Watch Your Step!

When you think of deadliest jobs many people immediately think of crab fishing in Alaska or being on a ship in Alaska period. The men and women who work in Alaska fishing and shipping do have jobs that are unforgiving when a mistake is made. However, we should all be aware of our surroundings because a possible accident is looming around every corner.

A patient in the practice, who happens to work on a ship in Alaska, was headed home after his 4 week stint. As he was making his way home he tripped in the jet bridge stepping off the plane in Atlanta.

This patient has excellent dentition and really takes care of himself. He never misses recall appointments and handles every little thing that pops up immediately. As he was helped up by other passengers it was immediately evident he had hurt himself. How bad he was hurt was more apparent when he made it to a mirror.

 

Teeth #’s 8 and 9 were damaged with #9 taking a bigger shot than #8. The patient bit through his lower lip and busted his chin requiring stitches. He left the hospital in Atlanta after calling our emergency line and continued his journey home with no treatment other than a few sutures in his chin.

When he presented to the office he was in no pain, but stated he was very sore. Radiographs were taken and an intra oral exam was done checking for mobility on any teeth and looking for any fractures that may not be as apparent as #’s 8 and 9. Considering how bad #9 was, the other teeth were in good shape. Trans illumination of #8 revealed multiple fractures in a star burst pattern. We had the patient follow up with our endodontist and #9 needed root canal therapy.

He desired for us to do the root canal which was completed the day we prepped #’s 8 and 9 for crowns. A fiber post was placed in #9 and the teeth were prepped. After prepping we isolated the teeth for a Cerec scan and fabricated two Emax crowns. The crowns were cemented and the patient was very happy.

The moral to the story is stay on alert even when you’re not working one of the most deadliest jobs in the world. Simply walking off an airplane caught someone who is very aware of his surroundings off guard.