Back to: Basic First Aid Senior Living Professionals
Actions to help someone with a tooth injury:
- Check the mouth for any missing or loose teeth or parts of the teeth.
- If a tooth is chipped, gently clean the injured area and call a dentist.
- If a tooth is loose, have the person bite down on a piece of gauze to keep tooth in place, and call a dentist.
- If a tooth has come out, it may be possible for a dentist to reattach the tooth. Hold it by the crown – the top part of the tooth. Do not hold by the root.
- Apply pressure with gauze to stop any bleeding in the empty tooth socket.
- Clean the area where the tooth was located with saline or clean water.
- Put the tooth in one of the following: egg white, coconut water, whole milk.
- If none of these are available, store the tooth in the injured person’s saliva – not in the mouth.
- Immediately take the injured person and tooth to a dentist or emergency department.
