What to do?

No matter how you lost your tooth, whether it is broken, loosened or knocked out, in any case it is advisable to visit a dentist or dental clinic as soon as possible. Dental clinics offer an emergency service at later hours or on weekends or holidays, or a dentist is on call. The broken tooth or missing piece of tooth should be collected and brought to the appointment.

It is best kept in a glass of milk, in a sterile saline solution or in a special tooth rescue box. Dental rescue boxes contain special nutrients for the tooth, which can prolong its extraoral life (outside the mouth) up to 48 hours and can be purchased in pharmacies. Within 30 minutes the tooth should be treated with one of the three options.

When repositioning, you should make sure that you only touch the tooth at the crown. Attempts to reposition the tooth yourself are not advisable as this may destroy the fine fibers of the root. This gives the dentist the chance to replace the broken piece or tooth.

First aid

People who have broken a tooth can make the work of the dentist much easier through ideal behavior. First and foremost, the patient should take care to collect the tooth fragment, if possible, and bring it to the consultation hours. Unfortunately, this is not always possible, as the broken piece of a tooth can be very small and/or is quickly swallowed.

Afterwards the broken piece must be preserved. A suitable method is to store it in liquids containing alcohol. If a tooth is broken off during the weekend, holidays or vacation, an emergency dental service or a hospital should be contacted as soon as possible. The faster the treatment is carried out, the more likely the tooth can be restored by sticking the fragment. However, if the patient waits too long to see a dentist, often only an artificial filling material, crown or partial crown can be used to save the tooth.