As a wise person, you recognize that some people are experts in their respective fields while you’re an expert in yours. You tend to trust those with training and experience for more complex issues. After all, if you aren’t a doctor, you don’t perform appendectomies; if you’re not a mechanic, you probably won’t try to fix complicated car troubles. When a tooth gets knocked out, you wonder whether you should even attempt to get it back into its normal spot. Is that even possible? In this post, you’ll learn why you can and should try to put your knocked-out tooth in its socket, but ultimately, you should work with your dentist through this dental emergency to recover your smile.
Why Is a Knocked-Out Tooth Serious?
Not only does suddenly losing a tooth severely change your smile’s appearance, but it also throws off your bite, impairs your ability to eat, and is often incredibly painful. You shouldn’t simply accept this event and carry on as usual missing a tooth. This situation needs to be dealt with wisely.
Why Should You Try to Save Your Natural Tooth?
Once your real teeth are gone, they are gone for good. Although tooth replacements have come impressively far over the years, they still don’t compare to what your natural teeth can do. For instance, your real teeth can sense when something is hot or cold before it comes into contact with soft oral tissues, but prosthetic teeth can’t, making mouth burns more likely.
The good news is that you have a bit of time to save your natural tooth after knocking it out. If you can get to your dentist within an hour of the injury, your odds of successfully re-implanting the tooth shoot up.
Should You Try to Put Your Knocked-Out Tooth Back in Its Socket?
First of all, stay calm and act quickly. Call your dentist immediately to alert them and inform them you’re coming. Pick up the tooth by its crown, not the root. The structure that typically is hidden by gums needs to avoid contact with external things to avoid contamination. Lightly rinse it off with clean water and carefully insert the tooth back into the socket. If you manage to do this, bite down gently on gauze. If you can’t do this yourself, that’s fine, but you must keep the tooth wet to keep it alive. Preferably, you would store the tooth in a container of milk or between your gums and cheek and come with it to your dentist’s office.
Do You Still Need to See the Dentist If You Put Your Knocked-Out Tooth Back Yourself?
Yes, even if you manage to get your tooth back in the socket where it belongs, you still need to see your dentist! Why? They can make sure it is oriented correctly, check for any other damage, and place a splint. This oral appliance connects the knocked-out tooth with the surrounding dentition, which secures the tooth in place until your gums reattach and stabilize the tooth naturally.
Regardless of whether you’re able to re-implant the tooth on your own, you and your dentist can work together to help your smile get back to full health. With smart choices on your part and their expertise, you can accomplish great things and save your real tooth.
About the Practice
Beach Dental goes above and beyond for our patients. We do our utmost to see patients who call with dental emergencies on the same day. Our compassionate dentists, Dr. Alexis Gersten and Dr. Jason Parli, have decades of experience and have deep ties to the Westhampon, East Moriches, Manorville, East Quogue, and Westhampton Beach areas. In addition to emergency care, we can also provide dental implants, Invisalign, tooth restorations, and cosmetic dental procedures. To schedule an appointment, please reach out online or call us at 631-325-0731.