“If only I had taken care of it at the time.”
“I shouldn’t have waited.”
Ever said that?
We have a tendency to put things off if they are not urgent, or a priority to us.
Putting off a tooth cleaning or discovering that you have a cavity and putting it off can lead to larger problems. Same applies to medical issues.
In my case a routine cleaning led to the discovery of a cavity in a molar, I had no indication that it was there, no pain. I had a choice, fill the cavity but it would probably need to come out in about 6 months as I had had the tooth above removed about 10 years ago because of a root canal (yes they are very painful if you’ve never had one). So it was pushing up and into the adjacent tooth.
Unfortunately my dentist could not numb be up enough to take care of it and it required the services of an oral surgeon. I’d put off scheduling due to some trips, after all, it wasn’t giving me any issues. I did eventually schedule it, and the day before it started hurting like a tooth ache does. Even a minor tooth ache, well there isn’t such a thing as a minor tooth ache! can be debilitating, especially if it occurs on a weekend!
Now, you should have a small dental kit, like the Adventure Dental Kit, in your EDC bag. Adding something like oil of cloves and Oraljel or Ambesol can help with the pain, but only temporarily.
In a major disaster like a hurricane how long before you could see a dentist?
What if its the true SHTF? Are you prepared?
Having a comprehensive dental kit, such as the one that Dr. Alton & Nurse Amy of doomandbloom.net offer, is a great start as well as the book Where There is No Dentist (available as a download for members and you can probably search and find on the web) MUST be part of your medical preps. Edit: if you order the dental kit from DoomandBloom it now INCLUDES Where There is No Dentist (thanks to Gary for that catch).
If you’ve ever had a root canal or a tooth extracted you were probably given some “good” drugs to either numb up the area or even knock your ass out to remove it (yes I had my ass knocked out 🙂 The chances of you having something that good in your preps is probably remote.
Post the procedure you were probably given some good drugs to help with the post surgical pain. Even with them there is pain. Do you have anything to help with that? What are your options?
When doing a threat and hazard assessment (THIRA) and identifying capabilities and gaps, and your plans to fill those gaps, your medical situation should be part of that. I’m still working on the article and tools to help you do a THIRA. In the mean time take care of any issues as they arise;