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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be quietly gutted for my beautiful DD

176 replies

namechange505 · 07/02/2019 07:21

DD had an accident at school a couple of years ago and fell into some concrete causing quite a bit of damage to her front teeth. This week she had felt one of the fillings that the dentist had used to cap and rebuild one of her teeth moving slightly. We made an appointment on Tues yesterday to check it out and then another one yesterday after school to replace the filling.

Unfortunately at yesterday's appointment it became apparent that her tooth had split quite badly and part of it had to be removed. The split went beneath the gum-line resulting in extensive work to try to cover the exposed nerve and rebuild some semblance of a tooth temporarily. (Apologies if anyone is squeamish…) She was in the chair for over 3 hours and is on strong painkillers and antibiotics. She was understandably very upset by the whole thing. Sad

She is going to need some serious dental work going forward, likely she will lose the tooth altogether but we will know more in a few days. Unfortunately there was very little tooth left to work with and the resulting temporary fix is very fragile. The dentist is speaking with colleagues tomorrow to see what the best course of action is but likely an extraction and false tooth on a plate followed by a bridge until she's 18 when they can start looking at an implant. Sad Sad

I ended up googling teens with broken teeth to see if there were any success stories (I know...) but all I could find were stories from people who "luckily didn't lose the tooth" or "luckily they were able to put a cap on it" but that's unlikely in my DD's case.

She's had lots of cuddles and is being very stoic about the whole thing. I keep telling her (and myself) that there are far worse problems to have and that nobody is seriously ill or dying. It's just a tooth and we'll get it sorted.

But AIBU to be quietly gutted for her that she's losing a tooth so young due to a stupid accident? Anyone have any positive stories about similar situations that might cheer her up?

OP posts:
BettyDuMonde · 08/02/2019 19:04

I lost my two front teeth age 11, fell off a swing and smacked my mouth on the concrete beneath - they came out whole. They were replanted and I had various devices to hold them in for years, had them capped aged around 15, root canals at 17 etc and finally had them extracted age 21.

I’m in my 40s now and have a plate - no one can tell and it looks better than any of the previous versions, including my original teeth, which overlapped!
False teeth aren’t anything like the ones our grannies had, and while it is a bummer (especially the pain part) it won’t affect your daughter in any material way - I’m on my third husband, so it certainly hasn’t made me unattractive 😂

Hope your DD heals fast.

FruitCider · 08/02/2019 19:05

I lost my second upper right tooth at 16 after an accident, it was crowned but the crown failed. I managed with a denture until I turned 27 and could finally afford a bridge. Please don't project this onto your daughter....

WaxOnFeckOff · 08/02/2019 19:05

That's such a shame. My DH ended losing both his in his late childhood/early teens in two separate accidents. First he broke one in half when he was 11 and just lived with it like that until he was 13 when he managed to split the other tooth vertically and they took it out. This left him with just the half so the dentist in his wisdom decided just to take that out as well to make it easier to have a plate with two on it....that's the 1970s for you.

DS2 chipped the bottom of one of his front ones age 11 and said he'd rather have broken his arm. He's had the filling replaced a couple of times but it's okay, nothing like as much needed as your poor daughter.

Thankfully dentistry is really moving forward so I'm sure they'll be able to do something that looks as good as new.

neveradullmoment99 · 08/02/2019 19:06

Friend lost all her front teeth. Her teeth look amazing. I would never have guessed. Its honestly not the end of the world.

neveradullmoment99 · 08/02/2019 19:07

She lost numerous teeth at the front in an accident.

FruitCider · 08/02/2019 19:09

This is my Maryland bridge... lost my tooth in 2001.

to be quietly gutted for my beautiful DD
WaterOffaDucksCrack · 08/02/2019 19:14

Your poor daughter :(

A dear friend had her teeth knocked out aged 15 by her abusive brother. She has had to wear dentures ever since. I never knew they were dentures until she told me! It hasn't stopped her - she's still a beautiful person inside and out!

