With summer vacation season in full swing, you and your family might be planning a trip away from home, maybe even far from home. If you’re vacationing out of the country, you’ll want to be as prepared as possible—including protecting your dental health.

Dental problems are difficult enough in the familiar surroundings of home, but even more so in a foreign locale. However, with a little preparation and planning, you can keep your exotic dream vacation from becoming a dental nightmare.

Here’s what you can do to avoid or minimize an unpleasant situation with your teeth and gums while on vacation abroad.

Take care of any dental problems before you leave. If you know or suspect you already have a problem with your teeth or gums, it’s better to have it corrected if at all possible before your trip. So, make an appointment to see your dentist if you notice things like a toothache or tooth sensitivity, unusual spotting on your teeth, or swollen or bleeding gums.

You should also have sinus problems like pain or congestion checked too, since these may actually involve your teeth and gums. If at all possible, undergo recommended procedures like gum disease treatment or root canals pre-trip—just be sure you allow adequate time for recuperation before your departure date.

Know who to contact in a dental emergency. Even with the best of planning, you should also prepare for the possibility of a dental injury or emergency while you’re on your vacation. So be sure you pack along with your other travel documents the names and contact information of individuals or organizations near your vacation destination that might be of assistance in a dental emergency. These might include hotel concierges, military personnel or other English speakers living in the area, or the nearest embassy or consulate.

In addition, the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers and the Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention are online resources that can help you with your trip planning and give you medical and dental information specific to your destination.

A vacation trip to a foreign land can be a unique and fulfilling experience. Just be sure a dental problem or emergency doesn’t spoil the moment—be prepared. If you need to take care of any dental issues before you go on vacation, please contact us or schedule a consultation. To learn more, read the Dear Doctor magazine articles “Dental & Medical Tourism” and “10 Tips for Daily Oral Care at Home.”

While braces are often the stars for straightening smiles, they're not the only cast members in an orthodontic production. Orthodontists occasionally turn to other appliances if the bite problem is challenging. Whatever the tool, though, they usually have something in common—they use the principle of anchorage.

To understand anchorage, let's first consider the classic kid's game Tug of War. With teams on either end of a rope, the object is to pull the opposing team across the center line before they pull you. To maximize your pulling force, the player at the back of your rope, usually your stoutest member, holds steady or "anchors" the rest of the team.

Like a Tug of War team, braces exert force against the teeth. This stimulates the supporting periodontal ligament to remodel itself and allow the teeth to move. The braces use the teeth they are attached to as anchors, which in a lot of cases are the back teeth. By attaching a thin wire to the brackets or braces on the teeth, the orthodontist includes all the teeth on the arch, from one end to the other. Anchored in place, the wire can maintain a constant pressure against the teeth to move them.

But not all bite situations are this straightforward. Sometimes an orthodontist needs to influence jaw growth in addition to teeth movement. For this purpose, they often use orthodontic headgear, which runs around the back of the head or neck and attaches to orthodontic brackets on the teeth. It still involves an anchor but in this case it's the patient's own skull.

In some situations, an orthodontist may feel he or she needs more anchorage as the teeth alone may not be enough. For this, they might establish a separate or additional anchor point using a temporary anchorage device (TAD). A TAD resembles a tiny screw that's inserted into the jawbone near the tooth intended for movement. The orthodontist can then attach the TAD to braces hardware using some form of elastics. After treatment, they remove the TAD.

These are just a couple examples of specialized tools an orthodontist can use for bite correction. Thanks to them and similar devices, even the most complex bite problem can be overcome to create a healthier and more attractive smile.

If you would like more information on correcting a poor bite, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Orthodontic Headgear & Other Anchorage Appliances.”

As the host of America's Funniest Home Videos on ABC TV, Alfonso Ribeiro has witnessed plenty of unintentional physical comedy…or, as he puts it in an interview with Dear Doctor–Dentistry & Oral Health magazine, "When people do stuff and you're like, 'Dude, you just hurt yourself for no reason!'" So when he had his own dental dilemma, Alfonso was determined not to let it turn onto an "epic fail."

The television personality was in his thirties when a painful tooth infection flared up. Instead of ignoring the problem, he took care of it by visiting his dentist, who recommended a root canal procedure. "It's not like you wake up and go, 'Yay, I'm going to have my root canal today!'" he joked. "But once it's done, you couldn't be happier because the pain is gone and you're just smiling because you're no longer in pain!"

Alfonso's experience echoes that of many other people. The root canal procedure is designed to save an infected tooth that otherwise would probably be lost. The infection may start when harmful bacteria from the mouth create a small hole (called a cavity) in the tooth's surface. If left untreated, the decay bacteria continue to eat away at the tooth's structure. Eventually, they can reach the soft pulp tissue, which extends through branching spaces deep inside the tooth called root canals.

Once infection gets a foothold there, it's time for root canal treatment! In this procedure, the area is first numbed; next, a small hole is made in the tooth to give access to the pulp, which contains nerves and blood vessels. The diseased tissue is then carefully removed with tiny instruments, and the canals are disinfected to prevent bacteria from spreading. Finally, the tooth is sealed up to prevent re-infection. Following treatment, a crown (cap) is usually required to restore the tooth's full function and appearance.

Root canal treatment sometimes gets a bad rap from people who are unfamiliar with it, or have come across misinformation on the internet. The truth is, a root canal doesn't cause pain: It relieves pain! The alternatives—having the tooth pulled or leaving the infection untreated—are often much worse.

Having a tooth extracted and replaced can be costly and time consuming…yet a missing tooth that isn't replaced can cause problems for your oral health, nutrition and self-esteem. And an untreated infection doesn't just go away on its own—it continues to smolder in your body, potentially causing serious problems. So if you need a root canal, don't delay!

If you would like additional information on root canal treatment, please contact us or schedule a consultation. You can learn more by reading the Dear Doctor magazine articles “A Step-By-Step Guide to Root Canal Treatment” and “Root Canal Treatment: What You Need to Know.”