Saving a Knocked-Out Tooth

When you get hurt during an accident or while playing sports, it’s common that your tooth gets knocked out from your mouth. Whether it happens with kids or adults, it’s equally scary. When a tooth has been knocked out, the ligament attached is destroyed, and thus it’s important to act immediately.

If a child has lost a baby tooth, then you should see a dentist immediately. Though the baby tooth is not replanted, they will provide a space maintainer to keep the other teeth from drifting into this space.

These five steps can save your knocked-out tooth:

1. Pick up the tooth carefully. Take it by the crown (the chewing surface) and not by the root.

2. If the tooth is dirty, do not scrub it or wipe it using a fabric. Instead, gently rinse it with tap water.

3. If it is possible to reinsert the tooth into the socket, try doing so. With the help of your fingers, gently press the crown of the tooth towards the gum. Hold it with your fingers or gently bite on it on your way to the dentist.

If you find it difficult, then try any of these:

4. Try to keep the tooth moist, either inside the mouth, in milk, or in a tooth preservation kit.

5. Consult an endodontist or dentist in Concord CA within 30 minutes of the injury.

If you’ve put the tooth in milk or saliva, they’ll clean it and place it in the socket. If you’ve already put the tooth back in the socket, they will just check whether it’s in the right place. The injury may have caused damage to the nerves and blood supply to a tooth, in which case, they’ll provide a root canal therapy for the replanting to succeed.

They may also splint the tooth, i.e, fix it to hold it in place. After a couple of weeks, you’ll have to revisit the dentist to remove the splint. In case if you or the dentist couldn’t save your tooth, a false tooth will be fixed in its place.