Losing a tooth is a less than ideal situation, but it happens. Whether your tooth was knocked out while playing sports, from an injury, or become loose due to gum disease, the important thing is to try to salvage the tooth and reattach it if you can.
A loose tooth is considered a dental emergency so you should contact your dentist right away so they can assess your mouth and the tooth and see if it can be reattached or if you will need to replace the tooth with an artificial one.
It is important to get this treated right away, as failing to replace a missing tooth can result in shifting teeth which cause crooked teeth and overcrowding and lack of stimulation to the jawbone will result in bone loss.
If your tooth is knocked out and you haven’t lost it, you should first clean it up and see if you can place it back in its socket. Insert it into place and bite down onto a tissue to make it sturdy. This only goes for adult teeth, so do not try to reinsert a lost baby tooth.
Even if the tooth goes back into the socket and seems to be sturdy, you still need to contact your dentist right away. If the tooth cannot be reinserted then store the tooth in a container of milk or your saliva and bring it with you to the emergency dental appointment.
The faster you get to the dentist, the more likely your tooth will be able to reattach itself inside the gum. When baby teeth are knocked out, you should not try to reattach them. Just place it in a container of saliva or milk and bring it to the dentist. They may need space maintainers to ensure that their permanent teeth can come in properly.
If your tooth was knocked out and you were not able to retrieve it or find it, then you will need to have the space in your mouth filled by an artificial tooth. Restorative options include dental implants, bridges that require two crowns, dentures, or implant-supported dentures. The best way to preserve the jawbone and prevent further bone loss is to opt for dental implants.
If you did save the tooth and placed it back into the socket, your dentist will take x-rays to ensure it is in the right position and then splint it into place. Tooth splinting is when your tooth is held in place by bonding it to the adjacent teeth until it is strong enough.
Saving your tooth and bringing it to the dentist in a container of milk or saliva instead of reinserting it will require your dentist to reposition the tooth before splinting the tooth to the adjacent teeth.
A loose, knocked out, chipped, or cracked tooth is considered a dental emergency. You must try to reinsert your (clean) tooth into its socket if you can or place it in a container with saliva or milk and bring it to the dentist.
At Origin Dental, we offer same-day emergency dental appointments and will treat you as soon as possible. We will take x-rays of your mouth to ensure that the tooth is in the correct position and we will explain your options going forward. Contact us to schedule an appointment with Dr. Victor Tran today so we can save your tooth and relieve your pain as soon as possible.
