Chipped baby tooth - any treatment?

[WeeG123]

Hi all,
Our 18-month-old son who is our pride and joy chipped one of his top, front teeth when playing. We took him to the dentist and they said there’s no underlying damage and that it’s just a baby tooth. We feel so guilty, angry and upset that this has happened as it’s a big thing for both of us as his parents that he has healthy teeth. He is so unbothered by it but us as his parents are. I’m just wondering if anyone has had experience of this and if they managed to get any sort of treatment with their little one to repair a tooth?

When I was 3, I clean knocked out one of my front teeth. Had a gap for years until my adult incisor came in. My mother was once approached to ask if I'd be a child-model as my gappy smile was perceived as cute!

I cant advise better than a dentist about treatment, but I'm hoping this anecdote might help in other ways. I really understand your feelings - at that age I felt awful about every little cut and bruise. But accidents happen, and this chipped tooth us oart of your own child's story.

Happens a lot at this age and no dentist in the U.K. would do anything to it as it would require a general anaesthetic and would be very unlikely to stay in place .

You will be far more conscious of it than any one else , including your child .

He’s 18 months..No dentist will do anything about it. You’ll have to wait until he’s older and it falls out.

happens to baby teeth - annoying as it is, you need to chill. my DD walked around with dead grey front tooth after she had a bad fall. it came out eventually.

Super common for this to happen. My boy chipped one of his top front teeth (well, both actually but one tooth had such a tiny chip, it really was only noticeable to us!). It’s kind of rounded off and is much less noticeable now about 18 months down the line. Try not to get too worked up about it, although I do understand that guilty feeling! Getting it repaired is an unrealistic prospect, imo.
Could be worse, my godson managed to knock out both of his top front teeth in a bit of a freak accident when he was only 3… long time before that gap will be filled!

Yes you can get a crown put on it at Toothbeary in Richmond if you really want to go down that route. It will cost a bomb though so weigh it up carefully to decide how bad it is. I wouldn't for a little chip but if it's properly cracked and causing pain I'd give them a ring. They're the only dentist in the UK that will help fix baby teeth.

Dd chipped a front tooth at a similar age. Like you, I was upset about it . But honestly, after a few days I stopped noticing it.

Happened to my little girl too at 20 months. Dentist told me if they repaired it she would likely swallow and potentially choke on it. Also as you've said it really doesn't bother them and so it isn't something to worry about in terms of health. You just need to mentally move past it and stop feeling guilty, it's an accident and just one of those things

At 18 months old sedation is not an option and tooth beary will not give a GA.

There are many specialist NHS and private paedodontists in the U.K. and many general dental practitioners who will fix baby teeth.

Fixing baby teeth is routine treatment in general dentistry. What is not is cosmetic work which needs a general anaesthetic on a 18 month old .

Just get over it and not make a big deal, otherwise your child will become self conscious.

This is the best advice.

DD took the corner off her front tooth at 20 months, we actually went to Toothbeary in Richmond as it’s 5 mins up the road. They didn’t suggest any treatment, said we’d soon know if it was just a simple chip as the tooth would go grey otherwise, and sent us on our way with a reasonably large consultation fee. I made sure to give it an extra clean when doing her teeth, as presumably it had less protection, but she’s now 4.5 and the chip has completely rounded off, as she’s grown her teeth have moved closer together and it’s no longer visible at all.

Yawn. Pointless and incorrect like usual. No GA is needed for this work. You really need to get your head out of what the NHS does in your corner of one county somewhere and how you "think" it works everywhere else, and see how dentistry can be completely different in other settings.

Your baby does have healthy teeth - the chip only affects his appearance, not his health. Your Dentist has told you this.

Your baby is not bothered and the issue is temporary as it will be fixed when his adult teeth come in.

You need to accept that this is a YOU problem and your motivation to get it “fixed “ is to make you feel better about how he looks - it’s not about your baby’s welfare.

