So your child has lost a PERMANENT tooth…
A bloody mouth, a missing tooth and ear-piercing screams are more than enough to cause any parent panic. Tooth avulsion or knocking out a tooth is one of the most common accidents involving children. Managing the situation when your child loses a tooth involves extreme care and attention.
According to Dental Surgeon Dr Naudia Gilzeane, having a permanent tooth or teeth knocked out is a serious dental injury.
“When a tooth is knocked out in its entirety this is referred to as dental avulsion, and is usually the result of some trauma to the mouth and/or face,” said Dr Gilzeane.
She said that the actions taken after a tooth is knocked out are crucial to the prognosis of the tooth. Dr Gilzeane said when a child loses a tooth, once the root follicles are still attached to the tooth and proper care is taken in handling it, then the possibility of the tooth surviving and an implantation being successful increases.
“Immediate implantation is the best treatment at the site of the accident. If this cannot be done for whatever reason, the alternative is to use an appropriate storage medium to transport the tooth to the nearest dental treatment facility. The sooner the tooth and patient can get to treatment the more likely it is for a positive outcome,” Dr Gilzeane explained.
She said that parents can increase the chances of their child’s tooth surviving in the event of a tooth avulsion if they follow the instructions below:
1. Keep the child calm.
2. Find the tooth and pick it up by the crown (the white part); avoid touching the root.
3. If the tooth is dirty, wash it briefly (maximum 10 seconds) under cold running water and reposition it (place it in the socket). Once the tooth is in place, have the patient bite on a handkerchief to hold it in place.
4. If this is not possible, place the tooth in a glass of milk. If you do not have milk the tooth can also be transported inside the child’s mouth. Ask them to try to keep the tooth between the molars and the inside of the cheek.
5. Dr Gilzeane cautions parents who believe that their child may be too young and could swallow the tooth to spit in a container and place the tooth in it.
She listed other mediums of transport as including saline solution or Hanks balanced salt solution. However, she forbade transporting the tooth in water since it could cause damage to the root follicles of the tooth.
