Tooth "Injury" Advice
Catroo has an interesting predicament. Any dentists among the urbanMama community that can comment; or someone who has experienced something similar?
My 6 year-old son seems to be prone to "mouth" injuries. On his first birthday, he bit through his tongue. Ouch! About a year ago he tripped and landed on one of his front baby teeth. At the time we were living in a small town in Wisconsin, and the dentist said that there wasn't much he could do - just to let him know if the tooth started to look really bad. So, we move to Portland, and I've been procrastinating finding a new dentist...we're all overdue. A few days ago, Cooper gets yet another mouth injury. This time he busts his lip and knocks out the tooth next to the damaged one. (I'm pretty sure the one he lost was loose anyway.) But now the damaged tooth is feeling wiggly and seems to be jutting forward. So - should I rush him to the dentist? Or just let it hopefully fall out on it's own soon. As luck would have it, we just changed insurance coverage, and I'm in the midst of straightening out an data entry error regarding our dental insurance. We'll all be going to the dentist soon anyway, but I wonder if I should try to get him in fast.
My experience is that if there is not a lot of pain, no "infection blister" on the gum above the injured tooth and your child has no fever, then its fine until the tooth falls out on its own.
My youngest son also has a habit of falling and hurting his mouth. At 2.5 he had a hard fall and a few weeks later one of his front teeth started to turn gray. Our newish dentist said it needed to come out with in days. I was a little skeptical and called our old dentist of 14 years in another town and we emailed the x ray to her. She said it was just fine, as long as he had none of the symptoms above. For an extraction at 2.5 they have to sedate the child which I was especially worried about. Not sure if they have to sedate at 6. Anyway we have since tried two other pediatric dentists and both agreed that watching the tooth was the best bet. 1.5 years later the tooth is still grayish, but its in there and not causing any problems. It would have been a bummer for our little guy to be missing a front tooth for 4 years!
If you decided to wait, you do need to check for that "blister" now and again. If a fever and blister come up you need to get to a dentist ASAP.
By the way, we have finally found the pediatric dentist for us in Portland. Dr. Pike at http://doctorpike.com/
The adults in our family go to Dr Southworth on NE 33rd just north of Broadway. He and his staff are fantastic!
Good Luck!
Posted by: maura | June 06, 2007 at 09:21 AM
I emailed the question to my husband, a dentist in Vancouver, and here's his response:
"If its not bothering him, it can wait. It sounds like the tooth has probably been dead for awhile and waiting for it to fall out on its own shouldn't cause a problem. If it bothers him or abscesses, then he will need to have it removed."
Posted by: Sara | June 06, 2007 at 09:51 AM
Mother of 6 year old who bumps his teeth,
It's hard to guess what's going on under the gum. A chronic low grade infection (without a gum boil) can interfere with the developing permanent tooth. Go for an xray and minimize your boy's risk of discolored permanent front tooth.
Posted by: Allan Pike DDS MS | September 10, 2007 at 10:45 PM
Maura has a point. When such mishaps happen, you should be attentive enough to notice when symptoms show up. Once the kid starts to feel negatively about his teeth, a dentist should examine his mouth right away. Otherwise, the appointment can wait. And next time, tell the kid to be more careful! :)
Posted by: Kalona Mincy | April 27, 2011 at 09:58 PM