Toddler had a bad fall, looking for reassurance and advice please

[Loveab123]

My LG fell on Tuesday, flat on her face on solid wood flooring and has pushed her top teeth right back into her gums. It's day 3 and my heart is breaking for her. We have had a trip to A&E when it happened and then the dental hospital the following day. They have told me several possible outcomes but none of them are very positive! We are back in 2 weeks time to see what it's like once the swelling is down. Has this happened to anyone else's LOs? What was the outcome? She is very confused and asking me where her teeth are and what's happening to her. I try not to cry infront of her. She is in alot of pain but won't let me near her mouth with calpol. Any suggestions for this? She also loves her food and is hungry but every time she tries to eat she is spitting it out saying "it's not working" and getting very upset. I'm trying to tell her to chew on her back teeth but maybe it's just too tender inside her mouth still. Hopefully someone can tell me of their experiences. Thanks.

P.s I have a photo of mouth, it's a total mess and quite graphic. I can post it if needed.

Oh bless her. And you. How old is she? I haven't any experience of this thank goodness but with other kid health stuff I've had success with YouTube videos for explaining and normalising.... just wondering if a little search might be helpful x

Oh gosh your poor daughter, and you :( can you ask the doctor or pharmacist about paracetamol suppositories? I know they’re uncommon in this country but in Europe I think they’re the standard way to get painkillers into young children.
For food - have you tried soup, cooled down, maybe with a straw? Smoothies? Or what about those baby weaning snacks that kind of dissolve on the tongue?
I know it’s little consolation now but my niece had a similar accident in a playground aged 2 (she ended up losing the teeth) and it was such a big deal at the time, poor lamb. But since 6/7 when she got her front teeth in you’d never know anything had happened. She doesn’t remember the accident at all although her mum definitely does. gentle hugs to both of you.

That’s really sad, poor thing. Can you give her the calpol dispenser and allow her to do it so she can control it, helping her obviously?
Food, just soup and smoothies I guess until she gets used to it.
If it’s any consolation, kids are gappy mouthed regularly in infant school so she won’t stand out as much as you’d think if she loses them.

@TheQuietestSpace she is 33 months old, still just getting the last of her back teeth through and there's a possibility she might lose her front. I feel so sorry for her.

@StupidDeaths although she loves most food, one thing she hates is soup. We managed some really mushed up weetabix yesterday which was something. I will phone her GP at half 8 to ask about an alternative for paracetamol. I noticed you can get ones that dissolve in your mouth but only for 6 years +! She had a really rough night so she's still sleeping. Hopefully wakes up a little better. Thank you for the reply.

@BananaSpanner I've tried the full you can do it yourself etc but she's having none of it. Someone suggested putting it in milk but I'm reluctant to do so incase she stops drinking it altogether! Since she's not eating milk is the next best thing. One possibility is she will have to have the teeth surgically removed however because of the damage there is a chance her adult teeth will be affected 😢. To be honest the consultant only really had negative possibilities which has made made me really worried! Thank you for your reply.

Hi, not very similar as much less severe but sharing in case helpful. My dd2 fell on her mouth at least twice while she was a toddler (not a bad fall, we don’t actually know when she did it!) which resulted in one front tooth being chipped twice, severing the nerve so the tooth ‘died’ and turned a pale grey.

Didn’t cause any immediate issues when she was a toddler but age 5 she developed an abscess around the severed nerve. The dentist offered removal under anaesthetic or under local in the dentists, as there was a long wait list for hospital they attempted to remove it via local but she would not accept a needle and the dentist didn’t push it, the tooth was also wobbly so was left and we were told to keep wobbling it. It was still in 2 years later when the adult tooth erupted behind it, in her gum. At this point she accepted a needle and they removed it. The adult tooth is undamaged but significantly wonky - unknown if this is from the impact or the position it erupted in! She will likely need braces but it’s current wait and see (she is almost 9).

We have had a broken adult tooth, which was half grown through, and a badly split lip on my DC. They will need to constantly have work done on that tooth for the rest of their lives. Until all teeth are through, we can't even do a more permanent fix. Dc was 5 when the accident happened.

We had to have constant dentist appts to check the health of the tooth and the nerve. Thankfully, both have survived, somehow. But due to the trauma to the the tooth. The nerve could give out and die at any point. It's one of the front teeth.

Dc also refused food and calpol due to pain, and it it not feeling right. The dentist recommended making a Berry and banana smoothie with nut butter if possible for added protein and to add calpol to that. The taste is completely hidden. It worked, and we at least got some much needed vitamins and minerals in. We did a breakfast smoothie and a dessert smoothie, and dc did eat small bits of soft food to begin with. Ie. Mashed potatoes, beef casserole, slightly over cooked pasta and meat sauce, etc.

