Baby Teeth Accidents -- Any Similar Situations???

My 3 yr old grandson just fell into his brothers head recently...and his 2 front teeth are loose...he will more than likely looses both of them soon...and boys do not gemerally get their "big boy" teeth until they are 7 or 8...

his xrays showed his permanent teeth are fine...so he will just be asking for his 2 front teeth for more than one Christmas...

one day at a time...and say thank you for what you have... She will be fine...

My oldest son fell and knocked out one of his two front baby teeth when he was three. At first I was really upset, but we got used to it quickly and now he is the "cool kid" at school (age 5) because he is the "first one" who lost a tooth. And trust me, he is as cute as ever. Good luck!

My daughter fell and chip one of her front teeth about a year ago and we took her in. They said to just watch it for color change and then it was just a waiting game as it will fall out EVENTUALLY! Kind of gives her character!

Been there, done that! My daughter was two I think. She and I were playing chase thru the house and I went to grab her shirt to catch her. Unfortunately, the shirt slipped thru my fingers and down she went. Since she wasn't expecting it, she had no time to get her hands up and landed face (or teeth) first on the vinyl floor - ouch! Went thru the same thought process, no teeth, thru the lip, etc. After the blood stopped, the teeth were even, but loose. Talked to dentist and he said not much to do, no permanent damage and they should tighten up in a couple days and may turn blackish. They did tighten - we avoided any hard food for a couple days just in case - but it did take at least 2 very long days! :-)
Here we are 3 years later and both teeth are fine. Both have a slight darkness to them but not really noticable to anyone except this very guilt ridden Mom! She got her teeth late so she'll probably have these for another couple years like her older brother (7 yrs old and has only lost 2 teeth so far).
Also, if it makes you feel better, our dentist is a close family friend and his youngest daughter had a blackened tooth for years from a similar accident - so if it can happen to a dentist's child, we're not such bad mommies!
Hang in there, give your self a hug (and your daughter) and keep remembering to be grateful...
Lacy P.

Hi
same here - no real advice, but sounds like everything will work out. Hang in there & don't beat yourself up!

.... if you want to hear a different version, my 4 year old nephew (my sister was out and her husband was watching the kids) decided it would be fun to use my sister's exercise rubber band and slingshot himself across the room using her bedpost as an anchor - trouble with that theory is that he pulled himself back and went flying into her bed post knocking out his front tooth.... Her husband greeted her at the door when she came home with "It looks s worse than it is and we cleaned up all the blood".

Well, C., I have to say, I have been through this and worse w/ my son! First, when he was a little guy (maybe a year old) he tipped over on an inflatable chair (w/ us standing right there...that is usually how it happens) and there was blood everywhere and it looked like it damaged his teeth, but they did move back into place and were fine. Until he was five. That's when we had a real trauma. He was pushing an adult porch swing that was on an A frame and it was not anchored (his sister was laying on the swing, too) and it tipped over and hit him in the mouth. A whole swingset to the mouth really does some damage. He was w/ my mom, and she was in a complete panic because of all the blood and missing teeth...I was at home 20 minutes away working (home daycare) When she called me to tell me, she was almost incoherent, so I had to tell her to call an ambulance (not knowing how bad it was) and had to call my sister to get out there to make sure all was ok and keep an eye on the other 2 kids while Grammy went w/ my son to the hospital (I got in touch w/ all my daycare families to pick up their kids and also got in touch w/ my husband who works an hour from home to meet me) When we got to the hospital, he seemed ok, minus a few teeth...the front 2 were knocked out and still attached to each other! He had one that got pushed way down into his gums that the ER doc had to pull, but had to give him a shot first (it took 5 adults 15 minutes of holding him down to do this! It was awful and I cried!) He still had one more tooth that needed to come out and we had to see an oral surgeon for this...so after 2 dentists, an oral surgeon and now 2 orthodontists...we are on our way to fixing his teeth. He is now 8 and getting ready for his first set of braces because of his accident...he will probably need 2 sets. On a positive note, though...his adult teeth are all ok...so don't worry...your daughters teeth will probably be fine! Kids are strong and if for some reason her teeth do turn brown or black...they are her baby teeth and she will likely lose them by the time she is 5 or 6!! She'll still be beautiful! Hang in there and you are NOT a bad mommy! We do the best we can and accidents happen no matter how close we are standing!

We killed our daughters front tooth falling on the coffee table. She had to see the dentist ever so often to make sure the permenant tooth was ok. Her tooth never did turn colors, but it is dead.

