Yesterday my 15 year old came home from basketball practice with a busted lip and a
questionable lose tooth, which was a proud moment for me because I knew he was giving it his
all. However, the potentially lose tooth and the visions of dental and orthodontic bills briefly
danced around my head until I realized it was a false alarm…but what if it wasn’t? What do you
do when you have a tooth that is a knockout?
It turns out there are ways to restore a knocked out tooth. First, locate the tooth and
handle it by the crown section (or chewing surface of the tooth), completely avoid touching the
root. If it is dirty, gently rinse with regular water. Depending on the person and the
circumstance, you may be able to put tooth directly back into the socket, which is the ideal
scenario. Once relocated in the socket – hold in place with your finger. If you are unable to
insert the tooth into the socket, place it in milk or in your mouth next to your cheek. If you
don’t have milk and it is a younger child who can potentially swallow the tooth, consider having
them spit in a cup and placing the tooth in the spit (gross, but effective). Finally, see a dentist
within 30 minutes of the delay. If it is an evening or weekend – there are dentist who will see
you for emergencies, so call your dentist immediately. Your knockout could just be a TKO and
the tooth might be ready for another fight – once it recovers of course!
