First: the person, not the tooth
A blow hard enough to knock out a tooth can do more than dental damage. If there was any loss of consciousness, confusion, vomiting or a worsening headache, the head injury comes first — seek urgent medical care. And if there is trouble breathing or swallowing, facial swelling that is spreading, or bleeding that will not stop, call 999 or go to A&E now.
The sixty-minute drill
- Find the tooth and pick it up by the crown — the white part. Never handle the root.
- If it is dirty, rinse it briefly in milk or saline. Do not scrub it, and do not use soap or disinfectant.
- If you can, place it gently back into its socket the right way round, and bite softly on a clean cloth to hold it there.
- If you cannot re-implant it, keep it in cold milk — not water, and not dry in a tissue or pocket.
- Call a dentist immediately and say the words “knocked-out tooth” — this is a same-day, drop-everything appointment [1][2].
Baby teeth are different
A knocked-out baby tooth is never re-implanted — putting it back can damage the adult tooth forming underneath. The child should still be seen the same day, to check for other injury.
What happens at the practice
The dentist will reposition or re-implant the tooth, splint it to its neighbours while it heals, and check for other damage. A re-implanted tooth is then watched over the following months; it will usually need root canal treatment later, and no one can promise it will survive — but its odds are far better than those of a tooth kept dry in a pocket [2].
