My 20 months old Toddler fell off and landed on a toy, one of her front tooth is 65% chipped off. there is no sharp edge but you can see the pulp inside. I don't think she is in too much pain as she plays just fine. It must be sensitive on the injury area because she refused to bite. One dentist suggested that to take the pulp out since it could get infected and it will die eventually. So a root canal is needed. He also said I may just leave it alone.
I am really not sure if a root canal is the only opinion. It is hard to imagine to perform root canal on a toddler. I also found the chipped one piece the next day.
I wonder if there is anyone who has similar experience and how you treated a broken front tooth like this.
Many thanks and Merry Christmas everyone :)
Thank you so much for all the suggestions and comments. I really appreciate it!! Yesterday, I took my daughter to a highly recommended pediatric dentist and he suggested that the pulp must be removed, otherwise it will get infected. I was so nervous about it but he said that it was the only way to treat this tooth. An X-ray was taken which shown no damage to the root from the fall.
Well, he told me that his schedule was packed the whole month but there was one appointment in the afternoon the same day because someone else got canceled. He said that the root canal must be done asap. So I accepted it. My toddler cried so hard during the procedure it was heart breaking! They removed the pulp and put temporality filling in. He said that he would see her one month later.
Well, when I got home. I saw more messages left here. Especially the one said I should leave it as far as it is not infected. I did more research and found this:
Partial Pulpotomy for Traumatic Exposures
A partial pulpotomy for traumatic exposures is also called a Cvek Pulpotomy. When a baby tooth or young permanent tooth is traumatised - say, hitting your teeth on the handlebars of a bike - it can be broken in such a way that the pulp is exposed. Again, a partial pulpotomy may help it to finish developing and be saved.
I think Partial Pulpotomy would be better than root canal. It was not suggested to me at the visit and I had no idea it was even an option. I feel like I was pressured about the whole process. But now there is no way back.
I am very sorry if I seem very confused. I feel like all of the sudden I have more questions than ever, and I am not sure what I should do next. I feel like I made a mistake by letting my child fall and broke her tooth and now I made another mistake by letting dentist pull her pulp out. :(
The only other option I have now is to extract her tooth. But I am so afraid to let her go through more pain. I wish I knew better about how to handle all it next time.
Thank you again for everyone's response! it made me feel that I am not alone.
All the very best
When my son was 4 he fell and killed one of his front teeth. No chip/break, but it was certainly dead. A root canal is less bother than a filling, but people imagine it to be an awful thing.
If he broke off most of his tooth and the pulp is exposed, he absolutely needs that taken care of, no question.
Yes. The tooth is destroyed and irreparable. If you don't have it fixed right it will eventually turn dark and rot away in her mouth.
Please go to a pediatric dentist.
All dentists go to a medical school for dentistry. Much like a regular doc. They do short terms in each area such as braces, pediatrics, family, and oral surgery. They do this so that the docs get a small taste of each area and can make sure the area they want to go into is the right one for them.
A pediatric dentist will usually start seeing kids as soon as they're born. Sometimes there are problems that need a dentist to be addressed. These pediatric dentists generally have a completely different approach to dealing with their patients. They might have stuffed animals for the kids to play dentist with while they're getting their teeth cleaned, they might have toys and TV's in the rooms too.
They specialize in tiny toddler age children. Our pediatric dentist sees kids up to age 18 then they have to find a regular dentist.
One thing that pediatric dentists do is put the kids to sleep while they work on them. Ours uses Children's Hospital Out Patient Surgery for his asleep dental work. He has a trusted anesthesiologist that he always uses. She is very very good at treating very young children. Some will treat the kids in their offices but they use a liquid to put the kids out, awake sedation, and they get all the work done in a few minutes and it's over.
This tooth is gone. You have to accept that. I didn't believe the dentist when my daughter fell off the couch onto her bottle and busted her front tooth. He wanted to do a root canal and cap it. I said no, she was too little. Her tooth rotted and smelled and looked horrible. It finally fell out and her other teeth moved to fill in the hole. When her adult teeth started coming in they didn't have the right spacing to grow into and her whole smile was messed up.
If you really don't want to do the root canal seek another pediatric dentists opinion.
My granddaughter fell up a flight of concrete steps and broke her front tooth off. That's how we found our pediatric dentist. He did her tooth in about half an hour and when it finally came out I couldn't tell where the tooth stopped and where the cap started. The dentist was that good. Only put white caps/fillings on the teeth in the front. Kids have a hard enough time without giving them a big reason to tease someone.
My grandson had a cavity we couldn't see. When we took him in the first time the doc said it had to be capped. Since it was a jaw tooth they used silver.
