My four year old son hit his mouth straight on two weeks ago. He busted his lip a bit and the gum line around his top front tooth did bleed. A little bit of ice made things better and he has not complained of any pain. Tonight we noticed that the tooth is looking gray. Does anyone have any experience with this? Some of the things we have read online say to just wait and see. Any personal experiences any of you would like to share would be appreciated! Thanks!
Thanks everyone for the advice! I contacted my pediatric dentist. Since this happened two weeks ago and my son was not in any pain he said to just come in for an x-ray, but it is probably okay.
His tooth is dead. But there is no need to go to the dentist. They won't do anything and it will fall out when it is supposed to, then the new tooth will be normal. My niece and nephew both had one. Just be thankful it was a baby tooth.
Absolutely take him to a pediatric dentist. They may just watch the tooth and let it stay to hold the place for the permanent tooth but anytime a trauma like that occurs to the teeth a visit to the dentist is required...or atleast a call to talk to someone in the dentist office.
There is nothing you can do about the gray tooth. It does mean that the root of the tooth was damaged when he hit his mouth, but it won't affect his permananet tooth whenever it comes in.
My four year old actually knocked his front tooth so hard it was dangling by the root. I pushed the tooth back into the socket and then the dentist said to give lots of milk to calcify the tooth. The most important thing is that the tooth is there (gray or not) to hold the place for the permananet tooth. My sons did turn a little gray, but I find that I notice it more than anyone else. The dentist did not say he would loose the tooth just because it turned gray, but they did warn me that the color change might happen.
I would recommend taking your son to a pediatric dentist, he has probably received some nerve damage to the tooth and there may be something they can do to "save" it. However, if it's a baby tooth and I think it is, they may need to pull it, if it's "damaged" too much.B.
My husband was at the dentist recently and one of his teeth is slowly getting more gray. The dentist held a piece of ice on a normal tooth and it was too sensitive. But when he held the ice on the graying tooth, my husband felt nothing. Dentist said it's a dead tooth, must have been hit when he was a kid.
This doesn't fully "help" your situation but maybe you can try the ice trick to see if he still has some sensation in the tooth.
C.,
I work for a dental discount plan and a gray tooth means it's dead and he will eventually loose it.
Call your the Pediodontist for further info since he's under six years old.
Thanks,
A.
My 3 1/2 year old had a gray tooth around 18 months. That one cleared up and likely had some blood in it.
At 2 1/2, she took a good fall, was in pain, and I noticed her tooth moved. I took her to the pediatric dentist. He was able to splint her front teeth togehter (looked like braces) for 6 weeks and it healed. He said that depending on the damage and if it got infected, she could have lost it.
Every case is different, but I would definitely go to the pediatric dentist to get the best advice for your child's situation.
Hello, Please go to www.21stcenturydental.com. I am a dental assistant at 21st Century Dental. Please email Dr.Smith with your question. I hope this helps. My Name is A.. Just tell Dr.Smith that I responed to you from mamasource :)
A.
HI, C.. I AM A DENTAL HYGIENIST AND I THINK IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO GO AHEAD AND TAKE HIM TO A PEDIATRIC DENTIST. I CANNOT LEGALLY MAKE ANY SORT OF DIAGNOSIS ESPECIALLY WITHOUT SEEING THE CHILD. IT SOUNDS LIKE THE TOOTH IS NOT VITAL ANYMORE OR "DEAD". IN AN ADULT, THEY ALMOST DEFINITELY WOULD DO A ROOT CANAL BUT A CHILD IS DIFFERENT. THEY MAY MONITOR THE TOOTH FOR CHANGES, EXTRACT THE TOOTH, OR DO A ROOT CANAL. IT DEPENDS ON THE SEVERITY, WHICH TOOTH, AND HOW SOON THE PERMANENT TOOTH WILL BE COMING IN. HOPE THIS HELPS.
C., I injured my front tooth when I was 13, it turned gray and the dentist said he would have to pull it. We requested he wait a little while, the tooth took hold once again and started coming back to it's normal color. It is now a darker tone than my other teeth, but it is real. On x-rays, the tooth appears with no root, so Dentists assume I had a root canal but it was all natural. Since this is a baby tooth and will eventually fall out anyway, I would definately wait to see what happens. Good Luck. L.
Eek!! Go to a pediatric dentist immediately! My friend's daughter did that recently, and they had to watch for it to turn gray. If it turns gray, that means it's dead. I think it could even get infected in a worst case scenario. My friend's dentist said they would have to remove the tooth if it turned gray.
