Escapees May June 2015 Demo

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68 .ESCAPEES |May/June 2015 |
Dentures
Lost Denture Tooth
This may only be an embar-
rassing situation if the lost
tooth is a front one. If you’ve
completely lost the tooth, you are
out of luck, but if you have the tooth, you have a chance
of putting it back in place. First, gently clean out any old
glue, then re-insert the tooth in the denture. If it goes
in nicely, try using some of the tips covered in the “Lost
Crown or Bridge” portion of this article on page 70, to
hold the tooth in place such as denture adhesive, chewing
gum or a product at the pharmacy. You can use a tiny drop
of glue to temporarily hold the tooth in place, but you
don’t want to make the permanent replacement by the
dentist a bigger job than necessary.
Denture Sore Spots
A sore spot from an ill-fitting denture or partial can be
painful. Often, it is difficult to find the offending area. Sore
spots can develop unexpectedly when there is a change in
the underlying bone or surrounding teeth. Again, I caution
you if you are treating yourself, but if you can see the sore
spot and the responsible area on the denture, use a nail
file, emery board or sand paper to gently and slightly re-
move the offending area of the denture. Rinse your mouth
regularly with warm salt water to help heal the ulcer that
was formed.
If the sore area cannot be clearly seen, go to the
pharmacy and buy a small bottle of gentian violet.
Dip the tip of a toothpick into the gentian violet.
Apply a small drop of the violet stain onto the sore
spot, then insert your denture. The stain will leave a
mark on the denture. Again, gently remove a small
area from the denture.
If you have a history of getting
sore spots, before you leave on
your trip, go to your dentist and
purchase a supply of Thompson’s
Sore Spot Indicator Sticks.
These look like wooden match sticks
with gentian violet on the tips. As for the
ulcer that has yet to heal, there are several
medications at the pharmacy. Most contain 20
percent benzocaine in liquid or ointment form. Rinse with
warm salt water to accelerate healing.
Broken Dentures
The lower denture is the most common denture break and
the most difficult to self-repair. However, depending on
where your denture is broken, there are products at the
pharmacy to make a temporary repair. You will need to be
careful. The most important thing is if you can put the two
broken pieces together with confidence. If the pieces go
together nice and square, you have half a chance, but if
the two pieces flop all over, don’t risk it.
We arrived about mid-morning, and using my smartphone, called a few
medical clinics, but none were open. I then went to a Walmart pharmacy and
begged for a few antibiotics, but although the pharmacist was sympathetic, she
wouldn’t give me anything. However, she did suggest that I go see her dentist,
just around the corner, who she thought would be open. With thanks, I set out
hoping that her dentist would be open and have the time to see me.
The dentist could not have been nicer. After a short wait, I was given a seat in
the treatment room, where an x-ray was taken. A few minutes later, the dentist
came back and told me that I had an abscessed lower molar, which I already had
suspected. By then, however, the whole side of my face was on fire and I was
unable to make heads or tails of what was causing my problem. She gave me a
prescription for a good strong antibiotic, which I filled back at Walmart. A cou-
ple of hours later, I was feeling better and we continued our trip to Pittsburgh,
where I had a root canal treatment and a cast crown made.
This experience got me to thinking about the folks who have unexpected
dental emergencies on the road but don’t have the background that I have to get
relief. While some dental emergencies can be life threatening, many can be pain-
ful or only annoying inconveniences, like a lost filling or a denture sore spot.
“While I caution
anyone from
treating themselves,
sometimes
extraordinary
circumstances
require extraordinary
actions.”