Hi,
I was walking down the stairs, tripped on one of my son’s toys, and stopped my fall with my face! As you can guess, it was NOT pretty. I ended up knocking a tooth out. This all happened earlier this morning and now I’m wondering if I should make a dentist appointment (I was planning to do so when I’m free on Friday) or if this is actually an emergency and I should try to see the dentist as soon as possible. I don’t want to get sick from having this open wound in my mouth!
Thanks!
Kasey, from Morristown, NJ
Hi Kasey!
I am so sorry to hear about your fall! But I am so glad you are OK. Now about your tooth…
Yes, you should try to see the dentist as soon as possible. Don’t wait. The sooner you can get to your dentist, the more likely it is that you can save your tooth! If you don’t have a dentist or you don’t think he or she can see you soon, a good option is to see an emergency dentist. You can tell an emergency dentist office what happened and they will likely schedule you a same day appointment.
Until you get to the dentist, however, you should do a few things at home to help you save your tooth. First, you need to clean it. Let me tell you how. There are two parts of your tooth: the root and the crown. The root is the part you don’t see when you look in your mouth, the part that burrows into your gums; the crown is the part that you do see. To clean your tooth, hold it by the crown and gently rinse it off. Do not scrub it — this can damage the tooth and make attachment nearly impossible. You just want to make sure you’re rinsing off any dirt that you see.
Once you have cleaned it, you need to keep the tooth moist until you can see the dentist. First, without forcing it, try to fit the tooth back into its socket, if possible. Again, do not force it. If this is not possible, just try to hold the tooth in your mouth so that the tooth stays moist with your own saliva. If neither of those is an option, put your tooth in a glass of milk.
Don’t worry about your “open wound.” As long as you see a dentist soon, you’ll be fine.
This blog is sponsored by Buffalo dentist Warren M. Krutchick, DDS.