Accidents happen from time to time and if you have ever been in a position where you have tripped over and fallen on the road, you will know this more than anyone. Having a tooth knocked out is a pretty big deal. While accidents happen, the odds of saving a tooth reduces as you get older, it’s not like when you were a child and you’ve knocked out baby teeth.
If you have knocked out your teeth by accident, the first thing you should be doing is calling a dentist. But it’s important to know what you could be doing in the meantime. Baby teeth are never reimplanted, so if the person that has knocked out a tooth was one of your children don’t panic. When a tooth is knocked out it’s called an avulsed tooth, as the blood vessels and supporting soft tissues and the nerves sustain damage. Here’s the steps that you need to take when your tooth is knocked out.
- Don’t touch the root. You should pick up your tooth by the part that chews rather than the part that attaches to your gum. This can cause further damage to the most delicate part and this is what you want to avoid.
- Using clean water or even milk, you can rinse off excess dirt. Don’t dry the tooth off, as the root can become damaged, but just ensure you lay it gently on some kitchen paper.
- Make an appointment with the dentist. You need to explain what happened, how you hit the tooth and which angle. The dentist is going to be able to help you to ascertain whether or not you can have your tooth saved, or if you need extra help.
- In an emergency situation, hold the tooth in your mouth against your cheek. This will keep it moist whilst you get to the dentist and you should get to the dentist as quickly as you can.
From here, the dentist will be able to save your teeth in most cases. Depending upon the severity of the injury and how much time has passed since the tooth was knocked out, the tooth may be able to be re-implanted during a root canal operation. There may be a temporary fix performed to reset the tooth and weight before performing the root canal, as every case is different.
It should take 3 to 4 weeks for the bone to become reattached to the root of where it used to live. Finding the right dentist who is able to do this for you is important, so make sure that you do your research and find an emergency dentist that you can afford. You should also ensure that you contact an emergency dentist immediately when the tooth is knocked out – do not wait.
*Collaborative Post