality general dentist who accepts emergency patients should be competent and willing to perform simple extractions, basic non-impacted surgical extractions, and at least extirpate (debridement and removal of the nerve) a tooth which needs a root canal.

If you can't find an emergency dentist anywhere in the area you are traveling, then there are several other options you can consider. If you have a broken tooth that is not causing you pain, many pharmacies will sell a temporary dental filling material that you apply to the tooth yourself. This may be enough to get you by until you return home from traveling. Pharmacies also may stock temporary dental crown cement which can be used if you have a dental crown come loose. Now I have seen patients who have glued a crown back on with superglue but I wouldn't recommend it because the chemicals in superglue aren't made to be used inside the body. If you are having pain, a combination of two non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS) is your best option until you can find a dentist. I recommend alternating 800mg of ibuprofen (Motrin) with 500mg of Acetaminophen (Tylenol) every four hours. This combination will not only provide you with substantial pain relief, it will help the future pain by providing its anti-inflammatory role. But if none of the above options help relieve your dental emergency, then your last option is to go to an urgent care clinic or a hospital emergency room. Keep in mind an urgent care clinic or ER can prescribe you antibiotics and may or may not prescribe you narcotic pain medication, but on an outpatient basis there isn't much more than can do dentally.

If you happen to be visiting the Kansas City area and you have a dental problem, South Kansas City Emergency Dental is here for you in your time of need. We see patients with urgent dental conditions from all over the Kansas City metro area (and out-of-town) as well as West Central Missouri. To contact us submit an online contact or call us at 816-601-1817. South Kansas City Emergency Dental is your go to emergency dental office in the Kansas City metro and beyond.