Most children look forward to losing their baby teeth and receiving a visit from the tooth fairy. However, when they lose a tooth through trauma or injury, it can leave parents in a state of uncertainty. After all, baby teeth are meant to fall out, right? but without a visit to an emergency dental clinic in Manchester are there likely to be problems later on? What, if any, knocked out tooth treatment is required for baby teeth?
Baby tooth loss is extremely common and we’re always receiving calls from worried parents in this
situation, unsure as to whether or not the loss of a baby tooth qualifies as a dental emergency in Manchester. While in most cases there is no need to panic we recommend that you bring your child to the dentist straight away.
In many cases losing a baby tooth is no big deal especially if your child is nearing the age where his or her permanent teeth should be making an appearance. However, in some cases a knocked out baby tooth may require a little more attention. The good news is that because baby teeth are not as deeply rooted as primary teeth, there’s less risk of permanent damage. That said, it’s always advisable for your child to visit an emergency dental clinic in Manchester as soon as possible.
Once you’ve comforted your child try and locate the missing baby tooth. You wouldn’t want to risk your child choking on it and also your dentist might want to take a look at it. You should never attempt to place a baby tooth back in its socket since there’s a chance that you could damage the permanent tooth that’s sitting beneath it.
What happens in the long term usually depends on the age of your child and the location of the lost tooth. It may be that X-rays will be taken to ascertain whether or not the underlying permanent tooth has suffered any damage. In addition, your dentist may recommend a spacer to ensure that the permanent tooth has room to grow into. If front teeth are involved your dentist may even suggest pediatric partials (replacement teeth) for pre-schoolers, which can be removed once permanent teeth start to come in. Otherwise, a visit from the tooth fairy is likely to be brought forward for an older child.
Losing baby teeth can be alarming and confusing both for adults and children. Often parents don’t know what to do when a tooth is lost earlier than expected. We always advise that you keep calm and ring your emergency dental clinic in Manchester for advice. Knocked out tooth treatment has many variables depending on your child’s age and the severity of the injury, but as in the case of
any dental emergency in Manchester, the best approach for long-term dental health is to visit your dentist right away.
No matter how careful we are, accidents can happen. Did you know for example that over 5 million teeth are dislodged each year in both adults and children?
This being the case, it’s important to be prepared for such an emergency. A trauma to the mouth or face may only leave you with a small injury such as a slight chip to your tooth enamel. However, sometimes it can leave you facing more serious issues such as dislodged teeth or a knocked out tooth.
While it’s true that a knocked out tooth can be successfully reimplanted, when such a scary dental emergency occurs, it’s our natural reaction to panic. That said, it’s crucial to act fast and there are a few important steps you must take in order to ensure that you get the best chance at saving your tooth. Let’s take a look at exactly what you need to do in this situation and what knocked out tooth treatment your dentist can then provide.
Aside from deep lacerations to your mouth or gums, knocking a tooth out and dislodged teeth are considered one of the most urgent dental emergencies and both require an extremely fast response. The technical term used in dentistry for a knocked out tooth is called ‘tooth avulsion.’ Avulsion comes from the Latin word ‘avellere’ meaning ‘to tear off.’ Remember, if you find yourself in this situation, call us immediately and make your over way to us as quickly as possible.
It’s worth noting that milk teeth which are knocked out in young children may not be viewed as a dental emergency as such because they’ll eventually be replaced by permanent ones.
Generally, the sooner your tooth is placed back into its socket once again, the better chance it has of surviving in the long-term. With that in mind, here are 5 important steps to take if you’ve suffered a knocked out tooth:
If you can find your tooth, pick it up by touching only the crown (this is the part that’s visible inside your mouth) and try not to touch the root. If you can’t see your tooth, try hard to find it. Although it’s really rare, it’s possible in some cases that it can accidentally be breathed into the lungs when a trauma occurs.
If your tooth comes flying out of your mouth during an impact onto the floor, or you notice that it’s visibly dirty, it’s natural to want to scrub it clean first. However, it’s really important not to scrub the tooth, especially not the root (which is the part that’s usually hidden underneath your gums) as this could lead to further damage to the tooth and drastically reduce the chances of successfully re-implanting it. It’s best to gently rinse the tooth with tap water, milk, saliva or a saline solution.
If you can, try to gently reinsert your dislodged teeth or tooth back into the sockets in your mouth and hold it there. It’s important that the tooth remains moist and doesn’t dry out. If you don’t feel confident, skip this and go straight to step 4.
A couple of other points worth mentioning are:
If for whatever reason you’re unable to re-insert the knocked out tooth back into your mouth, you need to make sure you keep it moist. In order to do this you can place the tooth in either:
Using regular tap water to preserve your tooth while you get to your dentist for knocked out tooth treatment isn’t recommended, as the root surface cells don’t tolerate being in the water for very long.
Get an appointment with us quickly (within 30 minutes if possible) and bring your tooth along with you.
Once you get to us we’ll be able to determine if your tooth looks in good enough condition to be saved and re-implanted. We’ll take some x-rays to check the bone, flush any debris away from the socket and then carefully reinsert the tooth back into the correct position in the socket.
Depending on your situation, we may carry out root canal there and then but whatever the case, we’ll splint your knocked out tooth to the teeth either side using a wire or composite resin material. This is to hold your tooth securely in position while it heals. Healing can take between 4-8 weeks, depending on whether the bone around the tooth was fractured or not.
Your smile is precious, so it’s important to care for it and protect it. To do this, always avoid using your teeth as tools. Never open bottles or packages with your teeth and avoid chewing ice cubes, hard sweets or anything stubborn that could crack a tooth. If you play rough contact sports make sure you wear a mouth guard! This helps to drastically minimise the chances of damage to your teeth but also your lips, cheek, and tongue.
Remember the key to saving your tooth is following the 5 steps listed and getting to your dentist quickly for knocked out tooth treatment. Here at Church Road Dental practice, we offer an out of hours dental emergency service where you can rest assured that you’re in the best possible hands with our experienced team. So if you find yourself suffering from dislodged teeth or a knocked out tooth, follow the advice above and then call us immediately on 0161 485 7376.