Parents always have a concern for the safety of their child, but accidents can happen. One potential injury they can have involves a tooth getting knocked out, which can be quite traumatic when everyone needs to act quickly. Here are a few tips for what you should do when this problem happens.
Locate The Tooth Immediately
The first thing that you should do is have everyone stop what they are doing and locate the missing tooth. If your child is playing a game with other kids, make sure that everyone stops what they are doing as well. Speed is important when dealing with a knocked-out tooth, so don't plan to go back later and get the tooth. You also don't want to risk someone stepping on the tooth accidentally.
Ideally, you should find a tooth that is fully intact. If the tooth is fractured and cracked, especially along the root of the tooth, then it is likely not possible to save it. However, a whole tooth can be reinserted back into the mouth.
Touch The Tooth By The Crown
There is a right and wrong way to touch a knocked-out tooth. The only place that is safe to touch is the crown of the tooth, which is the part that sticks up above the gums. You do not want to touch the root of the tooth, since you can damage the tooth by having the oils from your fingers touch it. Make sure you tell this to other people looking for the tooth, since they may instinctively pick it up as soon as they find it.
Rinse The Tooth
You'll want to lightly rinse off the tooth to get rid of any dirt that is on it. However, you do not want to scrub the tooth, since you can potentially damage it by doing so. There are cells on the tooth that help with it being implanted back into the gums, and you can wash those away if you scrub the surface.
Preserve The Tooth
You'll need to visit an emergency dentist as soon as possible. Until you can visit them, you'll want to know how to transport the tooth to the dentist. It is best to keep the tooth in a small container of milk, which will preserve those cells on the tooth. If you don't have milk, you can actually put the tooth in a small cup of the child's saliva. This may be a safer alternative than having the child keep the tooth in their mouth, since you do not want them to accidentally swallow.
For more information, contact a 24-hour emergency dentist in your area.
Share31 October 2022
Hi, my name is Kevin Nelson and I want to tell you about my experience. I had a painful tooth so I went to see my dentist. After the examination, he said that I needed to have a root canal to save the tooth. I told the dentist to just pull the tooth instead and then he explained why that wasn't a good idea. He said that pulling the tooth would cause additional problems and then he told me what could happen. I didn't want any more problems, so the dentist did the root canal and I'm glad that he did. I wanted to write a blog to tell others about the benefits of a root canal and what to expect during the procedure. I hope that by getting the word out, other people won't make the same mistake that I almost did by getting a perfectly good tooth pulled.