DD (3) smashed her front tooth - any options?

[drjohnsonscat]

It may need to come out. We will find out more in two weeks once the trauma has settled. Does anyone have any experience of this? Do we just live with the gap for 4 or 5 years or however long it will be until the adult teeth come through ? Does that distort the alignment of the remaining teeth? Should we look at cosmetic options? The dentist was quite offhand and I didn't think about it at the time but today lots of people are telling me to go to a private dentist and explore "other options" but I don't know what they might be or if I want them. Grateful for any experience.

[morethanmama]

If its still there get yourself to a private dentist and get the tooth bonded. They might be able to save it. The dental hospital a&e dentist told me there was no hope of saving it but over a year on its still there and totally firm.

Did they X-ray? A lot will depend on whether there was any damage to the root.

Good luck.

[OhChristFENTON]

DS2 did this at 18m, the tooth splintered and bits came out over the next year, dentist would not touch it as there was no infection or blackening. There is still a bit of tooth just about visible in the gum which is still white so believed to be 'alive' . The hope is that once the new tooth appears it will work its way loose, this is to be reviewed at the time.

He is five now so possibly another 2 - 3 years to go!

We are always on the watch for any sign of infection or absys, watch for white bumps in the gum above the injury.

[Beanbagz]

DD has broken an adult tooth and it's been bonded back on.

However she's really conscious of it and it has broken off once since the accident 18 months ago (plus she had a severe infection and had to have root canal work) so if i were you i'd have it taken out and live with the gap until her adult tooth comes through.

We're just hanging on in there hoping it doesn't break again before she's 15/16 and her jaw stops growing. Then it looks like it might be an implant for my DD

[drjohnsonscat]

Thanks for all the replies. They did xray and I've just called the dentist who said the tooth is not cracked and the roots are ok but it is wobbly so they have said to maintain a soft diet and will reassess in 2 weeks. I wonder if I should go to a private dentist anyway just to make sure everything is being done.

[Teamthrills]

I don't think you need to worry too much op. This happened to two of my friends' daughters (one aged 5 & one aged 2.5 - separate incidents). I think both were fine for around a yr & then showed signs of infection & were removed.

Beanbagz - my dd broke her adult tooth in half last spring. It has been built back up & looks ok, but I constantly worry about it breaking again. We will also be looking at an implant later on too

[Teamthrills]

Oh also, I don't think there's anything more you can do - far as I understand it, it's a bit of a waiting game now. We are in the same position with the possibility dd's tooth will go bad... only thing with my dd is there's no second chance

[KarlosKKrinkelbeim]

we are in a similar position with ds (nearly 6). he gets occaional abcesses on his gum, which, oddly, don't seem to bother him, but advice from private dentist is just wait for them to fall out - it can't be long now.

[Beanbagz]

It's a nightmare isn't it Teamthrills. No biting into apples or carrots here though incidentally the second time it broke on a bar of chocolate and we had to find an emergency dentist 200+ miles from home.

My DD went for 5 months after the first break before the infection appeared (we thought the root had survived) and it was literally came on overnight. She was so close to being hospitalized as they were very worried it would lead to blood poisoning

Like you say no second chances on adult teeth. Has your DD got a gum shield for sport? DD was fitted for one by the dental hospital. How old is your DD?

[Teamthrills]

It is a big nightmare beanbagz!!! I always chop apples for dd, but hadn't realised the dangers of chocolate!

How much of the tooth did your dd lose & how old is she? My dd is almost 9. She broke hers pretty much in half, but they think the root is still fine. What exactly happened to your dd when the tooth broke again & also when she had the infection?? It was pretty traumatic having it repaired the first time, so I do worry a lot about breakages! We don't have a gum shield - I'll find out about that.

[Beanbagz]

DD was 9 when it broke (Feb last year) and she was just sat on the ground in the playground when her friend tripped over her. Unfortunately she didn't manage to get her hands down and smacked into the tooth.

