Need suggestions for emergency dental care

[travelover]

DW just called and said she broke a tooth - details unknown at this time.

Our dentist is closed tomorrow (Friday) and Sat and Sun. We leave for the west coast early Monday AM.

What would be the best way to find a reliable emergency dentist? No dentists at a hospital ER right?

 

[Jack_Pine]

I would call your regular dentist (think they would have an emergency number) and at least get a reference.................

 

[prudent_one]

My regular dentist met me at his office at 9AM Thanksgiving morning to handle an emergency some years back. Absolutely start there.

 

[HadEnuff]

Did your dentist leave any information regarding another office to "cover" emergencies? Hopefully so. If not, you can try calling a bunch of friends and ask for their dentist's names, and then call those dentists to see if you can be seen.
May not be easy on a Friday or Saturday, but worth a try.

How long will you be away? You may be able to find someone to help you in whatever city you will be in? Any pain involved?

 

[ivinsfan]

Yes generally a dentist will leave an in case of emergency number, they usually have someone to help out their patients when they are gone.

 

[spncity]

Call your dentist's emergency number and ask who is covering for him/her, or for a couple of names of other dentists.

Ask your primary care physician or an area urgent care center for a name of a dentist.

I just tried googling "emergency dentist" along with the name of a town and got quite a few choices.

Good luck.

 

[travelover]

OP here - thanks for the suggestions. His answering machine did have an emergency number at the very end of the message and it looks like he will come in on his normal day off.

Whew.

 

[irishgal]

If you end up needing a referral (even though you are going to see your regular guy) let us know what city and we can try to help you out.

Crummy timing!


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[audreyh1]

OP here - thanks for the suggestions. His answering machine did have an emergency number at the very end of the message and it looks like he will come in on his normal day off.

Whew.

Good to know!

 

[splitwdw]

Travelover, YAY, happy for your wife!

 

[Sue J]

Last year I broke a tooth the evening before Thanksgiving. Luckily I had no pain, just an annoying sharp spot and a gap that my tongue kept finding. I gently filed down the sharp spot and used dental wax to fill in the hole. I waited until after Thanksgiving and even until my next appointment a few weeks later because the wax was a very good temporary solution. I replaced the wax every time I brushed and if I lost it when eating.

Maybe not the recommended way to do it. And I wasn't traveling.

Keep us posted on how this goes.

 

[bingybear]

OP here - thanks for the suggestions. His answering machine did have an emergency number at the very end of the message and it looks like he will come in on his normal day off.

Whew.

While I've only used it once many years ago for my older son, this is the way it has always worked. I would suspect that like doctors, they will have someone else on call if they really aren't available. I have found if your don't abuse it, they are more than willing to do what is needed.
glad to know things have not changed

 

[Alan]

Travelover, YAY, happy for your wife!

+1

 

[Bamaman]

We have a dentist in the family, and he only lived 1/2 mile from his office. He often met patients for emergencies even in the middle of the night. And they never received a bill. That one little act of kindness got him a ridiculous number of referrals/new patients.

In our area, there are one or two dentists open on Friday. Call your dentist at home if their emergency number doesn't return calls. Hopefully you'll find that rare dentist.

 

[ERD50]

We have a dentist in the family, and he only lived 1/2 mile from his office. He often met patients for emergencies even in the middle of the night. And they never received a bill. That one little act of kindness got him a ridiculous number of referrals/new patients. ...

Yep, DW cracked a tooth Christmas Eve morning, and the dentist met her and fixed it up (OK, he's Jewish, so maybe it wasn't that big of a sacrifice, but still).

DW is a patient for life, she really appreciated it. I'm certain we got the bill, that would have been way beyond.

-ERD50

 

[jwkde]

Definitely start with your regular dentist. Mine always has another dentist name/phone on the answering machine if she is not available.

Most independent dentist cover for each other as this is not unusual

Good luck

 

[travelover]

Thanks so much for the outpouring of suggestions and encouragement. DW is at the dentist now and hopefully it will be OK, at least until we can complete our travel. Fortunately, when the tooth broke, it did not expose any part of the tooth that causes pain.