Dental trauma to adult front teeth

[Whitney8]

I desperately need some reassurance though I'm not sure reassurance is possible in our situation. At the beginning of August my 8 year old son experienced terrible dental trauma to his front teeth. He was pushed into the pool and hit the side. One tooth is fully pushed in and the other is chipped in half. We are now under the watch of a NHS dental hospital. He has had root canal treatment on the broken one as it's basically dead and he's going to have a brace on to try to pull the intruded one down. At best I think they are trying to preserve them for another couple of years and then he will need to live without his front teeth. The dentists have mentioned a tooth flipper but as we aren't at the point of losing them we haven't discussed it much yet. I'm trying to take it one step at a time but I am devastated by it and so worried for his future. Most cases I'm reading about are more minor than his. Has anyone experienced similar. Is it awful living a flipper? How does he do sports? Help!

If you can afford it I would go to a highly-regarded private dentist for a second opinion and to hear what all the options might be.

How does your DS feel?

So sorry to hear this happened. We don’t have experience of a flipper but ds managed to break both front teeth in half around 12 years ago. He had the root canal treatment with no problems - because the tooth was dead he didn’t require anaesthesic and it looked pretty straightforward. Since then, he broke the filling/cap on one once and had to have it repaired. He also had a fixed brace after this due to required orthodontic work and has beautiful teeth. He’s 24 now and I’m not sure what future treatment will be advised but so far everything is looking good.

Thank you for your reply. We are at a university dental hospital so I think we are in amazing hands. Maybe when we get to thinking about the cosmetic side perhaps private may have more options. Thank you - it's something to consider. My 8 year old is very 'young' compared to some and not self conscious about his appearance. In fact he thinks they currently look cool. I've just said they are making his teeth better at the moment and not discussed the future. He can't think like a teenager yet and understand the potential challenges so unless he asks, I'm not going to discuss it. It's uncertain as it is.

Thank you for the reassurance. I know of another person who seems to be living with dead front teeth that look fine well in his late 20s. I was hoping this could be us but from comments from the dentists we are in a more serious position. His fully intruded tooth apparently is one the worst things that can happen. I have to take one step at time.

You poor things.
We were travelling home from holiday a year ago when my 20 year old rang so say his friends' squash racket had smashed into his mouth and he sustained similar sounding injuries to your son. Chipped most of the front bottom ones, lost one altogether and two had been shoved completely back and out of place.

Obviously he is much older than your son but it was devastating as he had had years of braces and had perfect teeth, just about to go for job interviews etc etc

His friend broke into a coffee machine to put the missing tooth into some milk ..the ER doctor said it saved that one!!

We have private dental cover through my work. He had 4 fillings on the chipped ones, root canal x 2, and a wire put through the wonky ones to draw them back into place. He still may need a plate in the future. They look back to how they were now thank god but he needs to wear a retainer (which he did anyway) and may need future work.

If you can I would go private

I felt really traumatised that it happened to my son - more so than him I think, as kids seem to deal with these things much better! I’m sure, although it will be a journey, there will be solutions and he will have a beautiful smile.

Thank you for your message -it's so upsetting isn't it. He will be well supported by family and we will be able to help with future costs. So many people do live with dental challenges. I'm pleased your son's teeth seem to be doing ok.

Oh this sounds so hard as well. They really put us through it don't they.
Thank you for your message. It helps me to not feel so alone!

You are welcome I am glad to help. We were with friend when he rang us in the airport and I think I shocked them with my reaction, I am usually very stoic but anything to do with my sons....I really lost it. Ironically I felt slightly better when he sent a selfie, ironic because he was covered in blood with his face smashed in but I had imagined even worse! TBH I felt just as sorry for his squash partner, he was in bits