Hurting today? Call Roland before noon.

The number, the address, and the hours

Roland, Oklahoma: (918) 503-6262 307 E Ray Fine Blvd., Suite 1, Roland, OK 74954

Fort Smith, Arkansas: (479) 226-3500 5901 Riley Park Dr., Suite A, Fort Smith, AR 72916

Both offices are open Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. We keep room in each day's schedule for emergencies and we will get you in the same day when we can. Reach us outside those hours and you can leave a message, which we return promptly.

One phone call is worth more than an hour of searching. Describe what is happening and we will tell you whether it needs to be handled this morning, this week, or at a hospital instead. Sorting that out is our job, not yours.

You live in Oklahoma. Does your insurance work here?

This is the question we get more than any other from patients in Roland, Muldrow, Sallisaw, Gans, Vian, Gore, and Moffett, and it stops people from calling when they are in pain. So here is the direct answer.

Dental PPO networks are national, not state-specific. If your plan is a PPO with Delta Dental Premier, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Aetna, MetLife, Guardian, United Concordia, Principal, Sun Life, America's, or Assurant, we are in network at both offices, whether you sit down in Roland or in Fort Smith. We also participate with HealthChoice, which a lot of Oklahoma state and school district employees carry.

Practical points people ask about:

• Your Oklahoma plan is honored at our Arkansas office, and vice versa. Same practice, same network participation, one set of records for you no matter which chair you are in.
• If your employer is on the Arkansas side and you live in Oklahoma, which describes a large number of families around here, nothing changes. Your card is your card.
• Plans differ, and we verify yours before treatment. State-funded and government programs vary considerably by state and we will confirm your specific coverage rather than guess at it. Call and give us the information on your card. We will tell you what you actually owe.

Nobody should sit at home with an abscess because they are unsure which state their benefits belong to. Call, and we will sort the paperwork out while we get you comfortable.

Roland or Fort Smith, whichever gets you seen sooner

For most of Sequoyah County, the Roland office off Ray Fine Boulevard is simply closer, and it is the one to call first. Coming east from Muldrow or Sallisaw, or up from Vian and Gore, you are on familiar road the whole way.

Fort Smith is about fifteen minutes across the river, and it is often the better answer if you work on that side or if the Roland schedule is full when you call. Patients in Pocola and Arkoma frequently find Fort Smith is the shorter drive.

The reason it does not matter much which one you pick is that it is one practice. Dr. Beau Sparkman and Dr. Joseph Farmer see patients at both locations, and your chart, your X-rays, and your treatment plan follow you between them. If you are treated in Roland today and need a follow-up in Fort Smith next week, nothing has to be repeated.

When you call, tell us where you are driving from. We will point you to whichever office can see you soonest.

What to do while you are on your way

Tooth knocked completely out. Time is the only thing that matters here. Handle it by the crown, never the root. Do not scrub it, do not use soap, do not let it dry. If it is dirty, a two-second rinse in milk or saline is enough. Reseat it in the socket if you can manage it, and bite gently on a clean cloth to hold it. If you cannot, transport it submerged in milk, or tucked inside the cheek of an adult who will not swallow it. Plain water is the wrong choice, so skip it. Then call (918) 503-6262 immediately. The odds fall off sharply after the first hour. A baby tooth is the exception: do not reseat it, because doing so can injure the permanent tooth forming above. Call and we will check the site.

Broken or cracked tooth. Collect whatever fragments you can find and bring them. Rinse with warm water, put a cold pack on the outside of the cheek, and if a jagged edge is shredding your tongue, cover it with orthodontic wax or a piece of sugar-free gum. Stay off that side. Pain that spikes when you let go of a bite, rather than when you press down, tends to indicate a crack running through the tooth. Cracks do not stabilize on their own. Every week you wait usually moves the treatment further up the ladder.

