2 Yr Old Chipped Front Tooth?!?

Updated on December 07, 2007
K.Y. asks from Wexford, PA
17 answers

My 26 month old son just chipped the corner off his top right front tooth. We have an appointment to take him to a pediatric dentist for an X-ray tomorrow. Has anyone ever been through this? And what will they do? It doesn't appear to have damaged the nerve, but cosmetically it looks horrible...(in my eyes! DH says otherwise!) I just hate to have him look like this for 4 more years until his tooth falls out!
Thanks for any advice! =)

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P.E.

answers from Panama City on

Does the chipped tooth bother the child or just Mom? If the dentist says it is okay, just the looks are off, leave it alone, Do not bring up the subject to the child to make him selfconscience. Make up a pretend story.. While I was chasing king kong, he dropped me and my tooth chipped, but we're still buddies. It's so far fetched that it isn't a lie but a make believe story.
Mom you have the problem not the child, get over it! And hopr that is the worse thing that ever happens to him.

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C.B.

answers from Orlando on

I had this happen. Every child/situation is different. My six yr old has had his two front teeth missing since he was 2...he slammed them out on the pavement....now his bottom two teeth finally fell out on their own...so he is a cute toothless kid! No big deal...its charming...the dentist will offer numerous scenarious..you pick and choose. They are the baby teeth...so they'll fall out eventually...anyway. ENJOY the photos! Priceless!

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M.S.

answers from Orlando on

my 4yr old chipped his front tooth before he ever turned one. and shortly after he turned one he chipped his other front tooth. (i was worried about appearance at first as well but have come to see that it adds to his wonderful personality) his tooth is just now startig to turn a slight gray color and its loose. the dentist said it will come out on its own. if it doesn't come out soon they will want to pull it(i keep making him play with the loose tooth because i dont want to put him thru the torture of them pulling a tooth) but there wasn't any discomfort or exposed nerves. and three years later it is just now turning color. its still early for loosing a tooth, he will have a missing tooth for a few years until his permanent one comes in. my 2yr old has recently chipped both his front teeth. dentist looked at it and same thing. no exposed nerve. no need for costly x-ray. and he is just fine. i'm sure your son will be just fine..sounds like the beginings of the bumps and bruises for a healthy 2 yr old boy :)

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S.V.

answers from Ocala on

Hi, I myself had this problem..I have soon to be 3 1/2 year old triplets... born 10 weeks early..1 daughter had acid reflux and it ate away at her enamel making the teeth brittle anyway when my daughter was 27 months she fell and broke 1 tooth and chipped another..I to was amazed at what it looked like..However because they were right in front and damaged they encouraged me to pull all 4...I did and she looked like a redneck...I also went to a pediatric dentist and got a pedipartial (yes it is cosmetic but only cost $400.00 worth a shot...It looked amazing but my daughter pulled it out 2x now she refuses to go back to the dentist..so I am looking at, like 3 years of a toothless grin... but If their is no nerve damage, they can either fill it ,which they did on one and looked great ,pull it or do a 1 tooth partial which probably would not be worth it..I had four teeth so it was worth a shot...good luck..

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T.F.

answers from Naples on

My son had the same thing happen about that age and it finally feel out yesterday, a week before his 7th birthday! Our dentist said because it didn't effect the nerve they would just leave it alone. You may be able to push them harder than I did to put some kind of cap on it. For us it sort of became a part of tough kid that he is and we grew to love it.

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A.F.

answers from Melbourne on

If you're worried about how he looks, you can always ask the dentist to make it look better with some filling. That's what my mom used to do when she had patients with chipped teeth, and they always looked really nice. You couldn't even tell wich tooth was chipped in the first place. But I don't know if your dentist is willing to do this. It never hurts to ask. Good luck.
A.

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K.B.

answers from Fort Myers on

Hi K.,
Well this is second hand experience but a friend of mine had the same thing happen to her small sun. He has been a fish in water since he was born and chipped his front tooth on the side of the pool, it also turned black, ewww. Anyway she got it painted cosmetically by the dentist. The chip wasn't nearly as bad as the black so she left that alone. Good luck!

