Dental Emergency?

[ntengwall]

Just curious what would happen if you had a dental emergency while on the ship? I recently had a tooth crack in half (because it needed a crown and I couldn't afford it at the time) and I now have another tooth that needs a crown but it's not really bad yet but I'm nervous about my cruise next week and what might happen if it just so happened to crack on the ship.

[joejo]

In an emergency, I suspect that the ship infirmary could perscribe you pain medication until port. Once at port, you would likely find a local dentist :)

[2Cruzin Fools]

RUM, RUM, and more RUM.

[Head Shot]

Just curious what would happen if you had a dental emergency while on the ship? I recently had a tooth crack in half (because it needed a crown and I couldn't afford it at the time) and I now have another tooth that needs a crown but it's not really bad yet but I'm nervous about my cruise next week and what might happen if it just so happened to crack on the ship.

 

See if you can get a dental appt. before your cruise and have him fabricate a temporary crown (resin or metal) for greater peace of mind.

[houlacruiser]

Someone in our group had an abcess (sp?) on our recent cruise and the ship doc gave two different antibiotics and it cleared everything up in a day or two.

[ntengwall]

I think I will call tomorrow and get an appt for early next week and see what they can do for it before I leave. Thanks!

[reallyitsmema]

There are dental emergency kits that are available in your local CVS. They work very well for temporary fixes, check it out.

[Nekochan]

I always pack an emergency dental repair kit for a cruise.

[VernRDH]

If the tooth is cracked, see if they can't temporize it before you go. A dental repair kit may be of little use if the tooth is cracked far below the gumline.

 

I do know a dentist in St. Thomas (actually a retired root canal specialist) who now teaches scuba diving. You could probably find a dentist in most of the ports that could see you on an emergency basis.

 

Good luck!!

[Dave85]

My mother recently had one on a Celebrity cruise. They made an appointment for her at a dentist in St. Thomas where her tooth was repaired. They do have some dental adhesive on the ship but it's not great.

[coordinator23]

I always pack an emergency dental repair kit for a cruise.

Me too. I get mine at Walgreens. I have actually used one to recement a crown until I could get home. Once I had to give my son a temporaty filling on a trip. I thought I was the only one who packed one;)

[Head Shot]

One of those dental "emergency" kits are only for filling not for tooth fracture, which there are no over the counter remedy for. These are different solutions for different problems.

 

If you had a root canal, the tooth will eventually fracture over time. It is most prudent to have it "stapled" together, as in having a coronal coverage.

 

Good decision, ntengwall.

[cantw8togo]

This reminds me of a coworker that was in Malta and needed to have a cavity filled. The dentist couldn't understand why they would fill it when they normally just pull the tooth. :eek: Needless to say, she waited until she got home to deal with it. (This was over 20 years ago so here's hoping that their standards have changed.) There are some ports of call that I would rather not have to go to the dentist. If you can deal with it before you go, I would do it. There are other excursions that I would rather be doing in port. :D

[scottbee]

Someone in our group had an abcess (sp?) on our recent cruise and the ship doc gave two different antibiotics and it cleared everything up in a day or two.

 

Oddly an abscess can also make you sound like a motorcycle when you pass wind, because....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abscess make the fart go honda.

[Ocean Boy]

Someone in our group had an abcess (sp?) on our recent cruise and the ship doc gave two different antibiotics and it cleared everything up in a day or two.

 

Treating the infection and abscesses is more of a medical issue which physicians are well versed in taking care of. Treating the actual tooth is a whole different matter. However, many tooth issues can certainly withstand a week of time before they are taken care of. Unless it really can't wait, I would be more inclined to have a tooth taken care of once I got home rather than have it taken care of in a port of call. I have looked in plenty of mouths in my years of practicing medicine and seen some teeth and often wondered how people can let their teeth get into such states of disrepair.

[jpodds]

Treating the infection and abscesses is more of a medical issue which physicians are well versed in taking care of. Treating the actual tooth is a whole different matter. However, many tooth issues can certainly withstand a week of time before they are taken care of. Unless it really can't wait, I would be more inclined to have a tooth taken care of once I got home rather than have it taken care of in a port of call. I have looked in plenty of mouths in my years of practicing medicine and seen some teeth and often wondered how people can let their teeth get into such states of disrepair.

 

Unfortunately, many physicians only do treat the infection...patients get short term pain relief and never really see a dentist to address the problem of treating the tooth. You really have to treat the tooth AND the infection, or you may as well just take the tooth out...and that's almost always a losing situation for the person with the toothache.

