Three-year-old's front tooth knocked out. Anyone had this?

[Fagin99]

I know there are far worse things that could happen, but I'm feeling devastated and would appreciate hearing from anyone who has experience of this.

My sweet three-year-old girl attended her first party today, she was so excited. But whilst on the trampoline, another kid fell back on her and her whole front tooth came out. We went straight to A&E but they've said they can't do anything and she'll just have a gap for three years or more!!
Does anyone have experience of this? Did a dentist help in any way? Was your child teased because of it? Was their speech affected?

I'm so upset. Her beautiful smile has been ruined. And I'm beyond angry at myself for letting her go on a crowded trampoline where every kid was wearing shoes. I was inside the house anddidn't see it happen. I should have been there. I should have stopped it.
Thanks for reading x

Unfortunately that's just one of those things, you can't foresee everything and you can't wrap them up in cotton wool. It must have been a bit loose for it to just come out? I know kids who have fallen and faceplanted the ground and damaged the nerve but the tooth stayed in

Not mine, but afer almost 20 years working with children I've known of it. I can't imagine it being something she gets picked on for, kids no they lose teeth, by the time they know the gaps dont last long, they'll all have them anyway!

Oh what a shame :(
Mine smashed both front teeth at a similar age ,nothing could be done so they had odd little sharp stumpy front teeth until the remainder fell out. Honestly after a while you won’t notice and she certainly won’t. In a little while they’ll all be losing teeth anyway so it won’t seem so strange. It didn’t affect speech or anything in any way.

It happened to me. Both top front teeth. I was just without them for a few years. I hope things have moved on in terms of people act now. I still dread hearing "all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth". People thought it was funny. I ended up needing orthodontics for my second teeth but there was a trend for that around then so not 100% sure if losing my first teeth was a factor or not.

This happened to my son (although he was about 5). The dentist wanted to see him to make sure the tooth hadn’t been pushed up and back, potentially damaging the adult tooth underneath. It was all fine and the adult tooth did take over a year to come in (but probably around the time it would have normally) and no issues with the adult tooth.

It didn’t affect his speech.
(That’s just made me think of my DD who had a very pronounced lisp until her adult front teeth came in and then the lisp literally disappeared overnight! So even if it does affect her speech in the short term, hopefully it won’t be long term).

My boy hit his mouth about a year ago. Took him to the dentist of course. Tooth was still in, but wanted it checked. Dentist told me that the majority of kids <5 have either knocked a tooth out, had it go grey after a trauma or have chipped it.

Both front bottom teeth got knocked out of dd when she was 15 months. She did see a paediatric dentist and when the adult ones came through they were twisted and wonky. She needed composite over the top and they are now beautiful normal looking teeth. No doubt it will need replacing at some stage.

Yes my elder DD had this - tripped at the childminder’s and fell into a bookcase, caught her front teeth. She was also 3 (her sister was 6 weeks old and I had to go and meet them at A and E, very relaxing environment for breastfeeding….!). We did initially think she might have lost two teeth, but went back to the dental clinic at hospital after a few days to check as the gap seemed rather big for just one tooth. It turned out one had come out and another had been pushed back up into the gum - it had been hard to tell initially as it was all a bit swollen.

It is a shame (especially if it’s painful for them and makes it difficult to eat etc) and you’ll have the gappy smile for a good while, but my DD’s teeth all sorted out when the adult teeth came through. The childhood pictures with the gappy smile look kind of cute - and I guess all kids end up with gaps when the teeth fall out naturally anyway, it’s just rather earlier and for a bit longer….!

My son. Knocked his out at same age and had a gap until he was 6.

He's 20 now and I look back at the photos and think it’s so cute and it’s a time in history that’s just a memory now.

My little boy did this in April. He's 5 but both front teeth were knocked out. I was devastated but now it's just him, and he's not bothered one bit - neither are his friends! I get asked about it at times, but largely people just hope he was OK!

His speech did sound a bit funny for a few weeks, but went back to normal!

Thank you everyone for your replies and reassurance. I think I'm definitely more traumatised than she is, but I just feel so desperately sorry for her. I'm genuinely devastated (obviously not showing this in front of her) and feel like I should have protected her.

But all your responses are appreciated, thank you. I just really hope the tooth loss won't be an issue in any way.

@butteredbarmbrack I sympathise - I had to breastfeed my 11-week-old in A&E!

Bless her! I’m sure all will be fine, but might be worth getting a dentist appointment just to check none of the other teeth, roots or nerves have been damaged etc.

Funny how you just get through these things! In our case there was in fact a separate children’s A and E, and it was middle of the day - so at least not a Friday or Saturday night…

DD2 in fact also had a tooth incident - she fell on a balance trail at school (reception year), and my husband had a call asking if she had a tooth shorter than the others…. Answer was no, so off they went to get it checked. Again, it all ended up fine in the end and months afterwards she would remember when dad picked her up from school and took her for a milkshake. Forgetting that this was after having been for an emergency dentist appointment a couple of doors down!

I think you’re right that the parents feel worse than the kids with these things - sending you sympathy!

Thanks all so much again for your replies. They really helped to get me through the weekend without going crazy with worry and guilt. We went to the dentist today and he reassured me the other teeth are OK (although he wants to check again in three months to be sure). He said there's a small risk that the adult tooth underneath might be damaged, or the centre alignment might be off, but there's no way of knowing this until it comes through so we just have to remain positive. He did reassure me it's a common injury, apparently!

My daughter fell down the ladder of a trampoline and smashed her teeth into the ladder. A 6 hour trip to a@e and we were getting used to a new wonky smile. But her gums started swelling and so have to go for an x ray tomorrow. The dentist has said that they might need to come out. And even if they don’t come out tomorrow they will probably need to be taken out before they naturally fall out as it was such a knock. I feel devastated about it. I can’t imagine trying to get used to a gappy smile for the next 3/4 years. I worry about her adult teeth and her being bullied. I feel so sad for her and so sad for her having to start school ect without her full smile. Please say it gets easier!

Hello @BeDeepPanda . I'm so sorry to hear this. My son knocked his front teeth so badly they were extracted 5 months ago. He had the most beautiful teeth and I was devastated, but honestly I'm so used to it now and it's really cute. He is a bit older so his adult teeth will come through earlier, but it will still be a while. Our dentist said that you never know what their teeth are going to be like anyway!

I absolutely know how you feel right now, I remember it so well. But you really do get used to it and it just becomes them!

Ds lost his when he was 2 falling off a scooter. One fell out and one was pushed back up into his gum. It was extracted when he was 5.

Didn't affect his speech at all, apart from a little while when his front adult teeth came in. They both came in at the same time and seemed to appear very quickly so there were a couple of weeks maybe when he was adjusting to finally having teeth there and he was slightly lispy. But it really only was for a super short time.

It is upsetting though. I was really upset by it. His little perfect smile. Ds is 11 now and doesn't even remember. Even seeing photos of himself with no teeth he doesn't think anything of it.

Oh and on the day I took ds to the dentist after his fall the dentist said he'd had a 9 yr old girl in that morning who had fallen off her bike and broken her 2 adult front teeth. She had to have them extracted because they were so badly damaged. So that kind of put it in perspective for me.