Jennifer's story cracked me up. Ah, the imaginations of children.
When our son was just pulling up to a standing position (I guess 9 months or so) he landed teeth first into his grandmother's 2 ton coffee table (okay, it's probably not that heavy) and busted his gums. There was blood everywhere, and we had a very similar tooth concern as yours. The gum did tighten back up, and now, they're totally normal. I felt like the worst mom in the world b/c I, too, was standing less than 2 feet from him when it happened. These things happen so quickly; there's nothing you could have done.

When my daughter was about the same age as yours is now, she fell while running towards me on pavement - like you, I saw what was about to happen but couldn't reach her in time. She hit one of her front baby teeth on the pavement. At first it seemed OK but a couple weeks later it started to turn color. I rushed her to the dentist who said she had basically knocked it so hard it "killed" it and that it would proably continue to get darker until the adult tooth pushed it out. He advised just to leave it until that happened. I felt bad because it was about 4 years later when she finally lost that tooth!! I was much more aware of it than she was, however - it really never seemed to bother her. I am hoping that this doesn't happen with your daughter but wanted to mention it to you so that you don't become alarmed if the tooth starts to change color. Good Luck!

my daughter tripped going up the stairs at about 3... she completely knocked out her two front teeth... GONE! LOTS of blood. Strangely, she was calm as could be and I was the one freaking out. we took her to the dentist the next day and he said her permanent teeth were fine so not to worry. She looked so cute after the gaping holes where her teeth used to be healed.

No worries... even if she loses them, the important thing is that the permanent teeth were not injured. I feel your pain though - I can recall the hysteria i felt when it happened. it will be ok :)

yes my dd fell on tile floor face first at her neurosurgeons office. broke/chipped both of her front teeth it looked like someone poked a pencil between them (that is how the break looked). She was around 19-20 months. Nothing to be done about it, they did turn gray, but then eventually lightened up. Then she fell on her face AGAIN. I thought for sure they'd fall out. same story, back to gray, no actual breaks.....another year later she did it AGAIN!!! this time there was enough of chipping to require bonding.

She is now 5 & she still has them, but they are slightly yellower than the rest.

I know exactly where you are coming from as far as how it looks. My dd were physically broken for 3 years, it loked horrible to me.....on top of the fact she had very thin hair that grew looking like a mullet....she looked like a stereotype hillbilly.

Here's my story... my husband took our then 2ish year old to Cosley Zoo. On the way out, they were having a race and her hands were in her pockets. Yup, she tripped and landed teeth first on the brick. Blood everywhere, etc. Everything looked okay. She's 4 1/4 yrs old now and her teeth are fine. The only thing we've noticed is that there is a slight discoloration to one of her front top teeth. There was some blood vessel damage, but her "big" tooth should come in normally. The discoloration is barely noticeable. Good luck!

My son, who is now 40 years old, jumped from the grand piano lid to a wooden rocking chair and knocked out both of his top front teeth when he was 3 years old. The dentist had him come in monthly for the next few years without charge unless he actually did something besides check that the other teeth weren't shifting. When his new teeth were ready, agewise, to come in, one didn't. We waited a year, then x-rayed to see why things were delayed. He had a rare case of two teeth in the same space, and neither would come in because of being jammed in. He had to have one surgically removed, then the other tooth dropped down. He was so rambunctious in behavior, always jumping off things, that I thought he had had an accident and knocked out his permanent tooth as it was coming in. I was relieved that there was actually a tooth, however long it took to come in.
But he sure did look funny for about 3 years.

My nephew at the age of 3 had a similar accident. My sister took him to 3 different dentist due to the response of hers. They all said the same it's dead and will fall out or do u want us to pull it. She went with her gut he was in no pain and she asked everyday does it hurt at all? One of his front teeth had blacken due to the impact now it took 4 days to turn black. Well long story shorten she left it 8 mos. later the tooth turned back to it's normal color he's 5 now u would never known what had happen. Thank god she did not have them pull it. She's gone back to the org. dentist and of course he'd never seen anything like it?? Strange things happen this is one of them that went in their favor. Sincerley mom of triple threat

Our teeth shift all our lives, so I wouldn't worry about it. Don't be so h*** o* yourself mommy...we can't be on top of them every second. Children will fall and learn how to deal with it without freaking out if you stay calm. Just clean them up, love them, and let them be on their way to descover the next obsticle. Good luck mommy

I am dentist and have had a few patients with situations similar to that your daughter has experienced. Fortunately the teeth and the bone supporting the teeth have a great capacity for 'healing.' Most of these tooth 'displacements' resolve without incident, and if there is any darkening of the tooth, it usually is minor and non-painful. Rarely the tooth will 'abcess' or become painful, in my experience, I have seen that happen after several years, and usually by that time, the child is close to the age of when the baby teeth start to come out. Everything sounds good as far as what you've described, so now you just hope for the best. Your dentist may want to take x-rays every year or two just to check for any potential changes going on within the tooth; otherwise, treat the tooth kindly for a few days and your daughter should be fine.

