A tooth gets knocked out in seconds. What you do in the next few minutes decides whether it can go back in.
This is one of the few genuine dental emergencies where the clock matters more than almost anything else. A tooth that is reimplanted quickly and correctly has a real chance of surviving. A tooth left sitting in a tissue on the kitchen bench for an hour usually does not.
If this has just happened to you or your child, read the next section first. The background can wait.
Do This Right Now
1. Find the tooth. Pick it up by the crown — the white part you normally see when you smile. Do not touch the root. The root is covered in delicate tissue that keeps the tooth alive, and handling it damages the cells that make reimplantation possible.
2. Rinse it gently if it is dirty. Use milk or saline if you have it, or a quick rinse under running water for no more than 10 seconds. Do not scrub it. Do not use soap, disinfectant, or anything abrasive. Do not dry it or wrap it in tissue.
3. Try to put it straight back in the socket. If the person is conscious and able to cooperate, gently push the tooth back into its socket facing the right way, then bite down softly on a clean cloth or handkerchief to hold it in place. This is the single best thing you can do — a tooth reimplanted within 5 minutes has the highest chance of surviving long term.
4. If it will not go back in, store it in milk. Full-cream milk is the best storage medium most people have on hand — it keeps the root surface cells alive far longer than water or a dry tissue. If milk is not available, the person’s own saliva (holding the tooth inside the cheek, not swallowing it) is the next best option. Never store it dry.
5. Get to a dentist immediately. Not tomorrow, not “when it’s convenient” — now. The window for successful reimplantation closes fast, and every extra 15 minutes outside the mouth reduces the odds.
If this happens during our opening hours, call us on (07) 5445 8400 and tell reception it is a knocked-out tooth — we will get you in the same day where possible, Monday to Friday. If it happens outside our hours, get to an emergency dental service or hospital emergency department without delay; do not wait until the next business day.
For the full picture on what counts as a dental emergency and how we handle them, see our emergency dentistry page.
Why Speed Matters So Much
A tooth is not just a hard white object sitting in bone. Wrapped around the root is a thin layer of tissue called the periodontal ligament, packed with living cells that anchor the tooth in its socket. Those cells are what determine whether a reimplanted tooth reattaches and survives.
Once a tooth is out of the mouth, those cells start to dry out and die. Keeping the tooth moist — in its own socket, in milk, or in saliva — buys time. Letting it sit dry on a table, even for a few minutes, kills a significant number of them.
This is why the advice is always the same: handle the crown, not the root, and get the tooth wet and back in place as fast as possible. There is no clever alternative to speed and moisture.
Adult Teeth vs Baby Teeth: A Critical Difference
The advice above is for adult (permanent) teeth. Baby teeth are a different situation entirely.
Do not try to reimplant a knocked-out baby tooth. Pushing a baby tooth back into the socket can damage the permanent tooth developing underneath it in the jaw, which is a worse outcome than losing the baby tooth a little early. If your child has had a baby tooth knocked out, keep the tooth to show the dentist, control any bleeding with gentle pressure on clean gauze, and book an appointment to have the area checked — but the tooth itself does not go back in.
If you are not sure whether the tooth belongs to an adult or a child, or whether it is a baby tooth or a permanent one, that is exactly the kind of question to bring to us rather than guess at home. Call and describe what happened — we will talk you through it.
For families dealing with a knocked-out tooth or other injury in a child, our children’s dentistry team is set up to see kids quickly and calmly.
How This Usually Happens on the Sunshine Coast
Knocked-out teeth are not a rare, freak occurrence around here — they are one of the more predictable dental injuries we see, and they follow a pattern.
Rugby league and rugby union are common culprits, particularly among junior and senior club players training and playing across the region on weekends. A stray elbow, a head clash in a tackle, or a fall onto hard ground is often all it takes.
Surfing and bodyboarding around the Alexandra Headland and Mooloolaba breaks bring their own version — a board fin or a wipeout onto a sandbank can catch someone in the mouth. Mountain biking on the trails around Buderim’s forest tracks is another one we hear about regularly, where a fall over the handlebars can knock a tooth loose or out entirely.
We also see it from university-aged patients — students at USC playing social touch football or basketball, where mouthguards are less consistently worn than in structured club training. And it is not limited to younger patients: a fall at home or a trip on uneven pavement can dislodge a tooth at any age, which matters given how many of our Buderim patients are in the 55-plus bracket.
If you or your family play any contact sport locally — through a club based in Buderim, Mountain Creek, Forest Glen, or further afield — a properly fitted mouthguard is genuinely the best insurance against this happening at all. We make and fit custom mouthguards that offer far better protection than an off-the-shelf version.
What Happens When You Get to Us
Once you are in the chair, we will assess the tooth and socket, take an x-ray to check the root and surrounding bone, and — if the tooth has already been reimplanted — splint it to the neighbouring teeth to hold it steady while it reattaches. If it was not reimplanted before you arrived, we will attempt it ourselves as long as the tooth has been stored correctly and the timing allows it.
From there, the tooth needs monitoring over the following weeks and months. Root canal treatment is often needed at some point after a successful reimplantation, because the nerve inside the tooth does not always survive even when the tooth itself does.
If reimplantation is not possible — too much time has passed, the tooth was stored dry, or the damage is too extensive — we will talk through replacement options, including dental implants, once the area has healed.
The Short Version, Worth Repeating
Handle the crown, not the root. Rinse gently, do not scrub. Try to put it straight back in. If that is not possible, store it in milk. Get to a dentist within 30 to 60 minutes if you possibly can — sooner is always better. Do not attempt any of this with a baby tooth.
If this happens to you or your family, call Sunny Dental Buderim on (07) 5445 8400 straight away. We are at 2/64 King Street, Buderim, and we will get you in the same day where possible, Monday to Friday.
This information is general in nature and does not replace an in-person assessment by a dentist. If you are dealing with a dental emergency, contact a dental practitioner or emergency service immediately.