2 Mistakes To Avoid When Your Tooth Gets Knocked Out
Posted on: 20 October 2020
After falling down and striking your face on an object, your tooth may have been knocked out during the impact. Because the tooth appears to be intact, you may feel that there is a possibility that your dentist can save it. However, until you can make your appointment, make sure that you avoid the following mistakes when handling the tooth after it is knocked out.
1. Touching the Roots of the Tooth
One mistake that you should avoid making after your tooth gets knocked out is touching its roots. The roots are quite fragile and contain the blood vessels and nerves of the tooth.
If you accidentally touch the roots while handling the tooth, you could inadvertently break one off or damage a vessel or nerve. If this were to happen, the tooth may not survive if the dentist is able to reimplant it into the empty socket.
Whenever you pick up the tooth, make sure that you grab it gently by the crown. Even in this case, you should handle it as little as possible to avoid accidentally coming into contact with the roots or dropping the tooth and breaking one of them off.
2. Letting the Tooth Dry Out Before Seeing the Dentist
Another mistake that you need to avoid making is letting the tooth dry out before you have a chance to see the dentist. Normally, the tooth is kept moist by constant blood flow and your mouth's saliva.
However, once it is cut off from the blood flow and is exposed to air, the tooth can dry out rather quickly, causing it to become very brittle. It will also be starved of its required nutrients, causing rapid deterioration.
Until you can have your tooth and mouth looked at, you can keep the tooth moist in one of two ways. First, you can fill a small container with milk and set the tooth inside.
Second, you can spit into the container to cover the tooth. However, since the saliva will evaporate quickly, you will need to keep checking the tooth and remoistening it when needed.
Along with the mistakes discussed above, the major one that you need to avoid making is waiting too long before being treated. If you wait too long, the tooth will most likely not be salvageable. As soon as possible, make an appointment with a dental clinic so that they can examine your tooth and socket to see what treatment options would be available for saving or replacing the tooth.
If you have additional questions, reach out to a local dentist.
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