We all lose teeth. It’s part of our natural physiology. But losing a baby tooth is far different than losing an adult tooth because you’re not going to get that tooth back. There are basically only two ways that you can lose an adult tooth, and that is it’s either pulled by a dentist or it’s pulled by a blow to the face. Decay can do the job as well. Before you freak out, let’s explore what you can do when you lose a tooth.

Have You Lost a Permanent Tooth?

First of all, don’t disparage, because it happens. You’re probably going to freak out at first, but it’s unnecessary to do so. But do understand that if your tooth gets knocked out, you have an emergency on your hands. It’s possible that the socket can get infected if you don’t have a dentist look at it as soon as possible. Let’s walk you through step by step what you need to do when that tooth gets knocked out:

Immediately Locate the Tooth

Try to keep your hands off the fleshy root and pick it up by its hard crown. If you got it knocked out on the football field, it’s likely to have some dirt on it. In this case, rinse the tooth off and sterilize it with saline solution or milk. Even though it sounds gross, you want to try to put the tooth back in the socket and hold it there with a clean washcloth.

The reason why you want to put it back is because the tooth might be salvageable! But the trick is that you’ve got to see a dentist right away. If the tooth won’t go back in the socket, simply put it in a glass of saline solution or milk to preserve it. Fingers crossed, there’s still a chance that someone can fix it.

What if a Baby Tooth Gets Knocked Out?

No cause for panic here, as this is a natural part of life. Baby teeth are replaced by adult teeth with time. If your child gets a baby tooth knocked out at the playground, there’s no need to try to find it or put it back in the socket. The only reason to locate it is so that your child can put it under their pillow and receive a $1 bill in the morning.

Now, what you can do is comfort your child and give their mouth a gentle rinse with cold water. You still want to try to see the pediatric dentist as soon as possible because the child might need pain relievers or antibiotics. What your child might also need is something called a spacer, which helps to keep the other teeth from crowding that space, making it hard for the adult tooth to come in.