3.5 year old loose teeth after accident - how long to reset?

[Ultimateworrier]

My 3.5 year old bashed her face a few days ago causing her two upper front teeth to loosen. I've been apprehensive to check if they're still moving and have been doing my best to feed her soft food etc (which is not easy considering she pretty much hates anything soft). Does anyone know how long I should leave it before I check them? How long does it tend to take for them to be firm enough that I don't need to worry any more? If they were going to fall out, how soon would I know? Should I be brushing them? I am literally losing sleep over this, am keeping her off of nursery as I don't want to let her out of my sight. She's very active and I feel so bad trying to contain her but she is so accident prone! Any advice would be appreciated.

[B19M]

You need to take her to the dentist to be assessed urgently , hopefully that's been done today..

[Empireoftheclouds]

Yes agree, dentist asap

[Ultimateworrier]

I took her to the dentist the following day. She's usually fine with them but completely freaked out and wouldn't let them take a proper look. They just said the standard wait and see what happens, said could take a while to firm up, or could fall out. There was no real clarity which I guess is difficult to give in the circumstances. I'm just wondering how long it took for other's little one's teeth to reset (if they did). Don't want to go checking and undo any setting that has taken place.

[B19M]

Ok- did the dentist get to look/feel at all?
A review dental appointment now your daughter has calmed down & recovered a bit, wouldn't be unreasonable. Most of my colleagues would be quite happy to review a child trauma , so hopefully your dentist will be accommodating?
Important issues are 1) Can she bite together properly + 2) Are the teeth loose enough to be a inhalation / choking risk?
Definitely Yes -you should be brushing gently for her, twice daily-developing gingivitis will only compound the trauma issue.
Also Soft diet for 2 weeks and pain relief are standard after this sort of accident; to give the teeth/gums etc time to heal.
To reassure you, this is quite a common childhood injury-it can mean that the teeth nerves 'die' off -usually look slightly darker colour-but vast majority remain in place until they're lost approx. age 7. It's unusual for infection to develop with the "dead" tooth/teeth but unfortunately if it does, the tooth/teeth have to be extracted. Try not to worry OP.

[EskiVodkaCranberry]

My son did this at around the same age and they glued them, he's now six and they're in although slightly wonky and have pushed another tooth out a bit, they are also grey. However he's not the only one at school and he's only really just noticed the greyness. The dentist reckons it won't affect his adult teeth and it's never bothered him. Does bother my though it will all be fine but I understand how you feel!

[Ultimateworrier]

**B19M - thanks for the advice. The dentist didn't get anywhere near her! I think I will make a follow up appointment as suggested. She can bite together fine, doesn't seem to be any change to the alignment and not loose enough to be a choking hazard. Will continue to brush as gently as I can (can't bear seeing it moving when I'm brushing though ). Also, when a soft diet is suggested, I'm hoping it's referring to foods that can be easily chewed as opposed to just things that can be swallowed...? I'm obviously avoiding hard, crispy things but aside from yogurt and porridge, there are no foods that soft that she will agree to eat. Have been trying to do small bite sized things that she can just pop in her mouth avoiding the front teeth. I'm hoping that that's okay.

**EskiVodka - thanks for the reassurance! Dentist never mentioned glue...will ask at the follow up.

Thanks guys. The teeth are still in 4 days later so cautiously optimistic. Keeping fingers crossed.

[B19M]

Re diet-sounds fine !
Re glue-very unusual to splint mobile deciduous teeth on v young children like your DD; cooperation just isn't there at that age.
Occasionally maybe for a fractured baby tooth but again unusual & depends on cooperation.
Good luck OP !

[Montypulciano]

My son did this when he was 3 and kept his teeth til he was 6. We had a couple of weeks of pasta, shepherds pie and soft food then I told them at nursery no apples etc. They did firm up but looked a bit grey. New teeth are now in (he's 8.5 now) and look great.

It is horrid and very scary but she will be all right. I was worried that he'd lose his 6 front teeth but he didn't and was fine once the shock had worn off.

[Flibbertyflap]

My DS did this at the same age to one of his front teeth. I was beside myself and convinced it would fall out. It was really very wobbly. I didnt brush for a couple of days but then extremely gently started to brush it. He ate things like beans on toast and spaghetti hoops etc. It hadnt firmed up too much and when he knocked it again whilst playing and it bled again, so we were really back to square one. However I was amazed that by around 6 weeks later it had completely firmed up again.

To be honest, after the first few weeks, I had had to stop worrying and accept the possibility of him losing it so it was a bonus that is firmed up.