Help!! What Do I Do if I Knock a Tooth Out!?
We are so very sorry that you are searching for this answer right now, and We’re almost certain that you need the answer FAST, so here it is...
What to do if your tooth is knocked out
Place the tooth in your or the victim’s cheek...in the area right next to the bottom teeth.
If this isn’t possible, placing the tooth in a cup of milk is the next best option.
Just don’t let it dry out.
Get to your honest dentist asap. If they are not available, call the oral surgeon, orthodontist, or even an endodontist. They will also be able to help you. Try everyone.
The emergency room doesn’t always have an oral surgeon on hand, and the mouth is not their specialty. It’s best and usually faster to try and get a hold of a dental professional.
Once you reach them, they will assess the tooth to see if it’s still intact enough to put back into the socket. If so, that’s exactly what they will do.
They should be able to numb the area for you and put that tooth correctly back into the socket. They will also take an x-ray to ensure that the area hasn’t been damaged in any other way.
It seems unbelievable, but the body does a great job of accepting the tooth back. It may need a root canal eventually because the nerve has been severed.
For now, though, it just needs to be given time to heal. The bone needs time to fill back in around it. As the bone closes in, the tooth will become tight again.
Your honest dentist will watch it and guide you from there.
If you don’t have the tooth, your honest dentist will assess the area to decide if it would benefit from a bone graft. A graft adds additional bone to the area, to better prepare the site should you choose to replace the tooth with an implant.
What if the tooth is just pushed out of place?
Well, if you have the stomach for it, and depending on how much it has moved, you can try to push or pull the tooth back to the place where it belongs...And then get to your honest dentist asap.
If you can’t get the tooth back in place, don’t you worry.
Just skip that step and go see your honest dentist, orthodontist, oral surgeon, or endodontist asap.
They will help you get the tooth back in place and assess the rest of the area for further problems. They’ll also numb it for you to make it easier.
What if it’s just a baby tooth?
All too often, our kiddos take those diggers right onto their faces.
Sometimes a child knocks out one of their baby teeth before it’s time. It’s not necessary to worry about putting that tooth back in, as we would with an adult tooth.
Your honest dentist will decide if it’s necessary to place a space maintainer in the area to maintain the space needed until the adult tooth comes in to replace it.
Our teeth naturally drift towards the front of our face, so if a space is left open with nothing to hold it, the teeth will slowly drift and tighten that space.
Here is an eruption chart to give you a better idea of how long it will be before that adult tooth comes in. Depending on the time frame, your honest dentist may decide against worrying about this part at all.
Baby Teeth Arrival and Departure Chart
Also, double-check this chart to be sure that it is INDEED a baby tooth that was lost....
Children typically lose their lower front central teeth first...around 5-6 yrs old. Then it’s the upper front centrals’ turn, around 5.5-6 years old.
Next, it jumps back down to the lower laterals, on each side of the centrals, at 7-8 years old. And....then back up to the upper laterals shortly thereafter.
From there, I usually say that it gets a little random. The baby first molars are generally next, and then it’s a fight for the finish between the last baby molars and the canines.
If you have any doubt at all, get a hold of one of your dental professionals. That’s what we’re here for.
If the baby tooth gets pushed out of place...
...the treatment is the same as for the adult tooth.
Your honest dentist or another dental professional will push or pull the tooth back into the correct position and assess it for any other damage.
If it’s pushed out of place TOO much, your honest dentist may also decide that it would be best to pull the baby tooth out at that point.
If a child hits a tooth hard enough, it often can turn grey because the nerve gets damaged.
This isn’t anything to be overly alarmed about. Just be sure that your honest dentist keeps an eye on it and that you don’t see an abscess or bubble appear above it on the gums. It will eventually fall out and be replaced by a nice, new, beautiful adult tooth.
There has always been the belief that damage could occur to the adult tooth underneath. In our experience, it’s not as common as once believed. Please be sure to talk with your honest dentist about it. They will explain any worries that are worth worrying about.
We hope this information made things a little clearer for you, and we wish you the BEST OF LUCK with that tooth!
Though it would be best if we did, we’ll never claim to know it all, all of the time. NO ONE knows it all! We do claim honesty, though, and we sincerely want to help as many people as we can! Our patients have maintained beautifully, following our conservative recommendations :)
So, thanks so much for reading and letting us spill our SODA! Remember to take the time to find your HONEST DENTIST, and be sure to browse around our links and follow us on social media for answers to more of your exciting dental questions, like:
