What to do if a Tooth Got Knocked Out

Having any kind of dental emergency can be a frightening time. With the pain and fear of losing a tooth, you may not be sure what to do. In this article, we’ll cover what steps you should take if you or a loved one recently lost a tooth.

First of all, stay calm and reassure the person/child whose tooth has been knocked out.
Next, please contact the office as soon as you can assess the situation.

What Happened?

Our gentle caring staff will ask you several questions. We need to know:

• How old are you or how old is the person who lost a tooth?
• Which area of the mouth?
• What actually happened to cause the trauma? The direction of the force of the trauma is important.
• How much pain are they in?
• Do you have the tooth?
• A picture tells a thousand words so if you can take a quick photo of the tooth and the person’s mouth that would help a lot to give you the best advice.

Next Steps

Once we’ve assessed the situation, here’s what we’ll ask you to do:

• If it is a permanent tooth, then we need to try and put it back in place as soon as possible.
• TIP: Try not to hold the tooth by the root area.
• If it is obviously dirty, rinse with milk and try to orientate the tooth and push it back in the socket.
• If you cannot do this, put the tooth in a small container of milk.
• TIP: DO NOT put in water, salty water, mouthwash or alcohol. The cells on the root need to remain alive for the tooth to be successfully re-implanted.

Time is important so I will need to see you ASAP. If you are remote, we can teleconference and I can help you to put back the tooth yourself.