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Handle it by the crown, keep it wet, and call us on the way.
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Pick the tooth up by the crown, never the root. If it is dirty, rinse it for a couple of seconds in milk or saline — not water, and never scrub it. If you can, push it gently back into the socket and bite on a clean cloth to hold it. If you cannot, keep it in milk, or tucked inside the cheek. Then get to a dentist immediately. The first hour is what decides whether the tooth survives, and every ten minutes counts.
A knocked-out baby tooth is not put back — replanting it can damage the adult tooth forming above it. Keep the child calm, control the bleeding with gentle pressure on a clean cloth, and call us so we can check the socket and the neighbouring teeth. Bring the tooth if you have it.
If any of these apply, go to the nearest emergency room or call 911. That is a hospital problem, not a dental one.
The best chance is within the first 30 to 60 minutes. After about an hour dry, the cells on the root surface are usually gone and the odds drop sharply. Kept in milk, the window stretches — which is exactly why the milk matters.
Avoid it. Plain water makes the root cells swell and burst faster than anything else you could choose. Milk, saline, or your own cheek are all far better.
Keep the fragment in milk or a clean container and bring it — a piece can sometimes be bonded straight back on. Cover any sharp edge with sugar-free gum so it does not cut your tongue on the way.