The Mayo Clinic advises that first aid kits should have the Save-A-Tooth emergency tooth-preserving system that can save knocked out teeth, according to Phoenix-Lazerus, the manufacturer of the tooth storage device.
"The cells on the root of a knocked out tooth are very delicate," said Henry Rankow, DDS, diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics, in a press release. "They must be protected and nourished during the first hour while they are out of their socket. Only special devices can do that and they must be available immediately."
More than 5 million teeth are knocked out annually in the U.S. during sports, automobile accidents, and in the home, the company said. With Save-A-Tooth -- the only ADA-accepted, FDA-approved tooth storage device -- more than 90% of these teeth may be able to be successfully reimplanted, according to Phoenix-Lazerus.
Basic first aid kits containing Save-A-Tooth's are available on Amazon.com.
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