Broken Tooth

[D_man954]

Ok doc so i was playing basketball at school when i was elbowed right in my mouth. My tooth was knocked out, but not the whole thing, there is a fairly small piece still intact. It was my lateral incisor that was broken, but i couldn't find the tooth that broke off. This probably happened because the upper part of the tooth was slightly decaying, but im not sure of what i should do about this. What option do I have in this situation and which is the least painful?

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

You should go to a dentist and get it checked out.  Depending on how bad the break is, it can be result in different types of treatment.  If its small, a filling/bonding can be done to it (white filling) to replace whats missing.  If its more severe, a root canal may be needed and then a crown placed possibly.  If its very severe, the tooth may need to come out.  

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

Well, if its broken down to the gumline, there's not alot of tooth structure left.  I would guess that it would probably need to be removed then and replaced with a bridge or dental implant.

[D_man954]

Well it seems really severe to me. There is an extremely small amount of enamel left and I cant see how they would manage to pull it out. I am going to take your advice and just visit a dentist. Thanks for your help.