My beautiful daughter was 2 and half when she was chasing her brother through the house and I was at the kitchen table making my "to do" list for the next day. Just as I was yelling out "slow down or someone will get hurt", my daughter ran from the carpet to the marble floor and WHAM!!! She slips and falls face first to the floor! I couldn't believe it- I was less than 2 feet away from her and couldn't stop it from happening! I picked her up and her mouth was all bloody and I could see part of a broken tooth in her lip. After cleaning her up I realized that not only were there pieces of tooth in her lip, she actually SHATTERED one of her front teeth! I couldn't believe it and it was after 8pm on a Friday night! I debated calling 911, but she stopped crying after about 10 minutes and seemed fine, so I waited until the morning. We went to the ped dentist and they took x-rays and determined that she just shattered the ONE tooth (phew- notheing was wrong with the others!) and we would have to pull it. That was the worst 8minutes ever! The nurses had to hold her down and the dentist pulled it out- she screamed and cried and the poor kids in the waiting room were so scared when we finally left the examining room one tooth less! Now, 6 months later, she is happier than ever- and we still tell her the story of how she lost her front tooth (she loves it for some reason!). She still eats carrots, apples and all then things crunchy and good- she just looks like a mini 6year old! She is still beautiful and smiles all day long!

you are not a horrible mother. i work in a peds dentist office and we see it more then you think. the tooth that is loose can very well tighten up on its own or it could abcess and there is a possibilty that she will loose it. but dont worry, if she does loose it pedo partials can be done. they are just little partials and an artifical tooth takes the place of the missing one. we just put one in a two year old mouth yesterday. she did great! just remember you are not a bad mother, accidents happen. when my youngest son was younger we fell off his bike and broke his front tooth and it was repaired. and he was fine.

When my now 4 yr old was 15 months he fell off my bed and knocked his tooth out...or so I thought. I freaked. I called the dentist as soon as they were open and they had me bring him right in. He examined him and said it's gone. (before going to the dentist my husband called a friend who's dad is a pediactric dentist and told us it could have been pushed back up) So I mentioned this to the dentist and he was like "no, it's gone". I told him I wanted an X-ray so I could find out for sure everything was ok and they told me it wasn't worth puting him through and the fact that I was pregnant didn't make it any easier to convince them. So I left feeling upset about it. I checked his diaper daily for the missing tooth since I couldn't find it anywhere, thinking he may have swallowed it. To make a long story short...a few weeks later it came back out of his gums, it had been pushed all the way back up there. He was fine. :) I too was worried about him having no tooth there until he was around 6, but everything turned out fine for us. I'm sure she'll be ok...good luck!

I have a friend with a daughter, similar accident. Her gums did tighten and her teeth look fine despite much blood and very loose teeth immediately after the accident. If they tightened and realigned so quickly, chances are good they'll be fine. (Here's hoping.)

They're teeth, and if they fall out, they fall out. She'll look adorable with or without them. The best thing is that none of them are broken and her permanent teeth were not damaged.

Deep breath, and don't beat yourself up. As far as accidents can go, this isn't the worst thing. ((Hugs!!))

my daughter did the same thing. we went to the doctor got everything done, and over time her tooth came back down. It did take some time and she had a hard time eating at first. Her tooth is not black, but they say her permanent tooth might be. I figure she is fine but they have to say that. I really feel for you we went though this a year ago. Do not worry, she will be fine. My daughters tooth is just the same as the other one now. I hope this helps

No advice... just hugs. Aiiii.

C., my 3 year old did a similar thing, also right in front of my eyes, and it was also something I could've easily prevented...ah, the guilt. Her 2 front teeth were very loose. I called her dentist and she said not to worry, that kid's teeth and bone structure were very durable, and most likely they'd tighten up again. She instructed me to straighten them out manually (!!) and then make sure she didn't eat anything hard or bite into anything for a week or more. She said I'd know in the first day or so if they were going to be lost because they'd start turning a different color. Luckily, they became solid within about 10 days, and she never lost them. Whew! Hopefully the same will happen with your daughter.

