What is the First Aid for a knocked-out tooth?
A knocked-out tooth is sometimes called an AVULSION, which means the act of tearing or pulling away.
Having a tooth knocked out or fall out when you are very young is not a problem because your original teeth, often called your "milk teeth"/ "primary teeth/ "baby teeth" are more technically called "Deciduous Teeth", This means that they will fall out one day, just like deciduous trees which lose their leaves in Winter, i.e. their leaves "fall out".
Nature provides you with 20 new deciduous teeth when you're very young.
Somewhere between 12-14 years of age your permanent teeth (the ones you will have for the rest of your life) will appear replacing your milk or baby teeth.
So, if you lose a tooth prior to these permanent teeth appearing – it’s not a disaster. (In fact it can be quite profitable if you receive regular deposits into your special "Tooth Fairy" account!)
Your original 20 baby teeth are replaced by 32 permanent teeth.
So what do you do if you lose one of these permanent tooth to some kind of impact?
Unfortunately a new permanent tooth will not grow and replace the tooth like what happens when your baby teeth fall out and are replaced.
If you don’t handle a tooth being knocked out fast, you might end up with an anti-social smile, or discover that you are quite good at “whithling”.
What is the First Aid for a knocked out tooth?
First, immediaely gather the wayward tooth and put it in MILK.
According to the Australian Dental Association a dislodged tooth can survive happily up to 8 hours in milk.
Do not put it in water. Do not put it back in the mouth for “storage”. Spit or water does no good for the roots (nerve endings).
Go to a Dentist and they will re-insert it.
If it is a weekend or evening, most Hospital Emergency Departments have a dentist on call. On weekends in particular, they are brought in to handle those poor unfortunates who have been de-fanged playing sport or perhaps indulged in a bit of Saturday night fisticuffs. There is a high probability that if the temporarily orphaned tooth is re-united with its family by a professional, your smile will be restored to its former glory.
The success rate of re-implantation of teeth kept in milk is very high.
So don’t just re-insert the tooth yourself.
Remember: your time limit is 8 hours.
A couple of extra points to remember:
A) there are bacterial factors to handle with a knocked-out tooth (the tooth needs to be professionally cleaned before re-insertions because gum/root infections are not fun.)
B) some 'scaffolding' may be required to hold the tooth in place until the roots retake into the jawbone.
These are more reasons why tooth re-insertion is always best left to professionals.
We hope a dislodged tooth never happens to you or your loved ones – but if it does, simply follow the instructions above to save it.
This is just one of the many fascinating first aid facts and tips you will learn if you book a first aid course with us at Results First Aid. You can even do most of the course online from home now, using our Blended Training option.
To find out more and book click here: https://www.resultsfirstaid.com/courses
Comments