Accidents do happen and a tooth may be knocked out. Knowing what to when this occurs could mean the difference between saving or losing the tooth.
Follow these steps.
- Stay calm & act quickly.
- Hold the tooth by the crown (the enamel-covered part of the tooth above the gum line).
- Rinse off the root of the tooth in cool water if it’s dirty.
- Do not scrub it or remove any attached tissue fragments.
- If possible, gently insert and hold the tooth in its socket.
- If that isn’t possible, put the tooth in a cup of milk, saline (1 teaspoon of table salt in a cup of cool water) or use plain cool water.
- Get to the dentist as quickly as possible. (Remember to take the tooth with you!)
The faster you act, the more likely you will save the tooth. It’s ideal to seek emergency dental care within 30 minutes of the tooth loss.
Each day, we reserves time in our schedule for emergency patients. If you have an emergency during business hours, call us at (417) 777-8654. If you are experiencing a true dental emergency after hours and are a patient of record, you may contact us at (417) 399-7379.
We recommend bookmarking this blog in an ‘In Case of Emergency’ (ICE) file on your computer or phone, contacting local hospitals to see who is equipped for dental emergencies, and adding our our phone numbers and the phone number of the hospital into you cell phone. These three simple tasks will help you stay calm in the event of an dental emergency.