Health Tip: Saving a Knocked-Out Tooth

(HealthDay News) -- If your child has a permanent tooth knocked out, it should be considered a dental emergency, the Nemours Foundation advises.

The tooth is most likely to survive if it is properly placed back in the socket within 30 minutes of the injury.

Here are the foundation's suggestions for what to do if a child's permanent tooth is knocked out:

• Find the tooth, and only handle it by the crown (the part that you'd see in a person's mouth), never by the root.
• Immediately rinse the tooth (don't scrub it) with saline solution or milk. Don't use tap water, which typically contains chlorine, unless that's all that's available.
• If your child is old enough to hold it there, place the tooth gently back in its socket.
• If your child is young, store the tooth in a cup of milk, or hold it in your mouth between your cheek and lower gum.

Go immediately to your dentist or local emergency room.