Thankfully she picked up the piece, the office put it in milk and called me. I picked her up from school at around 1pm and we were in the dentists at 2.30pm. The dentist bonded it back on and all was fine until July.

Then on the first weekend of the summer holidays her face started swelling up. I took her back to the denitst and she started on antibiotics. We had 3 visits to the dentist that week and she was taking 2 different antibiotics (adult doses).

The root had obviously been damaged when it first happened so they did root canal work but because of the infection she couldn't have any pain relief injections (it would have spread the infection).

By the end of the 3rd dentist visit the infection still wasn't clearing so she was referred to the Dental Hospital. I was told not to let her eat anything in case the tooth needed to come out under GA. In the end they opened up the root canal work our dentist had done and left it open to drain the infection out.

Unfortunately some of it then pooled in her gum so an incision was made to to clear it (this was when she could finally have pain relieving injections) and it was the first and only time during the whole process that she cried.

April this year (10pm on the night before we're due to fly on holiday) she bit into a Dairy Milk and it broke again. Maybe it was because it was from a vending machine that it was harder than normal?

Luckily we have a private dentist and dental trauma cover (costs us £4/month for a very lovely dentist) so we phoned their helpline and they found us a dentist close to Gatwick who would see her at 8am on a Sunday morning.

We flew at 11.30am the same morning so as you can imagine it was a very stressful & sleepless night. I don't think i relaxed until i stepped off the plane into the sunshine!

[acebaby]

So sorry to hear about all of these dental nightmares. Sounds awful. I will certainly be looking into dental trauma insurance for my accident prone DC's

My DS2 fell and bashed his tooth a three years ago (he's now 4). Initially his gum bled a bit, but he was fine. Over the next few months, however, the tooth became discoloured. We went to a specialist dentist and had x-rays (which show a dark area under the tooth), but because it wasn't causing trouble, we decided to leave it. The dentist said that it was unlikely that the adult tooth would be damaged by leaving the dead tooth in place. We are still going to the dental hospital every 3 months for a check up - but so far DS2 has had no trouble with it. It is quite likely now that we will be able to wait until it comes out naturally - especially as DS1 lost his milk teeth early (making it likely that DS2 will as well).

Overall a fairly positive story - in that although the tooth died, it hasn't caused any serious problems

[ajandjjmum]

It happened to me - I was without a front tooth for around 5 years. The only thing it really affected was photographs - I can't remember being bothered by it, just got fed-up of everyone singing 'all I want for Christmas is my ONE front tooth!'

Hope your DD's ok.

[Beanbagz]

acebaby ours is with Practice Plan.

The £4 per month (kids) is for a private dentist (couldn't find a decent NHS one where we live) so all checkups/cleaning as well as the dental trauma cover. DH and i pay £8/month for the same cover.

We're really lucky that our dentist is also a family friend so DCs are very relaxed with her.

[drjohnsonscat]

beanbagz your poor DD. That sounds awful.

I just want to thank everyone for responding. It's such a small thing for us and I even felt unsure about posting because of all the other much more serious posts in children's health at the moment, but appreciate the responses very much.

It sounds as though we are very much at the mild end of what could happen. DD is not in pain any more and although the gum is black with blood, the tooth still looks ok. Soft diet for two weeks and then we will go back for the follow up check. I don't know how I will ever feel confident to let her have apples though!

Thanks all for the responses.

[dottygamekeeper]

My DD (when aged 3) tripped and fell at nursery, hitting both her front teeth, which went discoloured, and then got pushed over by her big brother managing to chip one quite significantly. Our dentist told us not to worry, and although her teeth looked dreadful for years, her second teeth have come through normally, in line, and now aged 14 she has a lovely smile. However, I think we were very lucky, and I would definitely go back for the check up and see how it is then, as other posters have not been so lucky.

As an aside, my DD then fell flat on her face rollerskating on the last day of term before the summer holidays and I got the dreaded phone call from school saying she was on her way to A & E with suspected broken nose - my next question was - are her teeth OK? Fortunately all fine!

