Your Child Lost a Permanent Tooth? What To Do

It can be scary when your child loses a permanent tooth, but as long as you act quickly and seek help from the dentist right away, you may be able to save the tooth. Here’s what you need to know.

Find the Tooth

Did the tooth get knocked out of your child’s mouth and fall on the floor? If so, you’ll have to find it right away. Look on the floor, in the surrounding furniture, and in and under objects in the room until you find it. When you do find the tooth, grab it by the enamel – the part of the tooth that’s normally visible in the mouth. Do not grab the tooth by the root.

Clean the Tooth

Clean the tooth either with saliva, milk or a saline solution. You can also clean the tooth in a bowl of tap water. Whatever you do to clean the tooth, do it gently without touching the root. Do not clean it for more than ten seconds.

Store the Tooth Safely

One of the things that you can do to store the tooth is to put it back in the gap in your child’s mouth, root-first so it fills the hole that it came out of. Have your child bite down on the tooth gently to hold it in place. If your child is too upset or too young to do this, then you’ll need to find another way to store the tooth. Place the tooth in a bowl of milk, a dish of your child’s saliva, or have your child hold the tooth in the pouch of their cheek if they’re old enough to do this safely.

Call the Dentist – and Come Quickly!

Call the dentist to let them know that you’re having a dental emergency. Your dentist will let you know if they can service your child at this time.

At Travis Wilson DMD, we can help your child maintain healthy teeth. We provide a range of services including tooth cleaning and check ups. To find out more about how we can help your child take care of their teeth, call us today to make an appointment.