Things To Do When Your Child Cracks Or Knocks Out A Tooth

When your child comes to you crying and screaming due to pain caused by a cracked or knocked-off tooth, you could get confused and disoriented about what step to take. Whatever you do at that point is going to determine the outcome of the situation. At that point, the best thing to do is seek emergency dental care for your kid. However, before getting to the dentist there also first aid treatments that you have to perform.

A dental emergency is an immediate treatment that is given to a patient due to unexpected dental mishaps. For kids, you can visit an emergency dentist or pediatric dentistry. A dental emergency can be caused by different factors. A child can accidentally crack or knock-off his or her tooth. When this happens, the child could feel pains and toothache that might need urgent attention. Also, emergency dental care is provided by an emergency dentist to help save the tooth or resolve the dental issue as soon as possible.

What Kind Of Dental First Aid Treatment Can I Perform When My Child Knocks Off a Tooth?

First of all, do not panic cause this could make your child panic as well. When fear arises, irrational steps might be taken and that could make the situation worse.

When your child’s tooth gets knocked off, you should call the pediatrician immediately to book an emergency dental appointment. After that, rinse your child’s mouth with clean water. To prevent the affected area from swelling, apply a cold compressor on your child’s face. After you have prevented the swelling, take the piece of the tooth that was knocked off to the pediatrician. The dentist would decide on what to do about the knocked-off tooth.

Do I Need To Replant The Knocked Off Tooth Before Getting To The Emergency Dentist?

This is a very crucial aspect. If the knocked-off tooth is a baby tooth, you don’t need to replant it by yourself before getting to the dentist’s office. This is because while trying to replant the tooth by yourself, you might end up damaging the child’s permanent tooth which might be right under the knocked-off tooth and is waiting to grow out. You should visit the dentist for suggestions on what to do about the baby tooth.

However, if the tooth that got knocked off is a permanent tooth, the first thing to do is to pick up the tooth gently by the crown. Do not pick up the tooth by touching the tooth’ root as this can lead to tooth infection. Also, rinse the teeth with cold water for 10 seconds to take out the dirt. Note that, you shouldn’t thoroughly wash the teeth or scrub with soap. After rinsing the teeth, you can place the teeth carefully in its socket. However, if the tooth doesn’t reattach, you have to keep it wet by placing it inside a clean bottle filled with a tooth-preservation product. If you don’t have a tooth-preservation liquid, you can preserve the tooth in cold milk, saline solution, saliva, or water. All these have to be don’t within 5 minutes. So, you should act quickly and arrive at the emergency dentist’s office on time.

How Do I Prevent My Child From Getting A knocked-Off Tooth?

Accidents are foreseen events that we don’t always plan for. However, setting down preventive measures can help reduce the effect of accidental events. You can provide your child with protective mouth guards to prevent hazardous events during sports and other activities at the playground. As a parent, protecting your children’s dental health is a priority. Of course, you can’t always be around them 24/7. However, you can always teach them about dental health tips that they can practice while you’re away temporarily.