Any dentists around? Broken baby teeth

[mankyscotslass]

We are off to the emergency dentist shortly, but Ds 2 has broken his front top baby teeth. One has only sharp edges on either side left, it has left an arc of empty space , the other he has just taken the edge off. What are they likely to do? he is talking ok and I have given nurefen, but he seems ok in himself now. I am worried about his big teeth being damaged, his speech being affected if they have to remove it, how they will removeand how he is going to look until his big teeth come in.....and suffering guilts. DH has said he is so curious and adventurous that it was bound to happen....the other two were mild mannered little things at this age, and the thought of him being like this till they come in has upset me no end

How old is he?
How hard did he hit them & on what surface?

Baby teeth can be broken without too much upward force being put on them (the upward force being what would/could affect the bigger teeth) but you can't really tell what effect the bang would have at this stage, even with xrays etc.

Depending on his age, there may not be much they CAN do. If he is under, say 4, they may well just smooth off any sharp edges & make them look better. If he is older, they MAY put some filling material on them to build them up a bit...but then, there is nothing stopping those from coming off, as they are not really very reliable on baby teeth (due to other hits/bashes, toys etc in mouth/hard to avoid using them to eat ect).

They would certainly try to hold onto the teeth for as long as possible, as it is better to have something there, but again that will depend on age/scale of damage.

Emergency dentists tend to do as little as possible in my experience.

Emergency dentists tend to do as little as possible in my experience, time limitations/ not their patient etc. They usualy do whatever they have to for pain relief. So be prepared to have to pay a visit to your normal dentist.

Thanks Sandy. The nerve is exposed but he dosent seem to be in pain . Been told to go to our dentist as they may want to refer for extraction. My poor baby.

Poor thing...but good that he isn't in pain.

If the nerve is exposed then it is best to sort it long term, as it can eventually give problems...

Hope he doesn't suffer too much, not nice!

DS broke on of his the other week - we went to A & E mainly for a head injury aswell but they did have to check his lungs for tooth fragments - did you see the bits of teeth? Dentist didn't do much, she is checking them again in 2 weeks but said there isn't much she can do - only file it abit if it was too sharp. DS is 18 months.

quootie you still up? where you go on msn.

(sorry for the hijack)

Well, our dentist has prescribed antibiotics and more pain relief and has referred on to the dental hospital, but she said it could take months for an appointment to come through, although she has faxed it marked urgent. She reckons at least the really bad one will have to be removed and possibly the other one too . So in the meantime I have a poorly toddler. I am going to start calling the hospital every other day from today onwards, I need him looked at quickly. Plus I am concerned about any effect on his talking...the dentist was very dismissive of the implications, but I am sure there must be some if both top front teeth are removed.