This is something you need to deal with now - I suggest you consider counselling or therapy to help you talk it through. This will not be the last time that something happens to your child that will affect his appearance - he will collect many cuts, bumps, scrapes, injuries as he goes through toddlerhood and childhood into his teens. You need to learn to love and accept him as he is and not only when he meets your personal view of “ perfect “.

You also need help to understand that he is a little person is his own right - however much he’s your pride and joy. And any health care professional (whether NHS or private ) has to consider your baby’s Welfare about your own issues - he would be the patient not you. They are very unlikely to carry out cosmetic treatment on your baby so he meets your personal standards of beauty / perfection.

Please do seek help.

I have treated thousands of children in my career and I can assure you that trying to get isolation , a dry field and the time to put eg a composite filling on a conscious 18 month old is impossible. Not only that but composite does not stick on baby teeth enamel very well so it would come out within days .

Try brushing an 18 month olds teeth when they don’t feel co operative , let alone do microsurgery which is what fillings and crowns are.

In the US they may put on a crown on a chipped front tooth using just sedation. This is because they , in some places, routinely use papoose boards to treat paediatric patients. These are boards where the child is strapped down head, arms, chest and legs so they cannot move. They are barbaric and not used in Europe or the U.K.

This leaves GA as the only option.

A chipped baby tooth is a very common occurrence and no dentist , private or NHS , in the U.K. would subject a child to the risks of a GA for this . Indeed a previous poster has already said they went to Toothbeary with exactly this problem and were sent away with no treatment , which is entirely correct.

Of course you have no proof that I am a dentist , have practiced decades in many settings , places have taught and trained dentists , and practiced both NHS , private and other systems .

Look like I said you need to get out of your bubble of the one corner of the NHS where you work with those specific policies. You keep telling people things as if they are facts when they're not universally true and you never take on board that other places work differently. I've seen you do it over and over. Your agenda on private dentistry is very clear but at least get the facts right.

It is a fact that my own DS had much more extensive work than this done at Toothbeary under conscious sedation/local anaesthetic after an accident when he was not much older than the OP's DC. They saved his teeth. The NHS's solution was to remove 12 teeth under GA with no consideration to speech development or eating, because that was their only option. We didn't know about other options at the time until our private dentist told us about Toothbeary which is why I will ALWAYS tell people about their options so they can follow them up within their own circumstances.

I don't know why you randomly picked out the one post that actually might have helped OP with her problem to shit on me with incorrect advice that you're clinging to when that's just your NHS region's policy. Whether she wants to pursue the information I've given or not and make enquiries is down to her as a responsible adult.

I've given OP the information she needs to follow up if she wants to, that's all I am here for. I will not engage with you further.

I have worked, mostly privately for the last 20 odd years . I have trained in sedation , I am even old enough to have trained to use general anaesthetic . I have treated many,many children and adults .

I am not following any NHS guidelines , just risk/benefit analysis .

There is a different risk/benefit to a child who has suffered major dental trauma involving 12 teeth which will either need GA removal or an attempt to conserve them with treatment under sedation to a child who has , asymptomatically , chipped a single tooth which has a cosmetic effect but no pain or other consequences .

Sedation in an 18 month old is a very unpredictable thing and has its risks , which are less than a GA , but the risk/benefit of any treatment just to improve the looks of a chipped front tooth is heavily loaded towards leaving well enough alone.

Toothbeary is but one paedodontic practice , there are many across the country , all private , including quite a few others in London alone.

I can’t believe that you are arguing with a dentist on clinical matters @MumJumpers . Your own child’s situation is NOTHING like the OPs.

Do you actually work for the practice you are advertising? I can’t believe that as you seem so poorly informed. If you are in fact the parent of a patient as you claim, then please know that you are not doing that practice any favours by suggesting that they will do cosmetic work under sedation or GA on a baby. That would be unethical.

This is not about NHS v private - if you had read @Lollygaggle s post properly you would have seen that she has worked in both sectors.

All dentists in the Uk work to the same ethical standards and guidelines. The first one of these is to put the patients interests first. So they cannot carry out cosmetic treatment on babies to alleviate the emotional distress of parents.

The OP needs help for her emotional issues, not dental care for her baby.