• Falls and domestic accidents are common, even and especially at home: poorly placed coffee table in the living room, falling on tiles, on the sink (when brushing teeth), in the playground, etc. This can lead to an extremely rare situation, i.e. the expulsion of the tooth. It can occur in children, usually on the anterior teeth.

Parents may need to reduce the amount of trauma on a temporary tooth. However, dentists recommend making an appointment to evaluate the consequences (sometimes invisible) of the shock on the tooth. Any trauma to a baby tooth must be taken seriously. Although the child is young and will “recover”, the effects of a shock on soft and tender tissues must be assessed in order not to compromise the future of permanent teeth.

Generally, a milk tooth is not re-implanted. However, in order to prevent the vacant space from narrowing or causing chewing discomfort, a dentist may have to propose a paediatric prosthesis that will be based on the neighbouring healthy teeth. This prosthesis is of course temporary but it will allow the child to continue chewing correctly and, if the missing tooth is in front, will ensure a more aesthetic smile as well as a better pronunciation.

Milk teeth are therefore only reimplanted in exceptional cases. In this case, it is necessary to know how to keep a extracted tooth (see “Emergency advice”).

Any impact on a baby tooth is likely to reach the germ of the future permanent tooth. This germ is all the more fragile when the child is very young.

Sometimes, following a shock, the tooth comes out of its socket and falls out. This is a dental dislocation. In this case, it is necessary to have the dentist intervene as soon as possible.

As mentioned above, the reimplantation of a milk tooth is exceptional and will only take place under specific conditions. The recovery of a reimplanted tooth will depend on how long the tooth has remained outside the oral cavity.

However, “exceptional” implies that this is sometimes possible. So how do we do that?

• Grasp the tooth by the crown (without touching the root);
• Gently place it in milk (not too fresh) or saline. The aim is to prevent the root from drying out at all costs. If left dry, the tooth would die in about 30 minutes;
• Do not use ice, as the cold may “burn” the tissues inside the tooth.

Go to your dentist as soon as possible. For a greater chance of successful reimplantation, the tooth must be brought to the dentist within one hour of expulsion. It should never stay dry!

If the nerve of the tooth is affected, which the dentist will check during the consultation with an examination and X-ray, the affected tooth will gradually change colour and eventually die if left untreated.

It is difficult to prevent a fall or accident. However, a few precautionary measures can be put in place to minimize the risk of a baby tooth fracture:

• Have your child wear a helmet when riding a bicycle or scooter. The helmet will significantly reduce the impact of a fall;
• Adapt parts of the house to make them safer. For example, place the coffee table in the living room near a wall and not in the centre of the room to avoid bad falls. If your child is used to being turbulent in the bathroom, place a towel on the rim of the bathtub to cushion the impact if it falls nearby;
• Finally, to ensure the health of your child’s teeth, watch brushing carefully and encourage them to take care of their teeth from an early age. Regular dental check-ups, once or twice a year, will also help prevent many problems.