Having a dental emergency anywhere can be scary, however having one abroad can be even more overwhelming. There are a few things you can do before you go to try and help make the situation easier if it does arise, however, if you’re already away and it’s happened, we will also introduce what to do to help make you more comfortable and hopefully resolve the issue!
Table of Contents
Signs You Need Emergency Dental Care
Firstly, it would be useful to outline what constitutes emergency dental care:
- Severe and persistent pain in the mouth
- Severe pressure in the mouth
- A swollen face or gums
- You’ve sustained an injury in the mouth
What To Do Before You Go Away
Get Global Dental Insurance
The first thing you can do to help make life much easier and more comfortable if you experience a dental emergency when you’re abroad is to get international dental cover. If any dental emergencies are to occur when you’re away, such as severe toothache, dental abscesses, soft tissue injuries in the mouth, knocked out teeth, etc, then you will have access to good quality dental care without having to pay a huge bill. Look for a reputable provider, as if you do need to claim on your insurance, they should help you find the best dentist in the area to help you.
Many dentists who offer dental plans, like Denplan or their own equivalent, will include international dental cover, so it might be worth investing in a plan. It can make your general dentistry, as well as your insurance, more cost-effective.
Have A Check Up
As well as sorting your global dental insurance, you should have a check-up, especially if you are away for around 2 weeks or longer. Your dentist will be able to identify any issues that could develop whilst you’re away, and either resolve them before you leave or ensure that the issue doesn’t worsen until you’re back when it can be treated properly if necessary. We’d advise aiming to have a check-up around 2 weeks before you leave, so if you do need another appointment to resolve any problems before you go away, you have the time to do it without stressing to fit it in.
What To Do Whilst You’re Away
If you’re already abroad when a dental emergency arises, there are a few things you can do.
Call Your Dentist At Home
The first thing we’d recommend is to call your dentist at home. They will know your oral health and will be able to advise on the right thing to do moving forward based on your oral health. It could be them recommending over-the-counter medication to see if that’s helpful before you need to seek actual treatment, or they may say that you need to go and seek help straight away. We’d say that this is the best thing to do first unless you’re experiencing serious trauma, in which case you need to go to the closest hospital as soon as possible.
During the conversation, you should ask if they’d recommend you book an appointment for when you’re back, just to make sure everything is okay, as giving information about someone’s oral health over the phone without actually seeing the issue can be difficult. They may also recommend you visit and book an appointment at a cosmetic dental clinic depending on what has happened, for example, if you’ve lost a tooth and would like a dental implant.
Call Your Country’s Embassy
You could also call your country’s embassy and explain the situation. They should be able to provide you with a reputable local dentist who will be able to help resolve the issue or at least relieve you of severe pain until you can get home to resolve it. You could also do your own research to ensure that the best dentist has been recommended.
Call Your Dental Insurance Company
If you have dental insurance, calling them is the first thing you should do, as again, they are likely able to provide very useful information.
Find Out A Cost Of Your Treatment
You also need to ask how much the treatments are going to cost as if you don’t have insurance, it could be costly. You may need to be prepared for this to be expensive, which is why we would always advise you to get dental insurance before heading out if possible. It is rare that dental care will be covered under your holiday insurance policies, so looking into taking it out separately or potentially adding it to your policy so everything is in one place would always be advised. This is a small amount of money to pay but will be extremely beneficial if you do ever need to claim from it.