If you dont trust the dentist, get a second opinion, preferably from a reputable pediatric dentist. My brother's ex took their son, not even 5, to a dentist who said he needed to cap all of the kid's teeth due to cavities. She told him he was out of his mind and left, got a second opinion from a more reputable dentist and it turned out the kid only had 1 cavity and it barely needed a filling.
That being said, I don't think your dentist is necessarily lying to you. If the tooth is chipped and you can see the pulp, it at least needs to be pulled (I'm assuming it's a baby tooth and not a permanent one). If she's refusing to bite, it's because it hurts. I have sensitive teeth and it sucks having to worry about how to bite on stuff to avoid pain. Get it taken care of. She's not even 2 yet, she's still going to have that baby tooth for a few years.
Take her to your pediatriac dentist (she is at the age where she needs to go anyway).
He/She will be able to tell you if the tooth can be saved or needs to be pulled and further treatment if any.
Some children lose teeth early... My daughter started losing them just before she turned 4 which according to our pedi dentist was completely normal. Some children don't lose teeth until much later, that too, is completely normal.
Talk to your pedi dentist so you can make sure your daughter has good dental health. Good dental health is imperative!
Merry Christmas!
A friend's child had a similar injury. They pulled the tooth but didn't do a root canal. It's a baby tooth and scheduled to be lost anyway.
My stepdaughter's child was slated for some tooth pulling due to cavities - one dentist gave them an absurd list of "necessary" procedures for thousands of dollars and a whole lot of anesthesia. Another dentist filled the cavities and he kept the teeth with bonding on just one of them. No surgery.
I'd consult another dentist before putting a young toddler through root canal!
You pull a baby tooth if it is damaged beyond repair, this post makes no sense.
From what you wrote the dentist gave you 2 options. A root canal or remove the pulp and let the tooth die. Did he mention then capping the tooth? I suggest that it's not uncommon for a child's tooth to die after being knocked in a fall. The tooth becomes discolored and stays in the mouth.
I suggest that you trust the dentist. Perhaps ask more questions. Then you decide based on which plan makes more sense. I also suggest that with this sort of damage the tooth is a gonner. The difference between the choices is cosmetic. A dead tooth, discolored and with a jagged edge or a tooth with a cap.
I suspect there is a noticeable difference in price. This is a baby tooth that will eventually be coming out. I would spend the least amount of money. My last root canal was hundreds of dollars. At the same time a capped tooth would look better so may be worth the extra money.
I suggest that you get a second opinion from a pediatric dentist if you think there could be a third option. Did the dentist suggest he could just pull it?
My prescool grandson had a huge cavity and the first dentist wanted him to be anesthesisized in the hospital. His mom took him to a pediatric dentist who capped it using just "laughing gas." My grandson has aspergers and was unable to stay in the chair at the first dentist office. The procedure went well at the pediatric dentist's office.
Something similar happened to my daughter who bit the netting on a moonwalk jumper and ripped one tooth out completely but the other hung loosely. We pulled the loose one since it was a baby tooth. This happened at age 5 so it was still a baby tooth. She was without her 2 front teeth for about 7 months. It may be easier to simply pull the broken tooth in you daughter's mouth. The drawback may be that she is so young and that open space may cause the other teeth to tilt. However the permanent teeth might not be affected. I would NOT take the advice of your regular dentist on this. Ask for a specialist and perhaps a 2nd opinion from another. Also remember that once her permanent teeth are in she may need orthodontics anyway but maybe not. Get more info and then decide.
You did the right thing and your daughter will be fine. The dentist will see her in a month to place a permanent filling. She is too young to be without her tooth. Stop beating yourself up about this, children fall all the time, chipped and broken teeth are very common.
And if root canals actually caused cancer I'd be dead by now :)
My son needed a "baby pulpectomy" when he was about 4 .... he ended up with a deep cavity.
He did just fine..... darn near fell asleep in the dentist's chair with just the nitrous oxide!
a root canal?
on a baby tooth?
why not just pull it?
khairete
S.
Talk to a pediatric dentist. They may do a pulpectomy and a cap or they may just patch it, but you do need to protect the baby tooth til the adult one grows in, which could be several years.
a root canal for a toddler for a baby tooth??? NO and NO..its baby tooth, it will eventually fall out, if you get a root canal, it will also need to be filled ,xrayed and capped off..VERY VERY EXPENSIVE..leave the tooth, brush and floss , maybe get the child waterpik to help keep it clean..then when the tooth falls out in a few years, you arent out a few grand . K. h.
Hi L.,
Please don't...root canals have been linked to cancers. Google it if you don't believe me. (And just FYI, don't believe everything you read on snopes. I've found them wrong on many occasions.)
As long as it doesn't become infected (which can be handled without antibiotics anyway) she shouldn't have any trouble until she loses it...
God bless,
M.
