chipped tooth

Hi,

My 13-month old daughter chipped her front tooth quite badly today. I'd say about 50% of it has gone. We took her straight to the dentist who said that as the nerve is exposed the only options are extraction or baby root canal & crown. Her preference is the former, as the root canal thing is likely to result in the tooth going brown and it would be weak and prone to problems. I'm devastated that she may have to have her brand new little tooth pulled, and that she's have a gap right there in the front of her smile until she's 7 or so (how will it affect her self-esteem? Will she get teased at school? What about eating and talking?).

The dentist also wants to do either of these procedures under general anaesthetic. This seriously worries my husband and I as she's so small.

Having spoken to my sister, who's a dentist back in the UK, she said that firstly they would never advise a GA for such a small child, and that secondly a root canal/crown on a baby is slightly ridiculous and not really necessary. She said she would advise just dressing the exposed part and seeing what happens (if the tooth goes black/gets infected, they'd pull it, but otherwise it's best to try to hang on to the baby teeth for as long as possible.

So, I'm wondering 2 things. Does anyone have any experience of this kind of thing, and what treatment was given? And can anyone recommend a good pead dentist I can see to get a second opinion?

Thanks.

hi, so sorry this happened to ur little one. what i can share with u is that when i was around 6, i had to have one of my big tooth taken out due to an accident, and i was without one until the new one grew out at least a couple of years later. in terms of self esteem, i don't remember the missing tooth having any impact in my life, in fact, i was quite outgoing and was 'popular' at school (if it is possible at that age! lol). maybe it's because kids generally have teeth going in and out at different times, and so my missiing tooth went unnoticed... or maybe it was my personality that didn't let it bother me. but seriously, i don't remember fretting about my missing tooth AT ALL.


i know that in your baby's case, it may be different, as she is only 13 months, and she has many years until her new tooth grows out, but if you do decide to extract the tooth, it's not the end of the world! :)

Hi


I have a 16 month old daughter who just chipped her tooth last night. I would like to know what happened to your daughter's tooth. Could it be fixed? I am very upset about it and would love to hear from you.

"how will it affect her self-esteem? "


Depends on you as a parent. If it's no (apparent) big deal to you it will be no big deal to her. If you don't let it bother you, then she won't care. All kids have quirks big and small. It is we as parents who give them attention and make them big deals.


"Will she get teased at school?"


I doubt it. First of all, kids who tease will always find something to pick on. A tooth is incidental. As frenchfries says he was outgoing and the tooth had no impact. Anyway "serious" teasing probably doesn't start until well after she has her permanent teeth.


If your kid has strong self esteem, she won't care about teasing anyway. That's where you come in as a parent.



"What about eating and talking?"


I'm not an expert here either but I don't foresee any major issues.

Hi there,

In the end we found a fantastic dentist (Edward Tam at Tam and Hulac), who explained exactly what had happened, what our options were and what the consequences might be. He was very much less dramatic than the first dentist we saw and said the same as my sister, that they could save the remaining part of the tooth. They did have to heavily sedate my daughter with ketamine, but the procedure lasted less than 10 minutes and I can't praise him enough. In face the nerve of the tooth goes down into a fork at the end, and it was only one prong of the fork which was exposed, so he just cleanes the entry point and sealed the tooth to prevent infection. There's still a chance the tooth migth die further down the line, but he felt it was unlikely. Most importantly, he actually said it's very important to not remove baby teeth unless it's completely unavoidable, as it can cause big problems with over crowding in the adult teeth.

I'm just so relieved we found such a great dentist and didn't go with the original one's advice. Vanessa, I hope your little one got her tooth fixed too - I know how upsetting it is when this happens! Although, having said that, mine has since chipped her other front tooth too (only slightly)...so I'm getting used to it!

Hi Fruitjuice


Thank you for your reply. My daughter's nerve is not exposed. Dentist that we were recommended to us told us to wait two weeks as her pain would still be raw. So my next appointment is on Monday. Lets see what the doctor says. Anyway, if he is not likely to do anything about the tooth, which is very sharp by the way, my paed recommended another dentist!