Preservation kits help ‘save’ teeth

MARQUETTE -- A dental emergency at school can mean the difference between saving a knocked-out permanent tooth and losing it for good. To help schools respond quickly and appropriately, the Marquette County Health Department is distributing free "Transport a Tooth" kits to area schools this month.

The kits, 75 of them, were provided through a partnership with the Superior District Dental Society and Peninsula Pharmacy of Marquette. They contain a saline solution designed to preserve a knocked-out tooth until a student can reach a dentist -- ideally within an hour.

"It does work," said Rebecca Maino, a registered dental hygienist with the Marquette County Health Department, told The Mining Journal. "We had a situation last winter that demonstrated that."

According to Maino, a youthful student at a Marquette-area school had a tooth knocked out in an accident. Maino said both the root and crown were lost with the tooth landing in a snowbank.

The tooth was found and placed in the saline solution that comes with the kit. A local dentist was able to implant the tooth, which remains rooted and in apparent good condition.

Maino said Peninsula Pharmacy once again donated the kits at no cost. The Marquette County Health Department is distributing them to schools in Marquette and Alger counties throughout the month of September.

More information about the program and dental health resources is available at www.mqthealth.org.