Knocked-out tooth? What to do immediately in Glasgow

First, take a breath and find the tooth

Check that the person is otherwise alright. If they hit their head, blacked out, feel drowsy or are being sick, medical care comes before dental care. If they are shaken but well, your next job is to find the tooth.

Look carefully. Teeth travel further than you would expect, and a whole tooth is worth far more than a fragment. If you cannot find it at all, be aware that it may have been swallowed or, rarely, inhaled. If the person is coughing, wheezing or having any trouble breathing, treat that as a medical emergency and get urgent help, because an inhaled tooth needs to be found on an X-ray.

Handle the tooth by the crown, never the root

The crown is the white part you normally see in the mouth. The root is the longer, yellowish part that sits in the gum, and it is covered in delicate living cells that the tooth needs if it is going to reattach. Squeezing, scrubbing or drying the root kills those cells, so however natural it feels to give the tooth a good clean, do not.

Pick the tooth up by the crown only. If it is dirty, rinse it very briefly in milk, or hold it under cold running water for no more than ten seconds. No scrubbing, no soap, no disinfectant. Do not dry it and do not wrap it in tissue or a hanky, because drying out is exactly what harms it.

If it is an adult tooth, put it back in if you can

This is the step people find hardest to believe, but reinserting the tooth yourself, right there and then, is genuinely the best first aid there is. The socket is the safest place the tooth can be.

Hold the tooth by the crown, line it up the right way round, and push it gently but firmly back into the socket. It should slide in with steady pressure. Once it is in, ask the person to bite softly on a clean handkerchief or folded piece of cloth to hold it in place, and keep biting until a dentist can see them.

If it will not go in easily, do not force it. Store it properly instead and get to a dentist fast.

If you cannot reinsert it: milk or saliva, never let it dry

Cold milk is the best readily available way to keep the tooth alive outside the mouth. Drop it into a small container or glass with enough milk to cover it completely.

If there is no milk to hand, saliva works as a back-up. An adult can tuck the tooth inside their cheek, between the gum and the cheek, and keep it there on the way in. Do not do this with a child, who could swallow it. Instead, put the tooth in a small clean container and ask them to spit into it.

Do not store the tooth in plain water, which damages the root cells, and do not carry it dry in a pocket or wrapped in tissue. If you truly have nothing suitable, call us anyway and we will talk you through it.

Never reinsert a baby tooth

If a young child knocks out a baby tooth, do not put it back in. This rule has no exceptions. The adult tooth is developing in the gum just beneath, and pushing the baby tooth back into the socket can damage that adult tooth for life.

Instead, comfort your child, press a clean cloth or damp gauze gently on the gum to slow any bleeding, keep the tooth so we can check it is whole, and give us a call. We will still want to see your child, to make sure no fragment is left behind, that the neighbouring teeth have not been loosened, and that everyone leaves reassured.

Why the first hour matters

The living cells on the root surface start to die very quickly once the tooth is out of its socket. A tooth that goes back in within minutes has the best possible chance. A tooth kept moist in milk or saliva and reinserted within the hour still has a real chance of reattaching. A tooth left dry for even half an hour is in serious trouble. That is why we say the first hour matters, and why calling immediately is not overcaution. It is the treatment.

Two honest notes. Even if more than an hour has passed, come in anyway, because there are still things a dentist can do and options to discuss. And a reimplanted tooth usually needs follow-up care, including splinting to the neighbouring teeth for a spell and often root canal treatment later, so the first visit is the start of the story, not the end of it.

Call us the moment it happens, day or night

Day Night Dental is open 24 hours a day, every day, in Merchant City in the heart of Glasgow. When you call, our reception team answers, a real person, whether it is three in the afternoon or three in the morning. Tell us what has happened and we will tell you exactly what to do while you make your way to us. Our emergency dentist page, in the links below, explains how urgent appointments work.

When it is more than a dental emergency

Most knocked-out teeth are a dental emergency rather than a medical one. But some situations need the hospital first. Call 999 or go straight to A&E if there is difficulty breathing or swallowing, swelling spreading towards the eye or down the neck, a high temperature together with facial swelling, serious trauma such as a suspected broken jaw, a head injury or any loss of consciousness, or bleeding that will not stop despite steady pressure.

For NHS advice when your own dental practice is closed, NHS 24 on 111 is the out-of-hours route in Scotland. And you are always welcome to call us at any time. If we think you need the hospital rather than a dentist, we will say so straight away.

The short version

Pick the tooth up by the crown. If it is an adult tooth, rinse it briefly if it is dirty and put it back in the socket if you can. If you cannot, get it into cold milk. Never put a baby tooth back in. Then call a dentist immediately, because the first hour is the one that counts. If this has just happened to you or your child, stop reading and phone us now. We are open, and someone will answer.