What to Do if You Have a Knocked-Out Tooth?

Approximately 5 million teeth are knocked out every year due to oral trauma often caused by accidents. However, you can save your natural tooth and restore its functionality with the proper tools to guide you. Since most of you are unfamiliar with what to do when you lose a tooth, we will provide you with all the information you need in this article.

What to Do When You Lose a Tooth?

Although chances of restoring your natural tooth after are highest in young patients, adults can increase their chances by acting fast. Injury to the tooth can damage the nerves and blood vessels and will therefore require treatment from an emergency dentist. That being said, certain decisions will increase the chances of saving a knocked-out tooth. Below are tips for you to follow when you lose a tooth due to injuries:

Find the Tooth

Most patients will focus all their time and strength on relieving oral pain and bleeding. However, it is crucial to find your tooth as soon as possible as it gets more vulnerable to damage with time. If you are in a dark or dimly lit area, use a torch or candle to increase visibility. If you still can’t find the missing tooth, trace back your movement and check adjacent areas in case the tooth landed further away than expected.

Clean the Tooth

Once you’ve located the tooth, it’s vital that you remove any dirt or debris until your emergency dentist in Cupertino can restore it. Hold the top part of it (crown) and rinse it with milk or water to clean off any dirt. Avoid touching the tooth root, and don’t use a cloth, handkerchief, or fabric to clean the tooth as it can cause additional damage to the tooth.

Control Bleeding

If your wound is still bleeding, use a tea bag or folded cloth to stop the bleeding. Place either of the mentioned materials on the wound site until the bleeding stops or reduces. We strongly recommend you use a black tea bag if you have one, as it contains tannins that accelerate the blood clotting process and therefore stop the bleeding quickly.

Preserve the Tooth

Moisture plays a significant role in tooth preservation. Hold the tooth from the crown region and place it in a cup containing milk, saliva, or water. Another alternative tooth preservation method is returning the displaced tooth to its tooth socket. To do this, carefully place the tooth back to its socket and gently bite down on it to hold it in place.

Visit an Emergency Dentist

Time is an essential factor when trying to save a tooth. When you have followed all the above steps to preserve your tooth, visit a dental office in Cupertino for tooth restoration surgery.

We recommend that parents abstain from trying to reattach a child’s milk teeth. Instead, when your child loses a tooth, visit a dentist near you to avoid damaging a wisdom tooth that might be growing underneath

What to Expect When You Visit an Emergency Dentist?

If you had decided to preserve the tooth by returning it to its socket, we will inspect it to see if it’s in the correct position

In case you had stored the tooth in water, milk, or saliva, we will clean and return it to the socket.

We will then splint the tooth to secure it and remove it after 14 days.

Why You Should Visit an Emergency Dentist Immediately?

An emergency dentist can get rid of the pain you might be experiencing by giving you an anesthetic.

Visiting an emergency dentist in the first 30 minutes after tooth loss increases the chances of saving your tooth.

If you failed to locate your missing tooth, we can recommend other dental restoration procedures to ensure you still maintain your perfect smile.

If you couldn’t stop the bleeding, our dentist can do it.

We can protect your wound from infection.

Conclusion

Losing a tooth is painful. Ensure you visit a dental clinic near you as soon as you experience any dental emergencies to relieve your dental pain and prevent tooth loss. Visit Cupertino Family Dental today for the best emergency dental care. We offer comprehensive dental care to children and adults and open on Saturdays to ensure all our patients access quality dental care services.