During playtime accidents happen and your child might end up with a broken or knocked out tooth.
One in two children suffers dental trauma by the age of 16, says dentist Dietmar Oesterreich.
Seventy per cent of the time, the maxillary central incisors are affected - the top centre two teeth.
Children frequently lose an entire tooth, including the root, because the anchoring jawbone is soft and still growing, making it easier to knock the tooth out, explains Yango Pohl, an orthodontic specialist.
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No matter what the person's age, if a permanent tooth has been lost, quick action is essential to possibly save it, experts say.
During sports, in a fistfight, due to an accident or
when a child is at play, a tooth can be easily broken or knocked out.
PICTURE: Supplied
7 Helpful tips on how to save your kids lost tooth
1. The tooth or tooth fragments should be collected and brought promptly to a dentist, who can usually glue on sheared-off chips and can sometimes even reimplant an entire tooth that has been knocked out of the jawbone.
2. The broken tooth must be properly transported and shouldn't be cleaned with water or alcohol.
But it mustn't be allowed to dry out either; otherwise it will be less stable in the mouth and become discoloured with time.
3. If the tooth has come out with its root, it must be handled by the enamelled part only, because the root surface is covered with sensitive cells that help reattach the tooth and can die in three to five minutes in dry air.
4. Don not carry the broken tooth in a handkerchief is a bad idea as this dries the tooth out.
5. The tooth should be placed into a tooth-rescue container.
These little plastic vessels are available in pharmacies and contain a cell nutrient solution that preserves the tissue on the root surface.
This allows the tooth to be reimplanted in its socket, and the preserved cells can help it to become reattached, Oesterreich remarked.
The nearest pharmacy isn't always right around the corner, though.
6. While it might seem logical that a broken tooth is best kept in its natural environment, namely the mouth, this isn't true - on the way to the dentist it could be swallowed or inhaled
7. It's better, though not ideal, to transport it in a plastic bag, plastic foil or UHT milk.
The milk is germ-free, but it should be cool and low-fat, Pohl advised, adding that the broken tooth could be transferred to a tooth-rescue container once one has been obtained.
A tooth rescue container on the ground next to a soccer ball
PICTURE: proDente e.V. / dpa
After examining the injury, the dentist decides whether to cover the nerve with a special medicine and whether root-canal treatment is needed as well, added Oesterreich.
In cases of longitudinal fractures or an unfavourable fracture in the root, saving the tooth is hardly possible.
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Follow-up examinations are also necessary, because damage may become apparent weeks later, for example if the nerve dies due to infiltrated bacteria.
Complications can also arise years after the accident
During the examination, the dentist documents the damage so that any complications years later can be attributed to the broken tooth.
This may be important when it comes to medical insurance coverage.
DPA