First Aid for Tooth Loss

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Kids’ natural playfulness usually causes injuries to their bodies that can sometimes be irreversible. It is commonly believed that losing an already permanent tooth is undoable. However, in reality these lost teeth are capable of being implanted back with proper knowledge and skill.

Here are some first aid tips that you may want to know in case of emergence that may cause tooth dislodgment.

 

  1. Pick the tooth up. Make sure that you pick it up as gently as you can. Also, do your best to avoid having contact with the root. What you can do instead is to hold it by its crown, which is the visible part of it outside the gum.
  1. Wash the tooth gently and lightly under running water. You can also use milk. Do not scrub the tooth. A light rinse would be just fine.
  1. Try and place it back in your child’s cavity in order to preserve the nerve ends and avoid its expiring. If you cannot put back the tooth in its cavity, ask your child to keep it his mouth, between his cheek and his gums. The goal is to allow the saliva to do its work, which is to keep it alive and disinfected. However, if your child is unconscious do not place the tooth in his mouth for he may accidentally swallow it and at the same time foreclose any hopes of salvaging it.
  1. If your child is unconscious and you are prevented from placing it in his mouth, what you can do is to place the tooth in a small bowl filled with milk.
  1. Upon doing all of these, rush your child to your dentist, but do not forget to bring his tooth with you. Remember that the sooner that you get to the dentist, the greater the chance that the tooth will be restored. The ideal period for tooth re-implantation is about thirty to sixty minutes so make sure that you have someone who can call and set an emergency appointment with your child’s dentist as you are traveling.

A child may feel some pain or none at all. If his nerve has been exposed, surely he will be screaming because of the pain, in which case, he could be given a pain killing type of medication to relieve the intense pain he is experiencing.

Also, in cases of tooth loss, there may or may not be loss of blood and their gravity may also vary for each kid. Some may bleed severely, while others may just shed a few drops.