Dental Emergency?

[drarill]

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

Good idea. Your dentist needs to check if the tooth is vital before he starts the crown. An easy way to know if its vital or not is to check if it still "feels" cold. If you can feel the cold your dentist might be able to fix the problem with a crown. If there is no cold response you might need a root canal. Even if the tooth is vital, ask your dentist for an antibiotic prescription, better be safe than sorry.

About dentist on ports of call, if you ever need to go to a dentist on a foreign country, try to go to a specialist. Many foreign doctors do their post doc studies in the US. For example, you can go to the AAE (American Asoc. of endodontists) website and find their members abroad.

When I was doing my residency in the US, the university had a DMD program for foreign dentists. They needed to take the first part of the boards and if they passed, they only had to go thru the last two years (the clinics). I will like to tell you that they were great dentists and there was no need for them to go thru school again, but I'll be lying. From a group of over 20 dentists from Europe and South America, only two were good. The first one was from Chile and end up with most of the clinical awards on the graduation. The other one was from Colombia, and had a specialty that she did in Puerto Rico. The School of Dental Medicine in Puerto Rico has the same accreditation than any dental school in the US. It was funny reading about the dentists in St. Thomas, because they

refer many patients to specialists in San Juan.

[Terre]

I think they have a dentist on board. Not sure how much he or she could do for you, but a friend of mine said her mother had a dental emergency on one of their cruises and there was a dentist. He fixed her up, but she still needed to see her dentist when she got home.

[Ocean Boy]

I think they have a dentist on board. Not sure how much he or she could do for you, but a friend of mine said her mother had a dental emergency on one of their cruises and there was a dentist. He fixed her up, but she still needed to see her dentist when she got home.

 

RCI does not have dentists on its crews. Maybe your friend was on a different cruise line. I think I read once that Holland America has dentists aboard. I am not sure if they still do or not. For that matter, I am not sure that was the cruise line that had them.

[sammee]

I've got rotten luck with my teeth. On my first cruise, I carried a bottle of antibiotics and some vicodin incase I got another abcess. I've had so many, I know the drill, no pun intended. If you're planning on getting the offending tooth pulled, you need a few days on an antibiotic anyway, if you have any hopes of it being numb enough. I don't hink my teeth like to travel. They always seem to give grief just before I leave. It happened last week 4 days before leaving.

[QTBabyNurse]

I remember when I was getting ready to go on a cruise after getting my first crown put on and I jokingly asked the doctor what would happen if it fell off and I couldn't get to the dentist right away. He told me to carry Butler Dental Wax when traveling (http://www.amazon.com/Butler-G-U-M-Orthodontic-Wax/dp/B002SPP3AW).

 

Use it like glue to hold the crown on until returning to the U.S. He said to make sure I removed it though at night when I was sleeping to avoid swallowing it by accident and then reapply it in the morning. It would help to keep the sensitivity down until it could be cemented back on.

 

I would think this same wax could be used if you broke off part of your tooth or lost a filling as well. It's small enough to carry in your toiletry bag and well worth the peace of mind.

[golf43]

A few years ago we arrived in Port Canaveral for our cruise. We came in the day before. That evening I was sitting flossing my teeth when all of a sudden my crown popped off. I couldn't believe it. I ended up calling my dentist back home to ask him what I could do. He suggested that I go to a cvs to get a small kit for repairing crowns. My dentist also said that if it does start to hurt I can take tylenol and also go to see the ships' doctor. Thank goodness everything turned out ok. The tooth never hurt while on that cruise. It just felt so strange to not have a tooth on the side of my mouth. I also tried to just chew on the other side so I would not bother that crown at all.

[VernRDH]

If a crown comes out, you can use either denture adhesive like Fixodent or plain ole Vaseline to keep it in. Trust me, the vaseline works like a charm. And its readily available and cheap.:D

[sandij]

I had a tooth abcess years ago while on a Princess cruise. The doctor on board gave me antibiotics and pain killers, and only charged me 45.00, and I felt better the next day. I emailed home to my kids to make me a dentist appointment.

[Terre]

RCI does not have dentists on its crews. Maybe your friend was on a different cruise line. I think I read once that Holland America has dentists aboard. I am not sure if they still do or not. For that matter, I am not sure that was the cruise line that had them.

I think they were on a NCL ship.

[cantw8togo]

I have heard that most cruise lines bring a dentist on board for a week or two to attend to the crew, but that they aren't normally on board all of the time. It's the luck of the draw if they happen to be on board when you need them.

[phoenix1181]

I'm a fanatic about my teeth & always see my dentist before we travel. I know that doesn't guarantee I won't have a problem but it's great for peace of mind. He recommends using Vaseline if a crown comes off. Using super glue or the cement in the dental kits can be a problem if you don't place the crown properly.

[BillOh]

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.

 

I was lucky this time, mine cracked 60 days ahead of my cruise and I rushed to get it taken care of, right away. I wouldn't want to deal with that kind of pain and try to enjoy a cruise. Bite the bullet (pun intended) and get it fixed now.

[Big_G]

RCI does not have dentists on its crews. Maybe your friend was on a different cruise line. I think I read once that Holland America has dentists aboard. I am not sure if they still do or not. For that matter, I am not sure that was the cruise line that had them.

 

I wouldn't think there would be enough original teeth on Holland to make an on-board dentist worth while.:D:D:D

[Ocean Boy]

I wouldn't think there would be enough original teeth on Holland to make an on-board dentist worth while.:D:D:D

 

"laughing":D:D:D

[Ceramicpro]

Good idea for the dental repair kit. I'm getting one. I'd also pack anti-bacterial mouth wash if you have room. Ironically I'm leaving next week for my cruise and just got 2 fillings. My gums swelled like crazy; I went back to the dentist today and found out I had an allergic reaction to the anesthetic. I'm going back Friday to make sure I don't need antibiotics before I leave. I told my dentist I'm not letting anyone in Central America touch my mouth!