Lindorballs · 08/02/2019 19:18

I broke half my front tooth about 12 years ago. I’ve since had to have a root canal and then also a veneer on top due to discolouration. Still going strong. I so know how she feels. It is distressing. But there’s many of us out there with secret dental work on our front teeth. It’s surprisingly common.

sagradafamiliar · 08/02/2019 19:20

Ironically a dentist messed up two of the teeth in my smile line so they needed to be extracted a while later. I was inconsolable at the thought of a denture so I had a bridge fitted (by a new dentist). I wore a temporary one whilst the permanent one was being made and honestly you would never know.

bubblegumunicorn · 08/02/2019 19:29

I did this at 9! Walked in to a drain pipe at school and knocked out my front tooth I had a temp cap on it until I was 26 as my doctor in london couldn't understand me when I asked for a crown and thought I was doing it for vanity! I had root canal done on it at 14 as the root completely died and from then the tooth was a lot less painful! One thing I will say is its very expensive to get a crown but they will do it as early as 18 but if she has braces (I did until days after my 20th) they cant put the crown on! If she is still in education at 18 they will do the work for free! people honestly don't notice its false I tell people and they are shocked by it! if they can save any of the tooth a crown will be possible as I have very little of the tooth left after they filed it right down it was tiny I honestly didnt think he could do it! I feel for your daughter though I know the only thing that saved so much of my tooth was that it was still growing in! They can do amazing things at the dentist these days and crowns look so realistic!

Weathermonger · 08/02/2019 19:39

When I was 15 I had a front tooth knocked out. I had a temporary cap until I was 18. The cap used to fall out all the time, a cause of great hilarity among my friends. At 18 I had a metal post inserted and a crown. Forty years on I've had the crown replaced once. It really wasn't a big deal.

Flashinggreen · 08/02/2019 19:40

I’m pleased to read she’s feeling better now @namechange505 and you’re feeling more positive.

Meandmyhamsterheadagain · 08/02/2019 19:47

As a 14yr old I was knocked in the face with a seesaw, smashing both my top front teeth in half. I had a brace fitted before they attempted to fix them, so spent 18mths with half teeth and train track braces. My two teeth were root canaled and I have crowns on them both which was attached to the root canal posts. Genuinely people don't notice and in a few years I'll be opting for a plate. I don't think I would have an implant as the gum receding I've seen from it. I feel your daughters pain. N for me it was a horrible time and I look back at pictures and cringe. However, the physical pain stopping after the root canals made a lot of difference. I've probably not been much help tbh. My main point is, dentistry has advanced a lot in 20years and I'm sure with your support your daughter will cope well xx

BlackeyedGruesome · 08/02/2019 19:49

Ex has two front teeth missing and replaced with something permanent. Can't tell at all. Never even think about it until a thread like this comes up.

dementedma · 08/02/2019 19:53

broke both of my front teeth when I was 12 falling in the playground. Had various plates and then a "permanent" bridge which I had for years and years until it finally broke last year (at least one of the stumps under it did). Currently have a temporary plate while a fancy new wire one is being contsructed. Along with some other dental work - root fillings - I have had several thousand pounds worth of work done for the grand sum of £345 on the NHS.
I might save up for implants, but there is no way you could tell my front teeth are missing.

Wallywobbles · 08/02/2019 19:59

At 17 (30 years ago) I got drunk and knocked out my front teeth. Both teeth eventually died. I had temporary crowns for quite a while and then got them replaced for good ones in my 20s. I've also got an implant elsewhere. The final crowns I've got are really excellent. Any imperfections are hidden behind my top lip. The implant is ok, but it was only put in some 25 years after the original tooth was removed. It is annoying in that a lot of food gets caught in the root of it, and I was used to the hole.

