Can Teeth Be Put Back After Oral Trauma?

   
If your child falls and a baby tooth falls out from the trauma, can it be put back in the mouth?
    

Unfortunately, baby teeth cannot be put back. Research has shown that replanting avulsed (knocked out) baby teeth can cause an infection, which can spread to the permanent tooth or interfere with the timeline of eruption of the adult tooth.

If your child fell and concussed (bumped) the baby tooth and it is loose or malpositioned, this may not be too big of an issue—it can sometimes be realigned and splinted. But, if it is found to be impacting the eruption of the succedaneous tooth, it will need to be extracted.

On the other hand, adult teeth can be replanted. It is key to do so within an hour (preferably within a few minutes) as the prognosis decreases immensely after 1 hour. Keeping the tooth in milk or saliva, which is the best medium, will keep it from drying and will increase the success of replantation.

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