According to a study published in the 2008 issue of General Dentistry, parents more often than not do not know what to do with a traumatically affected tooth and do not take proper steps to respond to the injury, which can affect their child’s oral health permanently.

A child can lose a primary/baby tooth prematurely, or they can lose a permanent tooth. With primary/baby teeth a common mistake parents make is that they often don’t believe that the loss of a primary tooth is especially important since a permanent tooth is supposed to come in and replace it.

However, it is important to keep baby teeth because they maintain the spacing for permanent teeth. Keeping baby teeth in place will also increase the likelihood that permanent teeth come in straight.  The mistakes made with the loss of a permanent tooth is that parents often delay in seeking treatment and/or fail to store the tooth properly en route to the hospital.

According to AGD spokesperson Mark Donald, the chance for success is directly related to the amount of trauma and the length of time the tooth is outside of the oral cavity. The tooth should be placed in a moist solution like milk while en route to the dentist.  Dr. Maia (The study’s lead author, Lucianne Cople Maia, DDS, MSD, PhD) adds that “the ideal time between tooth loss and re-plantation is a period no longer than 30 minutes.”