Being older, it probably took around 3 weeks for dc to feel better about it and return to normal eating after the swelling subsided.

6 years later, there are many replacement caps and dental appts. It's just something that gets done. No biggie

I’d second the suggestion to get hold of some paracetamol suppositories. Young kids in France often have medicine in this format. They are available here but on prescription only I think.

Regarding the negative messaging, it’s quite common for surgeons to prepare you for the negative outcomes the most just in case that's the way it goes, and to prepare you for a long haul of recovery. I shattered my elbow joint in 2021 and I was given the impression that I wouldn’t have full use of that arm again. It took a while but I'm back to all previous activities. I mentioned to a medical friend of mine that my outcome was better than expected and he said surgeons often lean towards describing the worst case scenario. That way you'll be more prepared if it turns out that way and pleasantly surprised if it's better than you were told.

I'm also learning with my DD's health that my focus is better used in the moment, one day at a time than trying to predict the future when there's an unknown medical outcome that's out of our hands.

It's really hard when your child is in pain. Make sure you have support too.

Dental-wise, in the absolute worst case scenario (which it hopefully won't be) where the baby teeth and adult teeth are too damaged to remain, she MAY qualify for implants on the NHS because it was due to trauma. Dentists see a lot of cases like this and will be experienced in managing them or referring them to the appropriate specialists. You can ask them questions at the next appointment if it will help ease your worries.
At this point in time, I'd adopt a "any food is good" approach (that's just me though). Try offering different foods with closed choice "It's time to eat lunch now. Are you going to eat X or Y?" If that doesn't work, try asking what food might be manageable and see if anything appeals. Anything to get back to eating, especially as hunger or lack of food will make her feel worse. You could also try breaking eating into steps if she feels it's not working and doing it together, "Okay first let's take a tiny spoonful of cereal. Now we are going to put it in our mouths. Oh it feels cold to me! Does it feel cold to you? My cereal is bumpy, is yours bumpy too? Now I'm going to swallow it...gulp! All gone!" It sounds daft but little steps might be more manageable if she's struggling. If the trauma to her mouth has made mouth things difficult, you could try engaging with it in a positive way. Sticking your tongue out, side to side, counting each other's teeth, hiding food in a cheeky, etc. Kids can't say "Using my mouth feels scary because something bad happened" but you see it in behaviour. Wishing you the best of luck, remember you can contact your GP or health visitor or dentist for support.

Sounds similar to my ds. He's now an adult . His baby teeth went grey but stayed until they naturally fell out. 1 front adult tooth was damaged , the enamel is 'stripey' the other tooth fine. He has a coating put on each dentist trip ,To stop decay .
The only issue he's ever had is a bit of sensitivity. He did have braces but again that was pretty plain sailing.

As for food when he first did it. He ate a lot of ice cream. In fact I can't remember what else as I know I stocked up on ice cream and mini milks.

I hope your dd starts to feel better soon

My younger DSis had a similar accident aged 2 and subluxed ( technical term for injury) her front upper teeth. They were always a bit short afterwards and didn’t drop backdown. Eventually they died off and abscessed so she had to have them extracted when she was about 5. I remember it because I was jealous that she had a ride in a taxi. Her adult teeth erupted normally in the normal position.
We both went on to study dentistry and have both recently retired after 35yrs+ in the profession.
We have both seen our fare share of toddlers with the same injury and for most, they may lose the teeth prematurely either naturally or by extraction but go on to have perfectly healthy adult teeth.
We have to warn parents of every possible outcome but there is absolutely nothing you can do to control the outcome. Wel other them buy them a full crash helmet to prevent further accidents.

Thank you for all your replies. It's been a rough few days but seems like the pain is starting to ease now. The swelling has started to go down too and I can see some of her teeth poking out her gum. She even let me brush them yesterday for the first time! I had a word with myself and I need to think about the here and now, take each day as it comes and not worry too much about the future and things that may never happen.

Every time I look at her I feel so sad that she looks very different. My daughter had a little gap in her teeth and it made her who she was. Now it's gone...for now anyway. I'm staying hopeful they will start coming down from the gum again.

Main thing is that she is going to be okay, she will bounce back and I will still be a traumatised emotional wreck lol!

My brother faceplanted over bike handles when he was about 7. At first we thought his front teeth had been knocked out but they had been pushed up into the gum. Amazingly, they grew down fine and white, and he had no problems with the adult teeth either. So wide range of possible outcomes, I reckon.

@Ketzele thank you for the positive story! That's what I needed to hear right now. I do believe the consultant has told me all the worst cade scenarios as part of her job but I'm trying to stay hopeful they will come back down and be okay! It really is just a waiting game.

My friends daughter did the same on a climbing frame when she was about 2.5. They didn't come back down until the big teeth pushed them. She's now a teenager and has lovely teeth!