Your teeth stay in place in your smile thanks to a strong connection between the delicate roots of your teeth and the gum tissue. While you can chew and bite without issue most of the time, accidents can occur that can hurt the teeth or make them fall out.
In the event of a dental emergency, like a blow to the face, the impact trauma can knock out one or more of your teeth. If you want to replace these teeth back into your mouth, you must take immediate action. Your chances of restoring your natural smile decrease the longer you wait to save the tooth.
You can better react during this emergency scenario when you know what to do ahead of this type of incident. Read on to find the steps you should urgently take if you knock out a tooth.
Preserve Your Knocked-Out Tooth
When you lose a tooth, the tooth’s pulp no longer has access to the blood vessels that connect to the rest of your body and keep it healthy. Its vitality will decline with this time away from the rest of your mouth, so you will need to take action to preserve its health.
Handle the tooth with care. Pick it up by its crown rather than its sensitive root to avoid hurting the tooth any further. Do not rub at the tooth with a cloth or any other material in an effort to clean it. If necessary, you may carefully rinse the tooth in water or milk.
Try to carefully place the tooth back in its socket. Your saliva can preserve the tooth’s health, but you should not force it into the socket. You can also tuck the tooth into your cheek for similar preservation benefits.
If you worry about swallowing the tooth, place the tooth in a cup submerged with spit. Alternatively, you may store the tooth in a cup of milk. Water will work if milk is not available, but milk contains nutrients that can better protect the tooth.
Attend Emergency Dental Appointment
Call your dentist or visit the dentist’s office as soon as possible after you knock out a tooth. As mentioned, urgent dental attention is necessary in order to save the tooth, so take action within an hour of the accident.
Bring the knocked-out tooth with you to your emergency dental appointment. When you arrive at the dentist’s office, they will examine the lost tooth and the rest of your smile to evaluate the extent of the damage.
The dentist will carefully put the tooth into its socket and keep it in place with splints. It will take several weeks for the tooth to heal. But you should note it could take even longer if the tooth suffered a fracture as well.
Even with diligent and prompt action, a dentist cannot save all knocked-out teeth. However, a dentist can work with you to restore your smile using tooth replacement solutions like dental implants. Learn more when you give your dentist a call.