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

Posted on Sat, 29 Sep 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 29 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.

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