Straight Teeth in Less Time
Preservation Methods To Help Save Your Knocked-Out Tooth
Lois Murray
Getting a tooth knocked out can certainly feel shocking and upsetting. After all, it's not only painful but a missing tooth can be difficult to hide and appearances are important. Luckily, you may be able to preserve your knocked-out tooth so that it can be reimplanted if you make the right moves. For a few tips on preserving your knocked-out tooth, read on.
Phone the Dentist
Knocked-out teeth can occur when your dentist's office is not open. Even so, leave your dentist a message so that they can get back to you as soon as they are open again. Fast action is important when it comes to placing the tooth back into your gums. In the meantime, follow these tips:
Find the tooth
Nothing is better than the real thing when it comes to your teeth. Locate the tooth and keep it safe if possible.
Stop the pain and bleeding
Take some over-the-counter pain relief for any discomfort. Place a clean piece of gauze over the socket until the bleeding stops. Since your gums are filled with lots of tiny blood vessels, it can appear to be a lot of blood. However, most of the time the bleeding will stop in a few moments. However, if you are taking blood-thinning medication or you suffer from a bleeding disorder, go to the emergency room for help with the bleeding.
Care for the tooth
Once located, handle the tooth very gently. Do not remove any tissue from the tooth – it might be root tissue and that is important for reimplantation. The best place for a knocked-out tooth is in your mouth. Rinse the tooth off if it's dirty and gently place it back into the socket. Use caution, however. Don't put a tooth back in the mouth of someone who is still bleeding, is very young, or very old. It's far too easy to accidentally swallow or choke on the tooth.
If you are unable to put the tooth back into your mouth, preserve it in liquid. You can use milk or warm water to hold your tooth. You can also purchase tooth-keeping kits at the pharmacy. The kit includes a little holder and some solution to keep the tooth safe and preserved until you can get to your dentist.
The potential for successful reimplantation depends on several factors. Time is a big factor, however. Speak to your dentist and find out more about keeping a tooth safe and how a knocked-out tooth can be put back into your mouth and live again.
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I had braces when I was a kid. Back then, you had to wear those metal wires and rubber bands for what seemed like forever. When I saw that my child’s teeth were going to be crooked like mine, I was dreading the years of braces and orthodontist appointments and limited diets that I saw stretching ahead of us. I was pleased to find out that braces today are very different from braces when I was a kid. They don’t need to be worn for nearly as long, and they aren’t as intrusive, either. My daughter got braces that can barely be seen, and she can remove them when she eats, so she doesn’t have to give up her favorite foods. I was so impressed that I started a blog to talk about modern day tooth straightening techniques. Braces have come a long way.