A dental emergency is an unforeseen injury, pain or trauma that affects your teeth, gums or jaw. Case in point, picture yourself walking down the stairs and take a fall or trip up on a cable in your house, and one of your teeth gets knocked out. Of course, when such an emergency occurs, you should see an emergency dentist as soon as possible. However, what are the emergency steps you can do on your own after your tooth is knocked out before you reach the dentist's office?
Find the tooth
This is the first step you should do. Pick the tooth up by the crown; the white, chewing part of the tooth that's noticeable when the tooth is at its original place. Avoid touching the root of the tooth.
Rinse the tooth
The tooth might have gathered some dirt having fallen to the ground. Therefore, softly rinse off the dirt using tap water. Don't use any detergent or attempt to scrub it.
Rinse your mouth
Next, use warm water to rinse off any blood inside your mouth. You should also try to halt the bleeding by placing a gauze pad or soft cloth on the area and apply a bit of pressure. This helps to reduce the flow of blood to the affected area.
Get back the tooth into position
Reposition the knocked out tooth back into place immediately. With your fingers on the crown, softly push it in the socket. Because your mouth is moist, it's the best place to keep the tooth before you reach the nearest dental office.
However, sometimes you might be unable to put back the tooth in the socket. In such cases, the alternative is to put it in a glass of milk or just inside your mouth to keep the tooth as moist as possible. Avoid placing the tooth in a glass of tap water because the root surface cells are unable to endure that for long spells.
See your dentist immediately
The earlier you see a dentist, the higher the chances of having your tooth replanted successfully. Bring the knocked out tooth as well.
Remember that a knocked out tooth isn't lost for good, but time is of the essence. You can save it by sticking to these tips mentioned above. Good emergency action will allow for the successful replanting of your tooth by an emergency dentist much to your delight.
Share8 January 2018
When I had my first child, I was a nervous wreck. Every book I read gave different advice, and I just wanted to be right! By the time I had my third child, some of the stress had abated. I now realised, there were tons of different perspectives on everything related to raising children including dentistry. To help parents, I have created this blog dedicated to unraveling dental myths about children. I am including posts that weigh both sides of issues such as thumb sucking, dental caries, breastfeeding, flossing and any other topic I can think of. I hope you find the information you need to unravel dental myths, but most importantly, I hope you find some peace of mind. With kids and dentistry, there can be more than one right answer, and I want you to be able to relax and go with the answer that's right for you.
