Emergency knocked-out tooth appointment
A knocked-out tooth or dental avulsion is a dental emergency that requires immediate dental attention. Give us a call by clicking the button below to book your visit at one of our 4 centrally-located emergency dental clinics in London.
What happens when you knock out a tooth?
A knocked-out tooth is a fairly common occurrence and constitutes a significant part of dental emergencies. A tooth can be avulsed due to several reasons and can happen to kids and adults alike. Dental avulsion can result from fall, road accidents, or any injury and blow to the facial structures. In a case of a knocked-out tooth, the entire tooth structure gets dislodged from the gums and jawbone and can fall inside or outside the mouth.
When a tooth gets knocked, multiple scenarios can take place. The tooth might come out as a whole or can be broken. If the tooth comes out intact, there are high chances that it can be saved and implanted back again into its position. Once the tooth gets knocked out, you might experience bleeding from the empty sockets, and there are high chances that the tooth socket has suffered significant injuries, which can cause it to fracture.
The gums can also be lacerated and bleeding. When the tooth is in the socket, it is encased in a sterile protective environment covered by the bony socket. However, once it comes out, it is exposed to the outside environment. For instance, if your child knocks a tooth while playing on the ground and it falls on the ground, it has now come in contact with the infectious agents present there. If you knock your tooth in a case of accidents and the tooth falls on a soiled area, this compromises the tooth, and it needs the immediate attention of a dentist. If you suffer from dental avulsion, save the tooth, immediately call us, and we will schedule an emergency appointment for you at one of our clinics in London.
What to do when you knock out a tooth?
If you knock out a permanent tooth that is an adult tooth, the first thing you must do is find the knocked-out tooth because there are high chances our outstanding dentist can reimplant it. Next, hold the tooth by the crown and inspect it. If the tooth is dirty, carefully clean it with water, place it back if possible, and call us immediately to schedule an emergency appointment. If you cannot seem to put it back in its position easily, do not try harder; just put the tooth in milk and visit our clinic in London straight away. The more time the tooth spends in the external environment, the lesser the chances of reimplanting it. If there is extensive bleeding from the socket, use a clean handkerchief or cotton and bite down on it till you reach our dental clinic.
However, if your child knocks out a baby tooth, do not; in any case, try to put it back again because you may end up damaging the adult tooth growing underneath. Save the tooth in milk and come to our dental clinic immediately.
Possible complications of a knocked-out tooth
The most concerning complication of a knocked-out tooth is infection. Once the embedded tooth surface is exposed to the outside environment, it is at a high risk of getting infected. The empty socket and the gums around it also suffer trauma and get soiled during the fall or accident. This can lead to inflammation of the gums, socket and threaten the survival of the reimplanted tooth. In such a case, our dentist in London will put you on a course of antibiotics.
In a more severe condition, the knocked-out tooth can be aspirated and enter the lungs, or it can even be accidentally swollen. Although a swallowed tooth is harmless, a tooth in the chest cavity might require invasive procedures.
Suppose the tooth spends a significantly large amount of time outside the oral cavity (more than an hour) and dries up because it has not been stored in milk; the chances of successfully reimplanting it is meagre. You may end up losing the tooth and would have to consider replacing it with a false tooth or a dental implant.
If the trauma to the face is severe, it can lead to extensive bleeding, which also a significant complication of knocking out a tooth.
It is, therefore, imperative to take immediate actions to save the tooth and visit us immediately in such a scenario to avoid any such complications from happening.
Treatment for avulsed tooth
As soon as you visit one of our dental clinics, our dentist will examine you, take a few X-rays and start treating the facial injuries. If you have reimplanted the tooth yourself, they will check the tooth’s position and prescribe you antibiotics and recall you to make sure the tooth has been re-implanted successfully. If you have not reimplanted the tooth, our dentist will clean the tooth and the empty socket to place it back. They may splint the reimplanted tooth for a week to make sure the healing takes place uneventfully. Sometimes, your avulsed tooth might need root canal treatment after implantation, followed by a crown to maintain its strength and integrity.
In cases where the tooth cannot be reimplanted, our dentists will treat the injuries to the mouth and once healed, it can be replaced by a denture, a dental bridge or a dental implant.
Remember, it is essential to call us immediately and visit our dentist in London swiftly without delay in case of a knocked-out tooth to make sure the tooth can be reimplanted successfully and to prevent any complications.