While on vacation at my parents house in Nashville, my 19 month daughter fell on a step and knocked out a top right incisor baby tooth and knocked back her top left front tooth. It was horrible blood everywhere. We took her to vanderbilt childrens hospital emergency to be looked at and a wonderful pediatric oral surgeon came in just to look at her and said it was good news. That in injuries like hers they recommend doing nothing to the teeth but they should heal on there own and within a few months the tooth will move back into place and the teeth should heal on their own. He even gently moved the teeth back and forth and said the bone was stable which is the biggest concern. He said when we got back in town if we wanted we could follow up with our pediatric dentist, but that she was going to be fine and just to watch for infection. Flash forward 2 weeks later. My daughter seems to be healing, her teeth look normal, (the gums are still a little bruised) she seems to be eating and in no pain, and the tooth that was knocked back has already moved back into place. Well, I went to see a pediatric dentist recommended by my pediatrician just to follow up like he suggested. Even before checking my daughter the dentist gave me a lecture about how in these circumstances the teeth are usually so damaged they need to be pulled. Then she very aggressively wiggled my screaming daughters upper front teeth declared them very loose and that BOTH front teeth will need to be pulled, but she could make baby dentures for her. I told her what the oral surgeon said and that I would be doing nothing without a second opinion. she suggested maybe they had gotten worse, but reluctantly agreed and we left it at just watching them for changes specifically infection, but warned me that these teeth would never make it age 6 or 7 and will either need to be pulled or will fall out. I'm left reeling from the experience and not sure what to think, but my gut is to trust the oral surgeon and leave the teeth alone and give them more time to heal. Has anyone had a child knock back a baby tooth and had it heal on its own? if so, how long did it take for the teeth to heal and tighten back up? Was your child able to keep those teeth until the permanent teeth came in? Any advice is appreciated.
I just want to thank everyone for sharing their experiences and opinions it really helped to calm me on a very stressful day and I am so grateful for all of your support! On the baby dentures, apparently they are an L.A. thing according to this dentist and she does them all the time for "working" kids (child actors and models) that have lost teeth. So I guess it's all part of Hollywood's quest for perfection. I do feel like that may be why some dentists here are more aggressive in pulling teeth in these instances so they can push an alternative and lucrative substitute. But as others have suggested, since my daughter is not in pain and as of now the teeth are not infected I want to give them a fighting chance. It's hard to predict what will happen, they may fall out on their own or need to be pulled eventually, but hopefully not until further down the line. Especially since she hasn't even gotten all her baby teeth so if they pulled them now, she'd only have 1 upper tooth and two molars and there's no way she could even sit still long enough to have "baby dentures" installed! Thank you Christine D for the Beverly Hills Pediatric Dentist recommendation, I will look into them. They sound great and hopefully will have a different take!
From experience, they will have to be pulled eventually.
You will notice them discoloring over time. I 'd wait as long as possible to have them pulled though.
leave them alone-something similar happened to my daughter; only she was 18 years old and fell and hit her teeth. The oral surgeon wanted $2200 to make the repairs-I told her that we would wait for the teeth to turn black before we did anything-Her teeth healed-while they were slightly fractured, they were fine. She, to this day, has straight , white, exquisite teeth and a gorgeous smile.
Find another dentist ASAP! Any dentist who would use scare tactics to get a parent to allow such an invasive, traumatic procedure for a baby should not get your business.
My son collided with another child when he was 3 and split his lip open. A few days later, we noticed that one of his two front teeth had turned brown. The dentist x-rayed it, and it turned out that not only is the one brown but the other one has a cracked root. My dentist never suggested that we pull them. She said that they would most likely come out sooner than they would have had he not injured them, but to just let nature take its course. My son is now 6, and he still has his teeth.
That's absolutely ridiculous!! If the teeth are going to come out one day eventually.... why the heck not wait until that "eventually" comes, rather than pulling teeth that are working now? Yeah, front incisors aren't going to make it to 6 or 7 on most kids anyway, DUH! That's why they're "baby teeth"!! That first dentist is just looking to make a lot of money off of your kid. Go elsewhere and PLEASE make sure to put a review online so other people will know that she is just a money-monger not really concerned with anyone's best interests (besides her own). Putting your baby through that just to make some money, ugh!
Anyway, the thing I want to reiterate is how ridiculous she tried to scare you that they won't make it to 6 or 7!! What front tooth does?!?!?! Geez.... If they need to be pulled down the line, have them pulled then. I'm so sorry your little one had to deal with such a gruff dentist! :(
I think you need a second opinion and a new dentist. I would go with the Oral Surgeon's information - you know the SURGEON who went to more schooling than the dentist.
As you've already seen, opinions can be different....
If you think you need to, get a second opinion. Otherwise, just watch for infection or signs of it "dying" ...... if the tooth dies, it will turn gray. Why pull them at this point? They may very well last for several years!
