Escapees May June 2015 Demo

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70 .ESCAPEES |May/June 2015 |
stuck using floss, a small brush or the
rubber tip found on the end of some
toothbrushes. Take a length of floss
and tie several knots in the middle.
Insert the floss between the teeth and
run the knots back and forth. If that
doesn’t work, there are many kinds of
tiny brushes at most pharmacies that
can do the job, all the while rinsing
with warm, salt water. Sometimes
pressing the swelling with your finger
and “milking” the area can help. One
thing I wouldn’t do is to apply an as-
pirin directly on the gum area. Aspirin
is an acid and can cause a nasty burn.
Lost Filling
or Broken Tooth
Sometimes a lost filling or a broken
tooth is only an inconvenience, but at
other times it can be an excruciating
experience. Again, if possible, seek
out a dentist. While it seems simple,
self-treatment can cause a lot of trou-
ble beyond just a lost filling.
Losing a whole filling, a piece of
filling or chipping a piece of tooth
can leave you with a toothache and/
or a sharp edge. Sometimes balling up
some warm, moist cotton and apply-
ing it into the hole can give relief.
Or, applying gum or wax over the
area will give temporary relief. If that
doesn’t work, try using a fingernail
file to carefully and gently file off the
sharp corner. Don’t take off more than
you have to, just enough to get by.
If you have a lot of pain,
there are temporary filling
materials at the pharmacy. The
clove-flavored material comes
in the form of a medicated
putty that will harden. Using
the small applicator, apply to the
Ron Dingee, DMD, MPH, practiced dentistry in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, for al-
most 25 years. In 1991, he and his wife, Evelyn, moved to Bangkok, Thailand, to
co-manage the Bangkok Christian Guest House for four years. Ron and Evelyn now
divide their time between western Pennsylvania and the Jojoba Hills SKP Resort in
Southern California. Visit rondingee.com for information on Ron’s two books,
Missionary Memories and Nanna (or How to Eat an Elephant).
area and gently bite down. Clean off
any excess. At my local pharmacy, I
found three different such products.
Again, I caution you to be careful
and to seek a dentist first, and only as
a last resort treat yourself. Read the
directions carefully.
Lost Crown or Bridge
Losing a crown (or cap) can result in
pain or an inconvenience. If you’ve
lost a crown from a back tooth, you
can live with it until the crown can
be re-cemented by a dentist. If it is
a front tooth, that’s a different story.
Again, I caution you about self-treat-
ment, but if you have pain and are in
the middle of nowhere, you have few
choices. Self-treatment can result in
a more serious problem than the one
you are starting with, so it is advis-
able to use good common sense. Here
are suggestions for temporary relief,
depending on the situation.
First, pick out as much old cement
(dental glue) as you can from inside
the crown. Then, try to put the crown
onto the tooth to make certain it will fit
back in place. Bite down gently. Can
you close all your teeth together like
you used to? Remove the crown and
try putting a dab of denture adhesive
into the crown and re-insert. Another
idea is to insert a small piece of soft
chewing gum into the crown and in-
serting. The biggest problem is getting
something in the crown that will not
permit the crown to go all the way
down, making it impossible to close
your teeth together. If these ideas don’t
work, there are some products in the
pharmacy that can temporarily hold the
crown in place until you can get to a
dentist. One caution: If the crown can-
not be securely re-inserted, there is a
risk of swallowing the crown or, worse,
aspirating it into the lung.
Cold Sores
Cold sores are a herpes virus infec-
tion, and there are several medications
at the pharmacy to alleviate the pain
and suffering. If you are one of those
persons who often get cold sores,
you might consider getting a chicken
pox vaccination. Most of the time,
the virus must run its course, and
medications only help to alleviate the
discomfort. Here’s a tip: Don’t laugh,
at the beginning of the onset of a cold
sore, when you feel the area getting
hot or itchy, applying a dab of Prepa-
ration H cream. This may prevent the
cold sore from becoming full blown.
Mouth Ulcers
Mouth ulcers can occur for several
reasons. Rinsing with warm salt water
can help the healing process, and phar-
macies have several remedies. Usually
they, too, have to run their course.
Regardless of the dental issue,
your first thought must be to find a
dentist as soon as possible. But, being
RVers, we sometimes find ourselves
in situations where a dentist is not
readily available, and we must fend
for ourselves. Always remember that
self-treatment can be more complicat-
ed and dangerous than the emergency,
so attempt these suggestions only
when absolutely necessary.
“If you’ve lost a crown from a back tooth,
you can live with it until the crown can be
re-cemented by a dentist. If it is a front
tooth, that’s a different story.”