No real advice, but I just wanted to encourage you--when I was little (too young to actually remember it), I came running down the hallway at my grandparents' house, tripped and fell, and planted my baby teeth in the stone bench around their fireplace (they were covered shortly after, and still are, 30-some years later, but if you look underneath, you can see the impressions where I hit). I don't know exactly what the dentist told my parents, but I never had any trouble with the teeth, and the permanent ones came in just fine.

YES!! My daughter did it off of the table- same sort of thing where I came to get her down and she just went teeth first onto the floor. Thank God she had her pacifier in her mouth! She bit the nipple of it right off, so it's frightening to think what would have happened without the pacifier. She has a chipped tooth, which used to be a little wiggly, but it hung in there, and she still has it two years later (she's 4 now). I totally freaked out when it happened, but it doesn't seem to bother her. It's slightly discolored, but that's only noticeable when you're the mother and paranoid that her tooth is looking a little discolored :D
If nothing else, they're just baby teeth... that's what I kept having to tell myself in the days and weeks after the accident.
Hope it all works out!
Also- give her soft foods for the next few weeks, so it doesn't make the wiggle any worse!

Not similiar, but my 10 month old daughter will not have her front bottom left tooth until her permanent one comes in. She was born with that tooth and it was loose so they had to pull it. They didn't want her to accidently swallow it. My daughter will be toothless as well. :) She only has one tooth in right now, so I'm not sure how it's going to look when the rest of her teeth come in or if they will be crooked. Someone said something about a spacer to put in until the permanent one came in, but the dentist never said anything about it.

Your not a bad mom, things happen. I'll be she'll never stand on that stroller again. :) Believe me, I've had plenty of things happen when I was right there.
A.

If the dentist isn't too worried I would try not to worry too. Mommy guilt is SOO Much harder to let go of though, I know what you mean! I remember when my son was about a yr or just a little older, we were finishing his bath one night I had a hold of his arm was reaching around behind me to get his towel and he was trying to dance and slipped!! He wacked his chin good on the side of the tub and suddenly there was blood All over his mouth I was Terrifed of course turns out he had bite right into his tongue and almost all the way thru even. I called the ER to see if we should come in they said to just give him tylenol for pain and wait for the bleeding to stop. It seemed to take forever to stop but eventually it did. I felt SO Awful for several days, my poor baby.
Guess that's why god made kids so resilient though to help ease our mommy guilt when they just do the things kids do.

My son slipped in the bathtub when he was 18 months old and chipped his front tooth. I just about went through the roof. Turns out - like your daughter - he is fine. He looks a little uneven because one tooth is shorter and uneven, but it doesn't bother him or anything. I say just keep an eye on it like your dentist recommended. Chances are the ligaments that hold the tooth in place just got stretched and it will take a couple weeks for them to tighten up again. (If you ever had braces as a kid, you'll understand how getting a new wire in the braces also causes this to happen). As long as the blood supply to the tooth is still intact it won't turn black or get weird.

I was 3 feet away from my son when he suddenly stood on his popcorn popper push toy, fell off and fractured his leg. He was 1 1/2! I am not a sloppy parent - sometimes accidents happen. Kids are unpredictable and you can only do so much. Don't feel so guilty!

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I had to laugh a little when I read your note. When my little sister was young, she was chasing my brother; he stopped suddenly and CRASH. Everyone thought her teeth got imbedded into his head. Like your daughter's teeth they got shoved up. She looked like she went 6 rounds with Mike Tyson. They came down and were loose for a little while, a couple weeks I think. Anyway, they stayed in, her permanents came in fine (she didn't even need braces) and at 38 still has one of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen.

You can't protect your children from every single accident that happens. You need to stop beating yourself up....I could write you a book on things that happened to me and my brothers growing up. My brothers' medical records at the base hospital were miles thick. IT is part of growing up to hurt yourself from time to time. So stop with the guilt. You tried to stop it and it happened end of story.

Now as far as the tooth goes...if it falls out, so what. Little kids are as cute as can be with a missing tooth. If she were an adult it might be a little disconcerting to see her with a missing tooth, but she's little and it's cute.

Believe me you will laugh about this later in life...just like my mom laughs about all the adventures she had with her three.

Not to mention the times I've done silly things with my kids and I was beating myself up about. It happens to us all...you can't be there every second and prevent every mishap. That's life. Your a fine mother and don't think any different.