With more than 5 million teeth knocked out every year in children and adults, it’s good to know what to do in case this happens. If you play your cards right, your knocked out tooth can be successfully replanted and last for a long time! A knocked-out permanent tooth that is re-implanted within 30 minutes has the highest chance of success. Here’s what you should do in this dental emergency.
Collect all teeth and teeth fragments.
-Handle with utmost care.
-Damaging teeth may prevent ability to re-implant teeth.
-Pick up tooth by the crown (top part of the tooth).
If dirty, gently rinse tooth with water.
-Do not use soap or chemicals.
-Do not dry the tooth, or wrap the tooth in tissue or cloth.
Treat the symptoms
-Control bleeding with sterilize cloth.
-For pain and swelling, apply a cool compress.
-Take ibuprofen or acetaminophen.
Reposition tooth in socket immediately.
-Do this as soon as you can and carefully push into the socket with fingers.
-Position above the socket and close mouth slowly.
-Hold the tooth in place with fingers or by gently biting no it.
Keep tooth moist at all times and do not let it dry.
-If the tooth cannot be replaced in the socket, put it in milk or keep in your mouth.
-Tap water is not recommended for storage because the root surface cells do not tolerate it for long periods of time.
Bring the knocked out teeth to a dentist or endodontist as soon as possible – preferably, within 30 minutes. For teeth that have been knocked out, see a dentist or go to an emergency room immediately. Take the teeth or teeth fragments with you. Even if the teeth have been successfully reinserted, you should see a dentist.