[GooseyLoosey]

Ds knocked one of his aged about 3. It went completely brown and the gum bled quite a bit at the time. We were advised that the tooth was dead but the adult tooth should come through OK. We were also told to leave it in unless infection developed as it would act as a kind of place saver and help the adult teeth come through in the right place.

He is 9 now with 2 pearly white front teeth. The brown tooth never bothered him at all. The only drawback was on photos, but TBH, it just became the was ds looked.

[acebaby]

Thanks Beanbagz - and also GooseyLoosey. Whatever the dentist has said, I have been worried about DS2's adult tooth, so it is nice to hear about a good outcome .

[shrimponastick]

DS had an accident at about age 3?he fell into a chest of drawers and knocked one front top tooth loose. Lots of blood, and was v wobbly. Took him straight to dentist who xrayed and said to leave it and just be careful biting for a week or two. It did set firm again and just fell out at the right time, he has beautiful teeth.

I broke my front tooth in half aged ten. Split lip, lots of blood. However I still have the tooth(well, the root). I had it built up at first, then later a regular crown. In my twenties I had to have root canal work, and that tooth is now levelled off so I have a post and crown. The dentist does keep warning me that if I have any infections I will have to have the tooth out and go down the denture/bridge route. However I am now 44 so am doing well.

Just wanted to let those whose dc had broken adult teeth that it isn't a foregone conclusion that the teeth will be lost.

[Indith]

I killeda front tooth when I was little. Ds1 has done the same coming off a scooter at school. The tooth is brown which the dentist said is basically like a bruise from bleeding but on your skin the blood goes and the bruise fades but with the tooth it has no blood supply now and the blood can't go anywhere. It was loose for a few days then tightened up again so as long as it doesn't develop an infection or anything it will just stay until it comes out naturally.

I really wouldn't bother with a private dentist.

[wishiwasonholiday]

I smashed my front tooth and had a filling (white can't remember what the dentist called it but looks like a tooth) and it lasted 15 years til ds headbutted me in the mouth! I have has it redone and it looks better this time and looks better than my other front tooth but the nerve has died in that one.

[Teamthrills]

Thank you shrimp, that is good to know.

Our dentist has been great with dd & built her broken tooth up beautifully, so you can't tell that it is different to the original.

Unfortunately her front teeth do stick forward a bit, so she will definitely need braces. I worry that this may cause problems for her late.

Argh! I'm quite squeemish about teeth issues, so I worry about it a lot!!

[JollyJack]

I knocked out one of my front baby teeth when I was quite wee. I also damaged the other one. Twice. By falling on my face.

When I was 11 I fell ice skating and damaged one of my adult teeth. There was lots of blood. The dentist x-rayed and said it was likely I would lose it. I couldn't bite into anything hard for about a year! Initially it was because of the pain, then it was because I was scared of making it worse.

Anyway, I still have the tooth, and although it is ever so slightly darker coloured than my other teeth and is missing a tiny bit nobody ever notices.

So I would definitely wait and see rather than taking action immediately.

(I have now learned not to fall on my face anymore).

[Way2Go]

My DD knocked out both her front teeth when she was 3 or 4, they could not be put back in so she had a gap.
Her grown up front teeth took ages and ages to come through and when they did she had a very big overbite, something that was not found in either family. The dentist said it was because it is much more difficult for the grown up teeth to come through. She had to have braces, including the dreaded head gear it took ages and lots of cash but she now has lovely teeth.

[bradbourne]

Ds fell over and almost knocked his front tow teeth out when he was four... we went through the "soft diet for two weeks and wait and see". I'm pleased to say that his teeth were absolutely fine and survived until they fell out naturally a couple fo months ago.

Soft diet suggestions: soup, ravioli, tinned spaghetti, grated cheese sandwiches on soft bread after a week or so, rice pudding, yoghurts, chopped banana, mousse, scrambled egg.