A public service reminder...
 

Tonight I took my daughter to a local state fair.
She's four, so I was more than happy when she took interest in the rollercoaster and ferris wheel.
After celebrating her victory with the rollercoaster I noticed a seemingly overbearing mother consoling a daughter who was crying uncontrollably.
"It's not your fault" she said.

Seconds later, Dad walked over with the son (both caked in blood)

Evidently, The son had climbed a railing, lost footing, and fell, ripping out his two front teeth.

Blood was everywhere. It was a mess.

I asked what happened.

Mom produced several front teeth in her hand.

I took them, and reinserted them into the child's mouth.

The moral here is this- If you see a someone with a tooth knocked out (unless you punched it out yourself and hate the guy...) , get it BACK INTO THE SOCKET ASAP,

The kid will still need to get it splinted and a root canal, but that is what you do if that happens to you.

Unlike curing cancer- this is a simple one. Get the tooth cleaned and back into to the socket asap.

We went and rode the rollercoaster again. The only reason I mention this is that nobody there knew what to do. It's really simple- if it happens to you or someone else, shove them back in and see a dentist asap! :D

Good advice. I thought they'd be gonners.

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Does the tooth need to go in its original socket?

I am not a dentist and Leaky will probably be able to give a better answer but, I think the reason to get them back in ASAP is so they continue to get a blood supply which will keep the teeth alive. The longer they are with out blood the less likely the teeth can be saved.

I never knew this. Thanks!

Immediate replacement won't keep the pulp (nerve) itself alive, but the root is covered in live cells that attach it to the bone. If the tooth dries out these cells will die and reimplantation will not work. Putting teeth in plain water is a no-no as well as this will kill these cells. Immediate replacement is ideal, hopefully you can figure out which tooth goes where. Saline would help keep the root surface vital for an hour or two in a pinch. Even milk is better than nothing if you can't figure out how to get tooth back in.
Teeth that are knocked out will need root canal treatment after they are reimplanted, but that is preferable to bridges or implants.

edit: the above doesn't apply to teeth that are broken off, only if knocked clean out with their root.

I had a guy on my job knock out 2 or 3 teeth trying to remove a 3" camlock from a diaphragm pump. It was in a bind & he forced it off & it snapped back & hit him in the mouth. The 911 operator told me to find his teeth & place them in milk until the ambulance arrived. Unfortunately for him they where busted off at the gum line. This was about 20 years ago.

Thanks for sharing. I would not have known to do this. I mean, once you said it--it kinda sounded familiar, but I probably would not have been much use at the sight of all the blood anyway.

Surprised the kid let you do it. Even more surprised the parents did...I bet you mentioned to them you were a dentist ?

I'm glad that kid was so lucky to have you there to save his teeth!

Probably a Wilden M-15 ... ;)