Help! My child just knocked out a tooth!
An avulsed tooth is a common traumatic injury in kids.
In any dental trauma situation, the most important first step is making sure your child does not have a serious head injury.
Look for loss of consciousness, nausea, unsteady gate, disturbed vision, and confusion. If one or more of these signs is present, take your child to an Emergency Room immediately for a complete evaluation; the dental injury is a far lower priority.
Once head injury is ruled out, it is time to evaluate dental damage. Wipe your child’s mouth with a clean cloth to assess the damage. Call us at (914) 630-2833 – we will be able to guide you from there.
If the tooth knocked out was a baby tooth, very frequently nothing needs to be done. Baby teeth do not need to be re-implanted – doing so can cause damage to the permanent tooth under it. We will evaluate the gum around it, making sure there was no damage to the bone.
An adult tooth needs a different approach. Find the tooth first. Gently rinse it the debris off – DO NOT SCRUB. Place the tooth in a cup of liquid – saline is best, milk is the most common and effective substitute. CALL US IMMEDIATELY! If done quickly, we can often re-implant the tooth.
