At Hyde Park Dental Care in the Sydney CBD we recently treated a patient who had a fractured tooth. Find out how we helped him (How we fix a fractured tooth) and how we can help you with emergency dental appointments in the future. The Problem The 26-year-old patient broke a large portion of his front tooth in a sporting incident. He contacted our surgery immediately after the accident to book an emergency appointment, having been referred to us by an existing patient. What he did right After the accident, the patient stored the missing tooth fragment in a tissue which protected the tooth from any damage and germs. Important message for patients In general, if you lose part of your tooth it is better to store the tooth in a liquid solution such as milk or a saline (salt water) solution. By keeping the tooth moist, the tooth remains hydrated and this facilitates easier re-insertion into the mouth. You should also see the dentist as soon as conveniently possible. How we treated this patient – Fractured Tooth Fix Luckily for this patient it was a clean fracture and the fragment and tooth fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle and could therefore be easily bonded together with a special dental glue on the same day that the accident happened. After rebonding As you can see the reconnected fragment appears very light in colour. This is because the fragment had been out of the mouth for a period of time and had dried out becoming very light in colour. Check-up appointment after the initial treatment Treatment is complete Over a period of two days, once rebonded to the tooth, the fragment re-hydrated and returned to its original colour, providing an almost invisible rebonding. Common questions about losing a whole tooth What do I do if I lose a tooth? If a whole tooth (roots and all) is knocked out (avulsed tooth), retrieve the missing tooth if possible. Without touching the root surface, place the tooth in a liquid solution of milk or saline solution. Contact a dentist as soon as possible, preferably to be seen within a half an hour. The dentist can then re-implant the tooth into the socket and splint the tooth so that it stays in place for a period of two to three weeks. If the protocol is followed correctly there is a high rate of success in saving the tooth. Dr Joffe at Hyde Park Dental Care in Sydney CBD is available for emergency dental appointments. Don’t forget to share this via Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIn.