Child damaged teeth nerves - experiences?

[ThinKingCaps5]

I am pretty stressed by the unknown so hopefully someone can share their experience.

DS (8) had a bad fall at school and landed on his front teeth on the concrete a month ago. Xray shows nerve fracture in both front teeth (running down vertically in the middle). Tooth appears intact.

We are under monitoring plan, at 1 month there was no change, then we will have 3, 6 and 12 months.

The dentist initially said there was a small chance it could repair itself but was much less positive at the last appointment and said root canal treatment will likely be needed as nerves will die.

What would this involve? I have a pretty anxious, hypersensitive child so I am quite worried.

She also said the nerve could suddenly die and the tooth change colour.

I feel so bad and guilty that he may end up with very unsightly front teeth until he is older and can have cosmetic treatment and it is going to make his life harder (I am prone to catastrophising) !

I found a lot of threads about children who have had a broken tooth and had it repaired, but nothing about trauma to the nerves. What will happen if the nerves die? Thank you!

I had this as a child from a fall. It was only in one of my front teeth. It went grey and I needed a root canal which fully repaired it. It was over 20 years ago now and I have had no further issues since. It looks the same as the other one and isn’t noticeable at all. Hopefully this provides some reassurance!

I fell into a window ledge at 11 and had to have my lip stitched back, my tooth was damaged but it lasted a few years before I needed a crown and root canal, the tooth changing colour takes quite a while

I have a front tooth with a dead nerve from childhood trauma. I'm 44 now and the tooth is still there, but it's slightly yellow and discoloured.
My mother never took me to the dentist, so by the time I eventually went on my own as an adult, the nerve had already died. There was nothing left to save, so nothing could be done.
Since it's a front tooth, I've always been self-conscious about it. I don't smile in pictures because of it.

Under no circumstances allow a ROOT CANAL they're toxic.
Also one of my children banged her tooth and it went dark but recovered. I remember thinking that teeth can be bruised.

But Root Canals are a bad choice. ....for anyone.!

Why? If it means the tooth is saved it’s worth it.

I'd probably ask a dentist about this. Not sure why anyone would listen to a random on the Internet, with no explanation provided.

What are you on about? There's nothing toxic about root canals! They're routine treatments and save teeth!

I'm a dental nurse, I know this from experience.

That is so very reassuring thank you! How did the tooth revert to normal colour from being grey? Is this thanks to the root canal treatmemt?

It's surprising how many eighties born kids had this.

Thank you! I did understand from the dentist it could take a while, though she somehow mentioned 2 years as best case scenario. Does root canal always require a crown, or do you know why yours did? I also wonder how a crown would work for a child who is still growing.

I also understand it may all make orthodontic treatment trickier down the line, which as a thumb sucker my son would also have required.

I tried to ask questions to the dentist but she just said "let's cross that bridge when we come to it" and I wanted to keep it breezy in front of DS so thought I'd try to just "wait and see", but it is not in my nature at all. I need all the answers and worst case scenarios.😆

Hello. Dentist here. Please ignore the poster talking about root canal being toxic. I can assure you it most definitely isn’t, and it is a procedure commonly performed all over the world every day with a lot of success.

I have seen some cases of baby teeth that get knocked, discolour ( turn grey) then can revitalise over time and return to a healthier colour. But I’ve not really seen this in adult teeth.
as your child is 8, and from what the dentist has said, I presume these are adult teeth.
do not overly stress or worry. I know it is hard with a wee one. Just trust your dentist and attend for regular reviews.
if a root canal is required, it will be time consuming, but it is relatively straight forward on an anterior tooth. If no symptoms, and tooth currently restorable, just bide your time and see what happens.

if the root fracture has extended down the length of the tooth ( which doesn’t sound like the case) that can be much trickier to manage

I actually do have this myself too from hitting the bathtub. I also was never taken to the dentist, so I don't know if it is a similar issue to my son's. My tooth is only slightly yellower so it doesn't bother me. I only remember during my yearly dentist visit when they try to sell me all sorts of cosmetic treatments!

Adult teeth aren’t going to grow OP… they’re their full and final size when fully emerged even when the child is not. So a crown applied to an adult tooth would be the correct size for the child as an adult and as an 8yo.

Thank you so much, I appreciate you taking the time to respond! Indeed they are adult teeth. I saw the fractures on the xray and they are both very similar, don't extend the full length but I would say about half way?

No symptoms for now so we will wait. If it is inevitable, hopefully it can at least be as late as possible so he can hopefully manage the appointments and treatments a bit better emotionally.

Oops yes I got myself confused with the jaw still growing, but that wouldn't matter when it comes to a crown 😳 thank you

It took 9 years for mine to darken and the dentist said the tooth had died so only treatment was then root canal and a crown, but I'm not sure if I could have got away with just root canal if it had been done soner but my tooth wasn't that much darker than the others, I'm not sure about the orthodontics side of it but I'm sure your dentist will be the best to advise

This is complete nonsense.

A root canal is necessary if the nerve in a tooth has been exposed (eg by fracture) as if a dead nerve is left the it is likely to cause an abscess.

A dead tooth cannot recover… it’s dead!

Root canal filings are not toxic.

It’s very important for you to manage your “catastrophising”. Nervous mothers tend to make their children nervous. If you can be calm and relaxed and not wind your child up then they’ll be much better able to cope with the treatment.

My daughter broke both her front adult teeth aged 7. She sadly ended up having root canals in both. One has gone grey, the other isn’t discoloured at all. She’s now 20. Her teeth were badly chipped and she has composite on them to build them to normal teeth size.
We’re hoping when they redo the composite at some point (it won’t last forever) that they’ll help disguise the grey. She’s been advised by her dentist at the hospital - that did the root canals, not to let them reopen the plugs at the back.
Big hugs to you. I remember how I felt when it happened to her. We were just thankful it was only her teeth and not her jaw in pieces though

Try not to worry, lots of things can be done. Children sometimes lose a tooth completely and have to have a false one placed. A root filled tooth can become dark- but not always, but again there are ways to fix this, sometimes if nhs can’t do a great cosmetic job there’s a private alternative. I’d get a private opinion - as nhs may be delaying treatment. If it was my kid, I’d want a private endodontist to do the root canal ideally and if anxious maybe look into private paediatric dentists. NHS can do a good job, but dentistry so advanced now there’s lots of better ways of doing things not always available on nhs.