Gapped Grin: Living with a Knocked-Out Tooth

When you think you may have lost a tooth, it’s a good idea to check the inside of your mouth for any remaining parts of the tooth. If no portion of your tooth is left or the socket is empty, then you can assume you had a tooth avulsion. In such cases, it is important to seek professional dental help as soon as possible.

Symptoms of a knocked-out tooth may include the following:

• Bleeding from the mouth
• Sharp dental pain
• An empty tooth socket or area where the tooth is used to hold in place.

We highly recommend contacting a dental clinic for emergency dental care if you experience a knocked-out tooth. It’s worth considering appropriate pain relievers to help ease discomfort. However, please also seek advice from your healthcare provider if you have head trauma, dizziness, or nausea.

The first step is to examine the area around your missing tooth for any debris or tissue that may have come loose. If you can locate the missing piece of the tooth, carefully rinse it with warm water to remove any dirt. But do not scrub or use any soap or detergent. It’s crucial to remember to avoid touching the root of the tooth, as it could cause damage. Then, if the knocked-out tooth is intact, place it in a cup of milk or your saliva and head straight to your dentist. 

A knocked-out tooth can have a good chance of survival if put back into its tooth socket within a reasonable timeframe. An avulsed tooth can stay outside the mouth for about 60 minutes with proper storage.

A tooth that has been knocked out may be replanted into the socket if proper emergency action is taken quickly. Within the first five minutes of the injury, replanting a knocked-out tooth gives it a good chance for long-term survival.

One study presents the survival of an avulsed tooth after 12 hours of storage in milk. According to them, the tooth was stable and had restored its function in the three-year follow-up after reimplantation. However, further clinical observation was recommended.

The patient’s age can be a key factor in the replanting of a knocked-out tooth. Teeth, roots, and jawbones tend to mature differently at different ages. Generally speaking, young adults are more likely to have positive results from tooth reimplantation than pre-adolescents. It is because of the maturity of the oral structures during young adulthood.

According to a study, the risks associated with replanting a knocked-out tooth may include the following:

• Infection.
  A knocked-out tooth becomes susceptible to bacterial infection.
• Tooth discolouration.
  It is characterised as the changes in the colour of the tooth.
• Inflammatory root resorption.
  Inflammatory root resorption is usually caused by external damage to the tooth surface, followed by infection in the root canal system.
• Ankylosis of the root to the alveolar bone.
  Refers to the fusion of root dentine with the alveolar bone. It makes the tooth look higher or lower in the gum line.
• Dental pulp necrosis.
  It occurs when the pulp inside the tooth’s inner layer dies.
• Apical periodontitis.
  It is a condition wherein bacteria enter the apical portion of the natural opening of a tooth’s tip, which usually happens after trauma or infection.

The procedure may vary depending on the unique case. But most dentists may follow the following steps in replanting a knocked-out tooth:

• Disinfecting and rinsing the avulsed tooth with saline.
• Administering local anaesthesia to the patient’s mouth to numb the area.
• The dentist will gently reinsert the tooth back into the socket.
• Splinting the reimplanted tooth involves joining the tooth using a thin fibre to restore stability.
• Once the tooth is reinserted, the dentist will schedule the next dental appointment for root canal therapy.

Every case of a replanted knocked-out tooth is unique, and healing times can vary. It can take anywhere from 7 to 14 days following the replantation for a tooth to heal. Several factors will affect how long a tooth takes to heal, and it varies with each case. 

It’s important to consider wearing a mouth guard to protect your teeth from trauma. This protective dental appliance cushions the impact of force and may help prevent teeth from being knocked out. This is particularly important if you will participate in extreme sports or high-impact activities. You can ask the dentist at Dental @ Niddrie for a customised mouth guard.