Emergency Dental Treatment

[hazrollins]

I am about 5 days into my backpacking trip of Thailand and something bad has happened. One of my wisdom teeth has started to come through and is causing severe pain which is only getting worse and preventing me from eating properly and even closing my mouth.

I don't know what to do. I imagine the cost of treatment would be substantial at a private dentist and my travel insurance only covers public treatment (govt run). But I really don't want to have to go home. Any ideas/advice?

Thanks

[Oxx]

Not being flippant, but take paracetamol. With wisdom teeth coming through the pain often comes and goes over a period of a few days. It might be enough to get you through until you're back in your home country.

Having a wisdom tooth removed is also not pleasant, and will leave you feeling really rotten for a week or longer. Best avoided if you're here to enjoy yourself.

For an indication of extraction costs, Google wisdom tooth removal thailand cost. You'll see a range of prices from THB 2,000 to about THB 10,000 depending on the clinic and the complexity of the operation.

[Lannig]

+1 to advice above.

Of course it varies a lot from one person to another, but on me Ibuprofen works much better for tooth ache.

Available over the counter (purple meds) in every pharmacy and sold at higher dosage (I've seen up to 600mg) than in Europe.

Pulling a wisdom tooth can be a difficult and messy operation if the tooth roots are not straight. It also requires fairly high doses of local anaesthetics injected so I would definitely choose very carefully where I would have this done in Thailand.

[hazrollins]

I think you are right yeah. I just got worried because it looks as though it is growing into the jaw and I don't want to get it infected. The favt im in a foreign country is making me panic

[hazrollins]

But yeah, i will just get some gels and painkillers and get through the trip I suppose.

[NancyL]

hazrollins, where are you in Thailand now?

[Sheryl]

It really depends on whether what you have are just "teething pains" from wisdoms coming in OK, or impacted wisdom teeth.

If it is the former, the advise given by posters above is fine.

If however one or both wisdom teeth are impacted, the pain will continue to worsen until they are extracted and become completely unbearable.

Any dentists will be able to tell the difference with a simple examination and at most an Xray, and doing that at a private dentist will cost only a few hundred to maximum 1,000 baht or so. I suggest you do this before getting any further into your travels.

If one or both are impacted, extraction can be done safely in Thailand, but not just anywhere, is best done in a lareg city so another reason to get this settled before wandering far afield. I don't think any need to return home. but extraction of impacted wisdom teeth is more extensive than normal tooth extraction and at a private dentist, depending on where in Thailand you are, can be upward of 20,000 baht per tooth. It can be done at a government dental hospital or dental department of a large government hospital, where your insurance will cover (though you will likely have to pay up front and get reimbursed - I don't think a govt hospital will be set up for direct billing of international insurance. But the total cost will be well under 10,000 baht, maybe as low as a few thousand baht, per tooth). The disadvantage to government hospitals is long waits (need to arrive very early to register and expect to take all day to see the dentists, and likely have to come back another day for the treatment) and language barriers. Most dentists will speak at least some English but the clerks and nurses will not, and all the signs will be in Thai. If you have made any Thai friends or know any foreigners who speak Thai who could come with you, will help, but if not, with patience and sign language and the help of "google translate" on your phone, you'll manage.

If you want specific suggestions of places to go to, please post where in Thailand you currently are.

[payanak]

Not being flippant, but take paracetamol (Tylenol).

Sorry, but no. Nearly all dental pain involves a significant inflammatory component. Paracetamol does absolutely nothing for this. As another correctly posted the best drug at this point is ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil, etc.) 600mg to 800mg should give you significant relief. Only downside is the slow onset of action.

[sirocco]

PAYANAK N° 8

you do not have to yell.

we are not deaf, well not all.

[yimlitnoy]

Do not worry, dentists in Thailand are, if not better than the ones in Canada, certainly not worse! Health care in Thailand is excellent and affordable if you know where to go.

[hazrollins]

Thanks for your help guys. The pain has gotten worse today and there is swelling both insise my mouth and by my jaw/cheek area.

Right now I am in Bangkok, near Lumpini Park, however I am meant to be travelling to Chiang Mai tomorrow on the train haha

[Oxx]

See if you can get an emergency appointment at http://www.asavanant.com/

Not the cheapest, but always excellent treatment in my experience. Better to be treated in Bangkok than in Chiang Mai in my opinion.

[Sheryl]

Sounds impacted. Best to postpone the CM trip and see a dentist at once. If you want private, go to St Louis Hospital on Sathorn Rd near Surasak BTS. If you want government go to Mahidol Dental Hospital which I think is near victory Monument . I am away from my computer so can't readily post a link but if you google you should find it.

Don't delay, it will only get worse.

I think you ate quite likely to need extraction so keep that in mind in deciding whete to go.

[Sheryl]

P.s.

At Mahidol see if there is an ER and if so go in through it, may help expedite things.

[gandalf12]

Buy Bonjella and apply that