When a 51-year-old Swedish man developed a throbbing toothache with facial swelling, he knew he needed to get to the dentist right away. There was only one problem: The unnamed individual was inside the Östragård minimum-security prison, serving a short sentence. But he didn’t let that stop him from getting dental treatment — he simply broke out of jail and headed straight for the nearest dental office.
“In the end, I just couldn’t stand it,” he explained to the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
After the offending tooth was extracted, the offender himself went to the local police precinct and turned himself in. Taking his circumstances into account, the court added just 24 hours to his original sentence, and he was released soon thereafter. “Now I only have to pay the dentist bill,” he noted.
While we certainly don’t encourage jailbreaks, we might feel that this fellow made the right choice. It’s important to know when you need to get dental treatment right away, and when you can wait. Here are some very basic guidelines:
Pain is the body’s way of telling you that something’s wrong. When you experience mouth pain, it’s best for you to see us as soon as possible. Quick treatment just might save your tooth — and perhaps save you from a far steeper bill for tooth replacement. If you would like more information about dental emergencies, call our office for a consultation. You can learn more in the Dear Doctor magazine article “Tooth Pain? Don’t Wait!”