Can A Loose Tooth Fall Out While Sleeping? What Could Be The Consequences?

Posted on Sun, 30 Sep 2012

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 Answered on

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : This is probably a dental question, but maybe you can answer.
Can a loose tooth fall out while sleeping? If so, what could be the consequences?

Thank you

Answered by Dr. Bibhu Dutt Nanda (30 minutes later)

XXXXXX I would be glad to answer your query.
It is extremely rare for a tooth to fall out while a person is asleep. But it can happen in some cases when a person has periodontitis, where most of the teeth are mobile.
Also, if you lose a tooth while asleep there are chances of aspirating it (getting it into your wind pipe), but i hope you have not experienced such a situation. Typical symptoms would be cough, difficulty breathing etc
Bleeding is one of the consequences, but it usually stops within 15-20 minutes.
i hope I answered your query. In case you have any more queries kindly post them, i would be glad to answer them.
I wish you good health
Take care.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Aparna Kohli