Mum, I had a loose tooth, I lost it when I was asleep! Where is it gone? Did I swallow it? Will I die because I have a tooth inside my belly? What’s going to happen? Such queries are very common when kids shed their teeth.
If this happened with your child, what will be your next step?
Stay with us, we’ve got you covered through this post!
What happens if you swallow a tooth? No need to get panic if you swallow a single tooth. It will pass out of your body through stool within 24 to 48hours. However, if it is sharp and goes to the trachea after swallowing it can be life-threatening. Monitor kids with lost teeth for symptoms like chest pain and uncomfortable breathing.
The tooth is a hard substance. It is made for eating not intended for swallowing. It is embedded firmly in the mouth. The chances of its oral intake increase with teeth shedding, injuries, falls and dental work.
What Are Teeth Made Up Of
Human teeth look like bone, but it is not bone-in-reality. It is made up of tissues both soft and hard. The outer part of the teeth Enamel is made up of calcium phosphate molecule hydroxyapatite. This molecule is harder than bone.
Human teeth consist of both hard and soft tissues. The hard section contains Enamel, dentin, and cementum while the soft part is named pulp. Enamel consists of 95% to 98% of inorganic and 1% of organic substances. About 1% to 4% of enamel consists of enamel.
Is Tooth Eatable Or Digestible
The human tooth is by no means un-eatable though digestible. It is small enough to digest and pass out of the body in poop. It can pass through a food pipe without any obstruction. It can also pass through the intestine to come out of the body.
There are very few cases reported in hospitals when swallowing teeth causes any trouble. If this happens with kids, parents should monitor them carefully. If they feel difficulty in breathing, swallowing and chest pain seek doctor advice.
What Happens If You Swallow a Piece of Tooth
Tooth decay is the main concern in children. They dont notice when some teeth are about to fall or break. Similarly, during dental restoration, the pieces of broken teeth left in the oral cavity can swallow with food or drinks. Here the question may arise in your mind if ingesting broken pieces of teeth is dangerous or safe.
What happens if you swallow a piece of the tooth? Whether it’s safe or not depends on whether the teeth are real, single, or fake. If the piece is from fake teeth, it can cause trouble in the stomach. If it is real teeth they will pass out of the body through the stool without causing any trouble.
What Happens If You Accidently Swallow a Tooth
Swallowing teeth in adults and kids also happens accidently. No sensible person would like to eat teeth deliberately. During dental restoration, cases of accidental teeth swallowing are very common in both adults and kids.
What happens If you accidently swallow a tooth? It’s Ok to ingest a single tooth by chance. After passing through the digestive tract, it will come out of the body through poop. However, if you swallow a set of teeth, real or fake it can cause obstruction in the intestine. It can be life-threatening indeed.
Symptoms After Swallowing a Tooth
Symptoms after swallowing teeth depend on the position of teeth after getting swallowed, size of teeth, type of teeth ( real or fake), age of the swallowed person, and overall health condition. If the teeth are swallowed in a way that it goes into the trachea or respiratory tract, it would be fatal. If it goes to the food pipe, it will pass out of the body without causing any symptoms or causing the symptoms given below:
- Chest Pain
- Difficulty in Swallowing
- Vomiting
- Upper abdominal pain
- Blood cells in stool
- Difficulty in Breathing
Can You Die If Swallow a Tooth
Thanks to the development in medical technology, now it’s uncommon to hear death after swallowing teeth. However, we can’t neglect the possibility of death. It’s possible or not depends on what type of tooth you swallowed and where the tooth goes right after swallowing.
Can You die if swallow a tooth? Death is possible only if swallowed teeth go into the respiratory tract instead of the food pipe. It can block the airflow in the lungs if not treated immediately. However, there is no such case of death reported so far after swallowing teeth.
What Happen If you Swallow a Tooth While Sleeping
The possibility of swallowing teeth is quite higher during sleep. The kids with teeth grinding habits in sleep are always at risk. When they grind teeth continuously in sleep, the broken teeth can fall into the oral cavity. From here, they can swallow it even without noticing anything.