Swelling in the face or jaw. Read the ER list in the next section first. If none of it applies, call us today, keep a cold pack on the outside, and rinse with warm salt water several times a day. Do not put heat on your face. Do not squeeze or lance anything. Do not restart a leftover antibiotic from an old prescription. Antibiotics can settle down the swelling, but the source has to be treated or it returns, usually worse.

Crown or filling came out. Uncomfortable, seldom urgent, still worth a call. Keep the crown, rinse it, bring it. Pharmacy temporary cement will usually hold it for a day or two, and denture adhesive works in a pinch. Never reach for super glue. Avoid chewing on that side and skip anything sticky.

Toothache with no visible cause. Floss carefully around it first, because trapped food is a common culprit. Ibuprofen as directed on the label generally outperforms acetaminophen for dental pain because it addresses the inflammation, assuming you can take it safely. Do not put an aspirin against the gum, which burns the tissue and helps nothing. Sleep propped up, since lying flat raises the pressure. Pain that wakes you, lingers well after something cold, or radiates into your ear or temple usually means the nerve is involved.

Bleeding that will not settle. Fold gauze, set it directly on the site, and hold steady pressure for a full fifteen to twenty minutes without lifting it to check. A damp black tea bag is a good substitute if you have no gauze. After an extraction, for the first twenty-four hours: no smoking, no straws, no spitting, no vigorous swishing. Each of those can pull the clot loose and leave you with a dry socket, which hurts considerably more than the extraction did.

This is general first-aid guidance, not a substitute for advice from your physician or pharmacist about medication you can safely take.

Four situations that belong at an emergency room, not a dental office

Drive to the nearest emergency room or call 911 if any of the following is true:

• Swelling that is interfering with breathing or swallowing, has closed an eye, or has spread down into the neck. That is a spreading infection and it is a medical emergency, not a dental appointment.
• Bleeding that has not slowed after twenty minutes of firm continuous pressure, or bleeding you cannot control while on a blood thinner.
• A jaw you suspect is broken, especially after a wreck, a fall, or a blow to the head. Teeth that suddenly do not meet correctly, a jaw that will not open or close, or numbness in the lip or chin all belong in a hospital today.
• Any head injury involving loss of consciousness, confusion, or repeated vomiting.

For everything else, a dental office is faster, cheaper, and far more likely to solve the problem outright. Hospitals rarely staff a dentist. They can manage your pain and your infection for a night, and then you are still calling us in the morning to have the tooth treated.

The people in the Roland office

Dr. Beau Sparkman grew up here. He is a Sequoyah County native and a Muldrow High School graduate who went on to Sterling College and the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry, and he owns the practice. Dr. Joseph Farmer went to high school in Sallisaw, took his biochemistry degree at the University of Arkansas–Fort Smith, and also trained at OU. He serves at TheBod.Church in Roland.

Sarah Trotter, RDH, is licensed in both Arkansas and Oklahoma, which is not the norm and which means care does not have to stop at the bridge. Raegan McGee, RDH, a 2016 graduate of UA–Fort Smith, is part of the Roland team as well.

You do not need to be an existing patient to be seen for an emergency. Bring a photo ID, your insurance card if you have one, and a list of any medications you take.

What an emergency visit costs, and how people pay for it

An emergency exam with X-rays is $99. That covers the limited exam and the imaging needed to find out what is actually going on, and it is the same at both offices.

Whatever treatment follows gets quoted before we begin. You approve the number first, every time. There is no version of this where you find out what you owe after the fact.

We file your insurance for you. Without insurance, our Smile Savers membership includes two limited exams a year along with cleanings and all needed X-rays, with no deductibles, no waiting periods, and no annual maximum, starting at $440 a year for one person. Members also get 20% off comprehensive treatment, which matters when an emergency turns into a root canal and a crown.

For larger work, CareCredit offers no-interest terms of 6 to 24 months on treatment over $200, Cherry gives an approval decision in about 30 seconds, and Proceed Finance extends up to 96 months with rates from 3.99%. We take cash, check, credit, debit, HSA, and FSA.