Dental emergencies are rare, but they can happen anywhere. On construction sites, workers can sustain mouth injuries from tools and heavy machinery. Falls and collisions can knock teeth out of their sockets. Even in an office, an employee may suffer from an injury that requires emergency dental care.

To give employees' teeth the best chances after injury, plan for a dental event in your office in the following ways:

Develop a protocol for handling dental emergencies.

Time is of the essence when it comes to saving a tooth. Some teeth can never be saved, but if a tooth is to be successfully re-implanted, it must be handled with care, and immediate dental treatment must be sought.

Have a plan in place, following accepted dental protocol. Ensure that all employees are made aware of what to do if they, or another employee, suffers a serious tooth injury.

Have a dental emergency kit on hand.

Think about the potential for tooth injury at your business or jobsite, and have emergency dental materials available where needed. In an office, storing them next to other first aid supplies is sufficient. In a factory or large construction project, have dental kits available in several areas.

Make sure employees know where the dental emergency kits are stored by conducting a walk-through to show them. Also label the kits prominently to make finding them fast and easy in an emergency.

Kits should contain aspirin, ibuprofin, gauze in several sizes, instant ice packs, and tooth preservation fluid.

Post emergency dental instructions on bulletin boards in employee areas.

Make a dental emergency poster using the instructions found on sites like those above or found on this one.

Employees may think they'll never use the information, but if an emergency does happen, they will know where to look for immediate guidance. Include the location of emergency kits on the dental posters.

Have the names of local emergency dental specialists handy.

In your dental emergency kits, provide a laminated card listing the phone numbers of dental practices that are as close as possible to the jobsite. Include the number on posters as well. It is a good idea to contact local dentists to find out about their emergency services.

Any emergency dentist will be happy to help you develop your emergency plans, your emergency kits and your posters. You can also determine if the dentist, such as Milan Simanek DDS, is approved by workplace insurance policies before there is an emergency.

Share