What happens if you swallow a tooth while sleeping? If teeth broke during a grinding habit while you’re at sleep, they can be swallowed by chance. If it goes straight in the food pipe or esophagus, it is likely to digest or come out of the body through the stool. However, it can be life-threatening if it goes into the trachea or bronchi. In this case, immediate medical intervention would save the life.
What Happen If You Swallow Pus from Tooth Abscess
Tooth abscess is an accumulation of pus cells as a result of a prolonged bacterial infection. It can occur either at the tip of the root or inside the gum at the side of the root. In both cases it is painful and require immediate treatment. It is caused mostly by decaying teeth. The accumulated pus in the abscess falls into the oral cavity. The patient can swallow it with saliva and food even without knowing it.
What happens if you swallow pus from tooth abscess? Nothing bad is going to happen as acid in stomach can fight against pus cells effectively. The name of this acid is hydrochloric acid. Moreover pus cells are no more than dead bacterial cells. They are digestible and not dangerous. However, if not treated after long it can cause problems.
What To Do if You Swallow a Tooth
It can happen during injuries, falls and dental restoration. Sometimes only a piece of teeth goes inside your throat or sometimes the whole teeth get swallowed. When kids fall with jerk and hit the mouth to some hard surface, the broken tooth can directly go in throat. It makes parents anxious whether the lost tooth will cause any problem or not if it goes inside the body.
What to do if you swallow a tooth? No need to do any medical treatment if you feel no symptoms. It would be safe if tooth is in fragment and very small. However, if it is large and sharp from broken edges and you should doctor advice.
Tips To Avoid Swallowing of Tooth
As mentioned earlier the cases of accidental swallowing are more common in kids. For kids it is really impossible to prevent the cases of accidental swallowing of non eatable objects. However, you can reduce the chances if you follow the tips below:
- Monitor your child carefully when any of his or her teeth is loose
- Biting from other side teeth is effective to avoid loose teeth swallowing.
- Do gargle with salty water after dental restoration
If symptoms persist after 24 hours of swallowing, contact your doctor.
What Happen If You Eat Bleeding Tooth Fungus
Bleeding tooth fungus is not a name teeth disease, its name of mushroom. This type of mushroom has tooth-like projections and spores in it. The shape of this mushroom is the same as if teeth are bleeding.
What happen if you eat bleeding tooth fungus? No bad thing will happen as it is non-toxic. However it is inedible due to its extremely bad taste. It’s just the taste that makes t non-edible not the ingredients. Its safe if someone eat it and can resist bitter taste.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Swallowed Tooth Cause injury?
Swallowed tooth is dangerous or not its interesting debate. In 95% of cases, it is completely safe. There are few cases in which injuries are reported after swallowing tooth. If the tooth is false and sharp from edges it can surely cause injury to the throat and food pipe. It can also cause fatal injuries if it goes to respiratory tract after swallowing.
How Long Does It Take to Pass a Tooth If Swallowed?
It will take no more than 24 to 48 hours to pass the swallowed tooth out of body. Small bodies like tooth pieces, fragments, and dentures can pass out of body within a day or two. If it stays inside the body, it will cause pain and discomfort. If your kid feels symptoms like this after losing a tooth, you should monitor him carefully.
Can a Stomach Acid Dissolve a Tooth?
Stomach acid named hydrocholoic acid is highly potent. It can dissolve hard substances easily.
When swallowed teeth go into the stomach and don’t come out after 24 to 48 hours, the acid will surely erode it. With time it will decay and come out in fragments through poop
Stomach acid is highly reactive to outer covering of teeth called enamel. It can slowly dissolve it to produce cavities. Patients with acid reflex mostly face tooth damage.
Conclusion
To conclude, nothing bad will happen if you swallow a tooth. All you need to do is to monitor symptoms if this happens with your child. If the patient complains of chest pain and discomfort in breathing, get immediate medical aid.
In the end, I would like to say prevention is better than cure. So monitor your children carefully if they have any loose tooth. Stay safe!