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M.R.

answers from Orlando on

The same thing happened to my daughter when she was 23 mos. They said there is nothing to do. So, she still has a chipped tooth and it will be there until she loses that tooth. I didn't like it at all but it has sort of grown on me. I do worry there was nerve damage because sometimes it looks more yellow than the others but my husband says I am crazy. Good luck.

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M.H.

answers from Sarasota on

My son has a the same tooth chipped. We took him to the dentist and there are things they can do cosmetically if you want to, like filling. I chose to do nothing because it wasn't affecting him and now it has kinda grown on me. If it had effected the nerve, you would now it every time he drank! I'm just letting it go, but the dentist will give you options.

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L.O.

answers from Jacksonville on

This also happened to a son of a friend of mine. She took him to the dentist and since there was no nerve damage they told her that it could just stay as it was. If it really bothers you, they would probably file it down but then it won't match with the other front tooth. My friend decided that it added to her sons "rugged good looks" and is just leaving it alone until is falls out.

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T.R.

answers from Orlando on

My son chipped his tooth at around 2 as well. I took him to a dentist but because of health concerns no one wanted to touch him. Now it is almost a year later and his tooth is in VERY bad shape. Now I am almost afraid what they will do next year. When I took him to the doctor to ask advice about dentists she said to leave it alone, it was a baby tooth and he would loose them early because he got them early. Now the poor thing has this nasty brown tooth right in the front. If I could go back I would ask them to do something instead of waiting. But I know at this young age there are few options. Either you have to hold him in your lap and basically hold him down, or I have seen where they use this straight jacket looking thing to hold them. Scarey. Good luck, I know this is so hard.

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S.S.

answers from Sarasota on

I had a corner put on my son's permanent tooth and it was fine. The Dr. just said if he bites on a piece of pizza and pulls then it would come off. Pizza is junk so he hardly ever ate it. "What else would you have to be careful of ?" is a good question to ask the Dr. I think that the tooth needs to stay there for spacing of the others and if the dr says no to that I could be wrong or you may need another opinion. Or it may be good to know that before you go in. As for a new corner if it comes off when he eats then he might swallow it. You might get used to how it looks.
good luck
S.

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K.S.

answers from Tampa on

Hi- I am a dental hygienist who used to work in a Pedo ofc in Palm Harbor. They'll take an xray to determine the extent of the damage & then they can schedule an appt to repair it, probably by bonding it. If the fracture isn't into pulp chamber, then they most likely won't need to even numb him up to do the repair. Don't despair, it's not uncommon...we saw chipped teeth on a daily basis!
Another note, you should have an xray & then another in about a year for follow-up & so on...there is always the possibility that the trauma can cause damage to the underlying permanent tooth, ie discoloration, but you won't know that until it comes in, around 6-8 yrs. The primary tooth may also turn colors eventually, but sometimes it doesn't show until later. A reputable pedo dentist should inform you about what all to look out for over time.

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F.R.

answers from Pensacola on

They can put some filling on it and shape it to look like it normally does if you want them to. It'd really be your decision since it is considered cosmetic. Since he's so young, I would personally do the filling. He has a while to go before it would fall out on his own.

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J.S.

answers from Orlando on

If it's not bothering him, then don't worry about it. My beautiful daughter did the exact same thing exept it was a bottom tooth and it didn't hurt the nerve, so we did nothing b/c it didn't bother her. the only thing a dentist will do is file it down to a smooth edge so he doesn't cut his tounge on the jagged tooth. Good luck

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B.H.

answers from Tampa on

My two year old chipped her front tooth as well. I don't even know when or how she did it because she never told me about it, and she wasn't in any pain. I took her to the dentist as well, and he said that as long as she wasn't in any pain, not to worry about it. It may be more cosmetic and won't bother him!

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B.D.

answers from Tampa on

well with my sonwhen he chipped his tooth they did nothing as it was his baby tooth and it wasnt decaying.
with my daughter they fixed hers because it was a permanant tooth even though there wasnot decaying.
Its hard to say but usually if it is not causing a problem and its a baby tooth they wont bother with it.

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