The implant was very painful for a couple of days, but since then nothing. The nerve work on any teeth can be amazingly painful. I've a dozen crowns in total. I think you do need to keep a real eye on them, because once I'd had one, they just kept on happening until about 27, which I think might be fairly standard.

anniehm · 08/02/2019 20:03

Dd had hers rebuilt, thankfully enough to cap at 17, but it was really upsetting for us, she actually didn't care that much!

VerbenaGirl · 08/02/2019 20:18

My big brother knocked his 2 top front teeth out going over the handlebars of his bike not long after his big teeth came through. He had false teeth on a plate for several years then a bridge and no one could ever tell - he even did a bit of modelling in his teens and twenties. He has recently invested in implants. It’s never bothered him too much.

Rapidjohnson · 08/02/2019 20:28

Why a bridge and not an implant? Is it the cost? Implants are lifelong and best solution for a tooth replacement that won't affect surrounding teeth like a bridge does.
If it's a cost issue can you claim on schools insurance? personal injury liability?

kateandme · 08/02/2019 20:38

it will take some getting used to.but try to just keep it from being something bad or depressing and more this is fixing the pain and problem.it can feel very helpless and depressing when things happen around ur teeth.esepcailly if you lose them
be watchful when they destroy and kill the nerves as I think once one gets infected it can start a bloody domino effect!
if she gets a bridge a good tip is to make sure the bits that fitson the roof of the mouth is soft and if she eat lot of hard things or chews then a mesh support in the palet bit can be very helpful and strengthens it.
it takes lots of moulds needing to be done then being sent of to the lab over many processes so id say to make sure they happen with the shortest time in between the mouldings because your mouth specially when the tooth is removed changes daily.so you don't want to go for the firs tmould.they come for a fitting weeks later and the mouth has changed form!and then the denture plant doesn't fit. keep pushing them on it.

Chimpy1 · 08/02/2019 20:42

Hi OP - I really feel for you as I remember exactly the feeling you describe.

My DD, at a similar age, knocked a front tooth out. After months of trying to save it, the dentists finally gave up and removed the tooth and root and she now has a plate with a false tooth on. It was a relief really as her own tooth was never really going to be much good after the battering it took.

The false tooth on a plate is a temporary solution but you absolutely can't tell unless she takes it out (which she does for laughs!).

Long term she'll have a bridge and then when she's in her late 20s - apparently the time the jaw stops growing - she'll probably have an implant.

All treatment has been done on the NHS at a dental hospital rather than our own dentist. They've been fantastic - very gentle, very concerned about the look of the false tooth - it's colour matched, sized correctly etc etc.

So after the initial shock has worn off, I'm sure everything will be ok. As lots of people have said before, no one will ever know what's happened.

Good luck! Hope everything goes well.

Jaspermcsween · 08/02/2019 20:44

“Many years ago (pre 1980's) dentists didn't give a shit about peoples teeth - all they wanted to do was make money, by filling any tooth that was available for filling, and wrecking the teeth of 10's of 1000's of people. I don't know anyone over 45 who hasn't got a mouthful of fillings. Many of them had 5 to 10 fillings before they were 16. “

What utter tosh. Please don’t spread this sort of nonsense.

LadySinfiaSnoop · 08/02/2019 21:15

My daughter who is now 36 had 2 teeth missing when her adult teeth came through, she had some amazing dental work done at 13, that is still going strong now! The dentist who did it is now in Banbury, his name is Tom Donnelly, he has an amazing reputation, if she needed any serious work done now, she would travel to him and she lives in Wales.

GladAllOver · 08/02/2019 21:20

Why a bridge and not an implant? Is it the cost? Implants are lifelong and best solution for a tooth replacement that won't affect surrounding teeth like a bridge does.

Because she's only 14 and her mouth hasn't finished growing yet. The bridge is a temporary solution until the dentist can fit a permanent implant.

fullofquestion · 08/02/2019 21:21

DH has an implant due to an accident as a child on his front top tooth - you would never know - I didn't until he mentioned it whilst we were dating and haven't thought about it since!