If you discover a loose adult tooth, you can suddenly feel worried, panicked and anxious that it’s going to fall out. Adult teeth don’t grow back, and you want to do whatever you can to keep from losing a tooth. There are ways to treat a loose adult tooth and hopefully save it from falling out or requiring extraction.
Causes of loose adult tooth
When you have a loose adult tooth, you may try to figure out why it’s loose and what could have happened. There are various reasons why you may have a loose adult tooth, and they include:
- Teeth grinding at night
- Injury during a sport or accident
- Gum disease
If injury or accident isn’t the cause of the loose tooth, the only way to know the cause is to visit the dentist. No matter what caused a loose tooth, visit the dentist as soon as possible to try to save the tooth. The dentist can determine the cause of the issue and work out a treatment plan designed to protect your oral health and smile.
Treatments for loose adult tooth
The treatment for a loose adult tooth depends on the cause, and once the dentist knows it, you can work together on a treatment that fits your needs. Treatment options for a loose adult tooth include:
- Deep cleaning to treat gum disease – Gum disease causes infection between the gum and tooth, and this can create a loose tooth or teeth. When the dentist cleans the gums and removes the pockets of bacteria there, the gums regain their health and tighten up around your teeth again.
- Tooth splinting – To help keep a loose tooth in place, the dentist can bond it to adjacent, stable teeth until the affected tooth tightens back up in the gum.
- Night guard – The dentist can create a custom mouth guard or occlusal guard for you to wear at night if teeth grinding is the cause of your loose tooth. By protecting the tooth from grinding, the guard allows it to tighten back up on its own.
With the dental treatments available to save a loose tooth, it’s more likely you can keep the tooth and preserve your smile. The most important thing you can do when you discover a loose adult tooth is to go to the dentist immediately because the longer you wait, the more likely it is that you’ll lose the tooth. There are many tooth replacement options if you do lose a tooth, but every dentist wants to help you keep your natural teeth whenever possible.
If you discover a loose tooth in your mouth or have other oral health concerns, contact Greater Baltimore Prosthodontics to set up and an appointment.