The Whole Tooth and Nothing But the Tooth

Injuries of all sorts can potentially damage a tooth and leave it wobbly and loose in its socket. For example, a car accident or any other blow to the face can cause this sort of problem. If you've recently suffered from an injury and now have a very loose tooth, you need to get help for it. Here's what you can do to get this problem handled as soon as possible.

Don't Mess With It

The first thing you should do is to avoid touching, wiggling, or otherwise messing with the tooth. While it's still being held in place by your gums, too much motion could cause the tooth to completely fall out.

If you're worried about how loose it is, try gently biting down on a wad of gauze to hold the tooth firmly in place. This isn't necessary, but it might make you feel better, and it will help to prevent the tooth from falling out.

Get to an Emergency Dentist

Your next step is to head to an emergency dentist's office. This is no time to wait for an appointment with a regular dentist — you could have nerve damage or other problems — and the tooth's likelihood of surviving this injury is ultimately based on time. Let too much of it pass, and you might find out that your tooth hasn't survived. 

Treatment

When you get to the emergency dentist's office, the first thing they'll want to do is to take some X-rays. This will help them to determine if the tooth was knocked out of the socket or not. In some cases, a tooth can be knocked out but still be held in place by the gums.

If your tooth has been knocked out, the dentist will go to work to restore it. This is usually done by placing the tooth back in the socket and then stitching the gums closed to ensure that it stays in place. This will all be done under local anesthesia, so you won't feel anything. However, it's an essential step. At this point, your tooth is more or less just being held in place by the gums and isn't connected to your jaw bone anymore. By removing and then placing the tooth back into the slot it came from, your body will gradually reintegrate the tooth back in by growing new bone cells around it. If this process isn't completed, the tooth may die and will need to be removed and replaced with an artificial tooth.

Speak with an emergency dentist to learn more.