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Dental Emergencies
By Douglas W. Stephens, D.D.S.
TOM and Sylvia Moore and their two boys, Tom Jr., age twelve
and Jed, age ten, hiked all day and near dusk made camp on a
lovely grassy knoll overlooking a high mountain stream loaded
with trout, apparently begging to be tossed in their frying pan.
At daybreak, Tom and Sylvia were awakened by Tom Jr. and
Jed jumping up and down outside their tent yelling for them to
get up and take them down to the stream. The boys had their
four rods rigged by the time their parents had dressed. Tom
understood their excitement knowing how much the whole family had
been looking forward to this vacation.
As they started out, the two grownups found the kids' feel
ings contagious. Halfway down the trail, Jed, who had been
running ahead, suddenly let out a cry of pain. When the family
rushed up, they found the boy lying on the ground holding his
jaw. Tom picked him up and sat him on a flat rock. Blood
gushed out of his mouth. Pulling the boy's hand away, Tom saw a
gapping hole where Jed's front tooth should have been. The boy
held up a bloody tooth. Tom saw where the boy fell and the
bloody rock where he must have hit his jaw and realized he had
knocked the front tooth cleanly out of its socket.
Luckily Sylvia had once worked in a dental office. She gently
took the tooth from the boy being careful to hold it by the
crown. Leading the boy back to camp, she sat him in a camp
chair while she got out her emergency first aid kit. Laying the
tooth on a clean piece of gauze, she washed the blood from the
boy's mouth and inspected the tooth's socket. A small amount of
blood was still oozing out. She had the boy rinse with plain
water cautioning him not to suck or use any force. She then
rinsed what dirt she could from the surface of the root, being
careful not to touch the root with her fingers. Still holding
the tooth by the crown, she tenderly inserted it in the tooth
socket, holding it firmly in place while her husband, using a
piece of heavy monofilament fishing line splinted the tooth to
the two adjoining teeth. She made a cold pack with water from
the icy stream which she had the boy hold against his face next
to the injured area to minimize swelling.
Leaving Tom Jr. and Sylvia at camp, Tom took the boy down the
mountain to a hospital emergency room where they got in touch
with a dentist who gave the boy more permanent treatment. He
told Tom due to their quick action in replacing the tooth and
bringing him in for professional help, they had an excellent
chance the tooth would be permanently attached though he would
have to check the tooth's pulp from time to time to make sure it
was alive. If it died, he would fill the canal and the boy
could still retain his tooth for many years.
Often when taking a vacation away from home, we are prepared
for general health problems but do not know what to do when faced
with a dental emergency. Whether the trouble faced is a simple
toothache, pain from tooth eruption or something more serious
like a broken jaw or a abscessed tooth, it may threaten to spoil
a vacation.
Before leaving on a trip, it is good insurance to see a dentist
in order to make sure there wil
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