I would be more inclined to believe the oral surgeon considering he's had more advanced schooling than the pediatric dentist has had.
There are just some dentists that are really that aggressive and just want to pull it out. They make more money pulling them out and making dentures for your baby then they do letting it heal on their own.
We ran into similar issues with one of my son's teeth. The pediatric dentist our insurance sent us too wanted to treat cavities by just pulling the tooth, followed by implants. We were like WHAT!! We left them without treatment. Went to another ped dentist in our area, even though they weren't covered by insurance. They treated everything, leaving the teeth in tact. They did baby root canals when needed and put a crown on the one tooth. (He's got a genetic problem with his teeth so he's needed lots of work sadly). The tooth with the crown is still there and he's 12.
2 of my kids have fallen and chipped front teeth. Other than sanding them smooth so there were no sharp edges, they healed on their own. Granted mine didn't injure them quite the same as our little one. But they told us what to watch for and said to let it be.
At this point I don't think I would even get a second opinion. There is no infection and she is fine. If something changes I would take her to another pediatric dentist but I would never go back to the dentist that wanted to make baby dentures. She sounds like a crook.
My son did something similar. He knocked back a front tooth. We saw a oral surgeon and dentist who both said leave it be. Well his tool made it til it fell out when he was 5. I would get a second dentist opinion if you can. Good luck
I've noticed that some who provide medical services will try to "upsell." My daughter recently had such an experience with a new dentist she went to. Another dentist assured her that a less aggressive (less expensive!!!) treatment was more than enough, and seemed wary of the first dentist's recommendation. I'd get a second opinion. By age 7 or 8, these teeth will get loose by themselves as the new ones grow in.
I would get another opinion.
Get a second opinion for sure!
My oldest son got hit in the face with a hard baseball at his very first baseball practice when he was 4! Knocked the top two and bottom two front teeth loose! Took him to the dentist & they said they might heal up and tighten back up...but they never did, they ended up getting pulled out! The worst part was since they weren't ready to fall out on their own, the adult teeth were no where near ready to come in yet, so he had no teeth for almost 2.5 years!!!
That is B.S.! My daughter did the exact same thing at 13 months old and the ER Dr said the same thing. Both teeth went into the gum and then came back, just as they told me they would. I was told if they turn grey, they we may remove the tooth, but eventually the tooth fell out and a new one grew back in.
I just had a talk with my dentist about my now 7 year old. I asked why some kids are already wearing braces and he said because some dentists guarantee themselves a patient for 5 - 6 years.
If you have a dentist that you already love and trust, ask if they will see your daughter. I switched my daughter to our family dentist and the only difference is there aren't cartoons all over the wall and they don't put them down for a filling. I would never agree to anesthesia unless it was completely necessary anyway.
At this point, do not waste your time or money....
If there is no infection, then allow things to go as they currently are. The tooth will fall out when/if it needs to.
Baby dentures? Are you kidding me? I could see this *MAYBE* if both teeth were out and there was major shifting.
We had a situation with our (at the time) 3 yr old running into another kid and knocking our child's tooth loose. We were advised to let it go as long as it wasn't painful for our child (and there was no sign of infection). The tooth did eventually end up coming out on its own over a year later, but even then, the dentist did not advise any sort of spacer because of the tooth's location in front. At the time, we were told that you need to be more concerned about trauma to a tooth when the trauma is in a downward force on the tooth, because that can damage the bud, but when the trauma is from the front, many times the tooth will recover (BUT don't wiggle it! Let it go!). I cannot believe that your dentist aggressively wiggled it.
I would definitely go with the oral surgeon's advice on this one until there is reason to do something different (pain, signs of infection, etc.).
It is not my experience that these teeth actually stay white and stay in their mouth for very long after an injury like this.
I do however think this dentist was not a very good one or at the very least was having a very bad day and took it out on your child.
I would NOT go back to this doc at all. A normal person would not have wiggled her teeth like that after an injury like she had. It could have detached them where they'd have come out right then.
They are more likely to get infected in deep because the seal around the base of the tooth is gone. I'd take the kiddo to a different dentist and only let them do X-rays every time to see what's going on with the roots.
Find a new dentist! We love Dr. Darrin Hirt of Beverly Hills Pediatric Dentistry. Our older daughter fell and one tooth turned brown at age 3.5. They said to just leave it alone unless it caused pain or perhaps infection. They also said it might fade and it did! Unless you know and really look for it, you would never know it had been brown.
Our younger daughter, age 3, recently fell and her gums above her front tooth got all bruised. Dentist (his partner Dr. Mark Goldenberg) said same thing and now, just a few weeks later, you can't tell.
I would call them just to get their opinion and take her in to just double check and feel better about the whole situation.
I've never heard of baby dentures and know plenty of kids that have fallen and hurt their teeth. The worst I know of is a tooth getting pulled.
