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Emergency!
Where to look first when a tooth gets hurt or something urgent happens.
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Emergency!
A baby tooth has been knocked out completely. This page explains what has happened and what a dentist may do. Guidance on what to do in the moment is being written by a pediatric dentist — until it is here, contact your dentist or your local emergency services.
Call your dentist or your local emergency number.
This section is waiting for reviewed guidance. Step-by-step advice for the first few minutes is being written by a pediatric dentist and has deliberately not been drafted here. Until it appears, contact your dentist or your local emergency services — they can tell you what to do for your child now.
This section is waiting for reviewed guidance too. Things to avoid are as important as things to do, and both belong with the dentist who is writing them rather than with this website.
A primary tooth has come out of its socket before it was due to be lost. Baby teeth are designed to come out eventually, so the concern here is different from an adult tooth: it is about the injury itself, about the permanent tooth developing in the bone above, and about the gap that has been left earlier than expected.
A knocked-out baby tooth is not treated the same way as a knocked-out adult tooth. This is one of the clearest cases where doing what sounds sensible may be the wrong thing, which is why the guidance in the box above is being written by a dentist rather than assembled from general advice.
The AAPD describes preoperative assessment for injuries in this area as including a clinical examination and radiographic examination, in part to establish the relationship between the primary tooth and the permanent successor developing beneath it. It points to the International Association of Dental Traumatology guidelines, which include specific guidance for injuries in the primary dentition.
Where a baby tooth has been lost earlier than it would have been naturally, the question of whether the space needs holding open may follow. That is a separate decision, made later rather than in the moment — there is more on Space maintainers.
Baby teeth are meant to come out one day anyway. This one came out early because of a bump. A grown-up will call the dentist, and the dentist will check everything is alright.
Should we try to put it back? Do not act on general advice here — what is right for an adult tooth is not necessarily right for a baby tooth, and the permanent tooth developing underneath is part of the picture. Contact your dentist and ask them. The reviewed guidance for this situation will appear in the box above once it is written.
Contact your dentist — they will tell you how quickly your child needs to be seen. This page deliberately does not grade urgency, because that depends on the injury, the child and what else happened at the same time. If there is heavy bleeding, a facial injury, or your child seems unwell, contact your local emergency services.
It is one of the things the dentist will be checking. The AAPD notes that assessment in this region involves knowing the anatomy of a child’s developing jaw and the position of the developing tooth follicles, and that avoiding injury to them prevents longer-term complications. Whether this particular injury has any bearing on the permanent tooth is a question for your dentist.
Possibly, and it is a separate conversation from the injury itself. The AAPD states it is prudent to consider space maintenance when primary teeth are lost prematurely, and that whether to use an appliance should be considered rather than assumed. See Space maintainers.
Every clinical statement on this page comes from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry document below. The step-by-step guidance in the sections above is being written separately by a pediatric dentist and is not drawn from this source.
This website is for education only and does not replace care from your dentist, physician, or emergency services.