[xxoocruiser]

Just curious what would happen if you had a dental emergency while on the ship? I recently had a tooth crack in half (because it needed a crown and I couldn't afford it at the time) and I now have another tooth that needs a crown but it's not really bad yet but I'm nervous about my cruise next week and what might happen if it just so happened to crack on the ship.

 

 

 

Actually had this happen on the second night of a 12 night mediterranean cruise.

• There will be no dentist on staff
  
• When this happened to me the purser's office happen to know that there was dentist on board. Though the passenger who was dentist was kind enough to speak to me there was nothing he could do.
  
• He said if in pain to start out trying an over-the-counter pain killer. If that didn't work to go to the infirmary to see if they might RX a pain killer pain . Lucky for me the filling stayed in tacked when the outside of the tooth crack so I experience no pain.
  
• Also told me to go get some sugarless gum , chew all the flavor out (of course on the side not affected) and than cover the ragged edges with the gum so the inside of my mouth did not get cut up. The gum would have to be changed reqularly . Also told me he'd call me liar if I repeated this as it goes against everything dentists are taught . But desperate times call be desperate measures.
  
• Told me to avoid chewing on that side.
  
• Any sign of an abscessed gum or infrection I was to vacate the cruise and seek emergerncy care at the next port of call. Thankfully I had travel insurance if this was needed.
  
• Fortunate for me , I didn't have any further problems and was able to stay on the cruise the entire time. Emailed ahead to my dentist for an appointment the moment i got home.
  
  Of course this is what applied to my circumstances and am in NO way telling or advising you to do the same. You need to determine your own course of action knowing that you have been advised that there will be no dentist on board to treat you in the event of an emergency.
  

[GaryfmCol]

Oddly an abscess can also make you sound like a motorcycle when you pass wind, because....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abscess make the fart go honda.

 

 

Har-Har-Har..... :D

 

Good one... ;)

[Ocean Boy]

Unfortunately, many physicians only do treat the infection...patients get short term pain relief and never really see a dentist to address the problem of treating the tooth. You really have to treat the tooth AND the infection, or you may as well just take the tooth out...and that's almost always a losing situation for the person with the toothache.

 

Correct, you have to treat the tooth and the infection. However, we have pretty much established that the tooth is not going to get treated on the ship. And the reason I suggested trying to wait to get home is I tend to think that extracting the tooth might be a decision made way too quickly, and unneccessarily, in one of the ports of call.

 

Too many people have phobias about dentists. That is why once the problem with the pain and infection is taken care of they don't follow up with getting the tooth taken care of even though the underlying problem has still, ultimately, not been resolved.

[cruise luvr]

It is too funny that you are asking this question - i will be on the Explorer with you march 19th. I woke up this morning with pain in my mouth. i was at the dentis monday for a cleaning and all was fine. i can not pinpoint the pain quite yet (as to exactly which tooth) so popped some advil and i'm hoping that when i wake up tomarrow there will not be any pain. i will be at the dentis first thing on monday if the weekend doesn't go well.

 

Nothing will keep me from cruising!!!

[ntengwall]

Just made an appointment for Wed at noon. She made it for an hour and a half in case they have to do a temporary crown but she said they may just be able to fill it to stabilize it too. Just have to wait and see what they say but I feel better already that I'm getting it taken care of BEFORE the cruise :D

[Desert Cruizers]

I wasn't on a cruise but at home, and lost practically one side of the tooth as a result of it cracking. ( Old filling) I called next morning but wasn't able to get in for 2 weeks, amazingly there was no pain. Due to the amount of loss, I just had them pull the tooth. I had to weigh the cost of a crown against how much tooth was left after preparing it, and wasn't worth no $800 for a crown.

[zekekelso]

Of course this is what applied to my circumstances and am in NO way telling or advising you to do the same.

Though I'm thinking the "avoid chewing on that side of the month" thing is pretty good advice for just about everyone with a similar problem.

[BecciBoo]

In October, My son and his new wife were on Conquest for their honeymoon and he'd just had two front teeth broken (nail gun accident-nail gun jumped and bit him!:() and had just had acrylic caps with posts put on, one of them broke completely off and the clinic just glued it back on with super glue! Didn't last much longer but when he got home he got crowns. I don't think the clinic charged him for that help either:D

[jerin]

Just made an appointment for Wed at noon. She made it for an hour and a half in case they have to do a temporary crown but she said they may just be able to fill it to stabilize it too. Just have to wait and see what they say but I feel better already that I'm getting it taken care of BEFORE the cruise :D

 

I think that it will be worth it for your peace of mind to have it all taken care of before you go. Enjoy your cruise!