3 Year Old Lost Tooth

First of all--go to a pediatric dentist!

My son lost his front tooth when he was 2 in a fall. The dentist at that time said "no worries", wrong! We went to a pediatric dentist a year later and he said we HAD to put in a false tooth to hold the shape of the jaw so the secondary teeth would come in straight.

Also get a floride treatment at the new dentist.

First of all, my daughter was 5 when she lost all 4 top teeth, so it probably won't be as long as you think before the new one grows in. The dentist's x-rays should be able to tell you about how her permanent tooth is growing. My only guess is that the tooth was injured somehow. My daughter knocked her front teeth and almost lost them at 3, but the roots suddenly started growing back instead. If there definitely was not an injury, then it is important to find the cause so it does not happen again... especially with the permanent teeth. Kids that age are usually so oblivious, and even when they do notice, most won't care, so I wouldn't go through getting a false tooth. That's just a lot of trouble and money for nothing.

I would talk to a pediatric denstist or orthodontist about a kiddie-bridge. Not so much for cosmetic reasons, I am sure she will be fine, since her, and the other kids baby teeth will come out anyways by the time she goes to school.
But baby teeth are supposed to be spaceholders for adult teeth, loosing a baby tooth too early for whatever reason, may cause problems for the incoming adult teeths later on.

When I was dental assisting, we would sometimes do what we called a "kiddie-bridge" for kids who lost teeth from bottle rot, severe decay or trauma. It's a little bridge custom made to replace the missing tooth. So, yes it is possible to replace the tooth. You'll just have to call around to find a dentist that does them for children. Good luck!

Hi H.,
My son lost a tooth when he was 4yrs old. It was one of his front teeth. This was due to when he was about 2, he fell and hit his front teeth really hard so he lost one sooner than normal. the dentist warned that that may happen. He never had any issues with not having that tooth. took about a year and a half for the new one to come in. No one made fun of him at all. Now I did get the school picture in kindergarten before it grew in with a smile showing now teeth but that was it. Hope this helps. Take care.

I don't think I would worry too much about it. When our son was 4 we took him to the dentist and we found out he had a third baby tooth right in the front top of his mouth. We had both front teeth pulled and his extra baby tooth in hopes that it would not mess up is adult teeth. It didn't work. We did however have a few laughs with him not having his teeth for a few more years. I would accidently make corn on the cob or we would go out for ribs, two of his favorites with out even thinking and he just knawed away. I think if you keep bringing it up around her then it may become more of an issue then it really is. Good luck!!

She may not be as self conciuos (sp??) about it as you might think. My daughter had to have her four front top teeth pulled at the age of two and was in preschool last year and is going again this year (she is now four) and she has never once said anything about other kids teasing her. kintergarten may be different but we have never pointed out that she is different in any way. the teeth they pulled are ina little pink treasure chest and we have shown her her teeth and talked about why they had to come out. and she has been perfectly fine with it ever since. I am more nervous about how she iwll do when her new teeth finally grow in. her teeth had to be pulled because when she was about 12 months or so she had a face first fall and landed on her teeth. the front two were cracked and the other two were knocked loose the dentist did not do much at the time and said we will watch them well the front two started to rot where the food particals were getting intothe cracks and the other two never really tightened up so we just took all four to save her any future pain. like i said she is doing wonderfully. good luck in your situation.

My five year old got her front tooth knocked out last year by the girl I was babysitting. Her older sister did not loose her front tooth until she was 7. We decided to just let her have a hole were the tooth was, but the doctor did offer to make her a fake tooth. My nephew ran into a glas door and knocked out his two front teeth when he was 2 and they just left it. He is now 10 and has his new front teeth all the way in. It is really up to you what you want to do. I would find out why the root disovled. Make sure there is not an infection in there...sinus or otherwise.

D.

My brother ended up with 3 sets of teeth and his first set fell out extra early but now he has great teeth and he's in his 40's. A fake tooth may not work too well, but perhaps a retainer that helps keep the other teeth spaced properly with a false tooth attached...
good luck!

I am a mom with experience in this. My now 6 1/2 year old had to have her top two front teeth pulled when she was three. I can assure you that no one ever teased her about her teeth being gone, in fact there was lots of jealousy that she had had the tooth fairy come before anyone else she knew. It really is all in how YOU handle it. Odds are if you seem freaked out about it or view it as being abnormal and weird then she will too. They take their cues from us. I have a daughter who is 18 months older than Meghan (6 year old) is and she was furious that her sister beat her to having lost teeth. Just so you know, many, many kindergartners lose their teeth so she isn't that far away from starting to lose them naturally. Yes, it will seem like ages that she doesn't have them but it will go by in the blink of an eye. Meghan now has both of her top teeth and a beautiful smile. She won't always be that lucky as she only has 8 TOTAL adult teeth to come in so we will be at the dentist a lot but for now, all is well. I would recommend you see a pediatric dentist though as you should make sure there isn't a genetic component to be examined like ectodermal dysplasia.

In our case it was a front top tooth at age 3 thanks to a jump over the dog that went wrong! Anyway, she didn't get that tooth back in until 2nd grade, but the space stayed open, and nobody ever teased her about it. By the time kids go to school they're all losing their teeth too! They don't look at it as weird....just a lost tooth like everybody else. I wouldn't get a fake tooth unless there is going to be an orthodontial issue by the gap.

My daughter had this happen to her and her dentist said that it was just a defective root.I guess it happens sometimes,but it means you have to keep an eye out for more of the front teeth coming loose as it only happens to the front four,top and bottom.The dentist fitted her for an artificial replacement for $25!! I woul refer him to you but he was murdered last year in a hostage situation in King County.My kids were crushed cause he was the best dentist we ever went to.Anyway it most likely wont happen again and you can get her fitted for a replacement or just teach her to say that it was such a pretty tooth that the tooth farie wanted it early.Thats what my daghter told people.