My daughter hit her tooth

Wilsomom

She's 5 & crashed her skateboard (again! She just ripped her fingernail off a while back!) & knocked her upper front tooth loose. The gum is bruised. Should I just wait a few days & see if it heals? I'm thinking it's probably gonna die & fall out bc it's pretty loose & bruised. @frantastic

Frantastic

I'd take her in to get an x-ray to see if the root has fractured in the bone. Then it's just a game of wait and see. If its loose you're right it probably will die but it could firm back up and be fine. What you want to look for is color change. It can change any color from yellow to brown to grey or black. If it changes color then it could be dying but that doesn't necessarily mean it has to be pulled, sometime they die and change color but the nerve calcifies inside and is ok. The other thing you'll want to keep an eye out for is an abscess. If the tooth dies and does not calcify then it can become infected. The infection will need to come out and usually creates an abscess. This will usually look like a pimple on the gums or up in the vestibule. Every time you brush her teeth be sure to pull up her lip and look at the gums to see if anything is going on. Sometimes kids don't notice because they don't always hurt but if does abscess it will need to be treated with antibiotics and the tooth will need to be extracted. I hope this helps a little, your poor kiddo lol she must be accident prone. Let me know how things go.

jules

If it's baby tooth and it looks like it's going to fall out and she's not in horrible pain I would just wait it will fall out or she can wiggle it little help it get going. Unless she said or you think it hit straight up there nothing they will do for many tooth there no reason to. And the adult tooth shouldn't be too effected it will grow in eventually. That's just me though. But she is right about keeping an eye to make sure no infection develops you can even look up pictures online so you know more clearly what you don't want to see.

Frantastic

Actually @jules if she is only 5 and its an upper front tooth, those don't usually fall out until age 7-8 so it won't just fall out on its own any time soon. Also the adult tooth can be affected by the trauma and can get infected as well. If it was hit hard enough it could be shoved up in the bone and not erupt properly which is why you at least need an x-ray to see if the adult tooth is ok.

jules

@frantastic well I'm sorry I'm no dentist. And every child is different my step daughter lost her front teeth at 5 so I was just speaking from that I have experienced. Just trying help. Sorry.
Hope you're lo will be ok @wilsomom update me when you can. Hope she's pain free!

Frantastic

@jules lower front teeth typically fall out around 5-6 but the uppers usually come later and then fall out later. Every kid is different but that is the usual pattern if eruption. I've been in the dental field for the last 9yrs and spent the last 5 in pediatrics. We see trauma a lot in my office and I've seen things like this recover no problem and I've also seen it go really bad too. It just depends on how bad the trauma was.
@Wilsomom in the future, when her permanent tooth comes in, don't be surprised if the adult tooth has a white spot or even an indentation on it. When you hit a tooth hard enough, the root tip of the baby tooth can bump the crown of the developing permanent tooth and cause a blemish.

sands3

Hope she's ok. Jack fell off the couch a few weeks ago and chipped his front tooth almost in half. I took him in for an xray and they said it just missed the nerve so he'll be fine. They just told me to watch for gum bruising and tooth discoloration.

jules

@frantastic well like I said I'm no dentist was just speaking from what ive seen.

Wilsomom

Thanks @jules @frantastic @sands3
I'll call the dentist later today, I'm out with several appointments right now. Surprisingly it seemed to tighten up quite a bit overnight. I can't tell if it's because of swelling or it's trying to heal. I'll let you all know when I find out anything.

My older son was eating corn on the cob when he was 5 & bit too hard & his bottom 2 front teeth we at a 90 degree angle (pointing toward his lips) I called the dentist & they told me to just pull them out. It was freaky cuz they weren't even loose yet. Lol But it all turned out ok.

jules

Hope u get some good news! I cant believe that about ur son kids do this stuff that later u look back and ask urself how?! Glad it truned out ok maybe ur kids have some strong healthy gums