Oral Traumas/Knocked Out Teeth

Oral Traumas: Knocked-Out Teeth

A knocked-out tooth is a medical and dental emergency and will need urgent care and treatment in order to preserve your oral health and condition.

The Gentle Dental will prioritise lost tooth emergencies and will be able to offer you a same-day appointment so that further complications and infections do not form.

Call us.

In instances where an adult tooth is knocked out, we would advise that you try to put it back in place and visit a dentist immediately.

When you are unable to put a tooth back into position, place it in some milk and again, book in for urgent care.

The sooner a knocked-out tooth is re-implanted, the better chance it will embed itself back into the gum. However, this has to be done very quickly, which often leads to patients seeking other replacement options.

Missing teeth/knocked-out tooth emergencies

When you have lost a tooth, you will have a few restorative dentistry options to close the gap. These include:

1. Dentures: Traditional removable false teeth, which can often be uncomfortable for patients as well as causing embarrassing moments when they slip out of place.
2. Bridges: Here, a false tooth will be glued to teeth on either side of the gap using special cement.
3. Implants: Emerging as the most popular tooth replacement solution, it uses a titanium screw that is secured into the jawbone. This type of treatment is durable, strong and natural-looking. See teeth in a day for immediate fixes.

Dental implant mini-guide:

• The ideal candidate for dental implants
• Dental implants vs dentures
• The consequences of missing teeth
• Implant Procedure Guide

The facts

Some patients will ignore a missing tooth and pass it off as no big deal. However, it can have severe impacts on your oral and general health.

Hard truths about missing teeth:

1. Bone loss: The gaps caused by a missing tooth or teeth often leads to bone loss in the jaw. When a tooth is lost, the bone that supports it can begin to disintegrate. Dental implants fuse with your bone, which then provides newfound support and strength.
2. Shifting teeth: Healthy teeth that are not affected by tooth decay or gum recession are firmly attached to the jawbone. When teeth are knocked out this can accelerate problems like gaps in the mouth make it easy for teeth to move, and just like a domino, all other teeth follow suit.
3. Bite irregularities: When the teeth begin to shift it will undoubtedly affect how the teeth meet determining the occlusion. Bad bites can cause sensitivity, further tooth loss and headaches.
4. Speech issues: It can be difficult to pronounce certain words when a tooth is lost. There is even a chance that you might experience slurring, spitting and whistling.

Broken and chipped teeth

If in the case you have damaged your tooth and a piece has broken off, we would advise you to find the lost fragment and store it in milk.

The dentist may be able to glue it back onto the tooth, however, if you cannot locate the fragment the dentist then will be able to prescribe a tooth-coloured filling material, which will build up your tooth.

In the most severe cases, where the tooth is too badly broken and nerves become exposed, the area may be too sensitive, which might require root canal treatment.

Seek urgent care

Whenever our patients are in extreme discomfort or are facing serious oral health and hygiene issues such as knocked-out teeth will require immediate dental assistance.

The consequences of a missing tooth that remains untreated can lead to serious gum infections, gum recession, bone loss and further tooth loss.

If an infection happens, it can be more difficult to treat the affected area as other treatments will be needed to stabilise the mouth’s condition and ensure it’s in an appropriate state for a treatment like dental implants.

Book an appointment. Call 020 8224 7562.

We treat the following tooth emergencies, toothache, chipped and cracked teeth, broken teeth, abscesses, defective dentures, cracked bridges, missing fillings or crowns, apicoectomy, problems with braces, gum or mouth swelling, bleeding gums.