Advice on What to Do About Chipped Tooth in 18 Month Old

just keep it brushed is about my only advice... My son chipped his at 17 mths. thats what we were told lol good luck!

Hi A.,
My son fell and chipped his front, top tooth when he was about that age. I took him to the dentist and they said the same thing. There really isn't anything you can do for it at this age. I was told this because they are baby teeth. They will fall out and be replaced. As my son has gotten older (4) and his other teeth filled in and he was eating more (smoothing the teeth out) it is hardly noticable. I hope maybe this will help you or give you some peace of mind.

Not knowing how bad of a chip it is, I would say don't worry too much about it. Just be thankful it is a baby tooth! My kids hardly ever hurt their little teeth, until they got the permanents in! Two years ago, within 3 weeks of each other, my boys (then 10 & 8) fell onto their mouths and we had to see an endodontist (root specialist). My younger son only slightly loosened his teeth, thankfully, but my older one busted them in half! He looked like a hockey player! We had to have them bonded so that he has "fake" half teeth, and one is so gray at the top. That one we just had to finally have a root canal in Jan and he has had to wait to get braces until the roots were fully developed! It has been a nightmare and a money pit!

So unless she just looks really goofy, maybe the dentist could just file it down some where it isn't as noticable? They may not like doing any dental work on a child that young.

Best of luck to you!
A.

My daughter did the same thing, but not the front tooth. If the dentist says it's fine, then I wouldn't worry about it. The only thing they told us was to make sure it didn't chip more and that it wasn't causing her to bite her lip,tongue or anything from the sharpness. She doesn't notice it at all. She may be able to get a cap put on when she's a little older if it's a cosmetic issue for you, but you might have a hard time finding someone to do it. At least it's a baby tooth.

No, there isn't. This happened to my son when he was that age and they sanded it down so he wouldn't cut his lip open and they said if for some reason it died and turned black, they would just pull it. Or if it got infected for some reason they would pull it, so it sounds about right, but I am sure tht every dentist is different.

it is a baby tooth, that's the beauty of it -- we get a chance to practice with our first set of teeth. it's the permanent ones that really need repair. as long as the chip is not deep or sharp, then there's really nothing you can do for it.

I had one like that. He chipped it right up the middle, all the way to the root...so it appeared. It also turned black later...they said that it was dead. They told me it was a baby tooth and not to worry because he would lose it....nothing they could do. I beleive it was the first to go and it stayed gone a long time before another one came in. After a while we all got use to it and it was ok. Nothing every happened with it. And they are right, when we went to the dentist, he just looked at it everytime.
It turned out alright.

No need to fix tooth since it is a baby tooth. The dentist should be seeing her every six months for cleanings at her age - he will only look for nerve damage or graying - if there is a sharp edge on the tooth, it can be ground down as to not cut her lip.

Sometimes trama to the tooth may cause a slight delay in the teeth coming in (my daughter at age 4 knocked out both front teeth which tramatised the nerves and took longer for her permanent teeth to come in).

My best friend's daughter did the same thing at the same age. There was really nothing they could do and she had a cracked tooth until her baby teeth fell out. They just kept an eye on it. She's 7 now and has a beautiful smile.

My son was two in March, and shortly after his birthday he slightly chipped his front tooth. I took him to the dentist as well, and he was not concerned. He just encouraged good dental hygiene. His main concern seemed to be about tooth decay and him not drinking alot of sugary drinks between meals and brushing his teeth. Thankfully, I do not have a problem with my son brushing his teeth. He will do it 4-5 times in a row, and gets mad if I don't let him! Other than this one chipped tooth, the dentist said my son's teeth were perfect and to keep doing what we were doing. I'm not sure how severe your child's chip is, but if the dentist was not concerned then I wouldn't be as long as your child is not in pain.

This is a baby tooth so I wouldnt do anything about it other then to watch it and follow the advice you got from the dentist..
S. B

Hi! I know what you are going through, my son fell in the bathtub and chipped both of his front teeth. I took him to the dentist and he said that you can do anything to baby teeth that you can to adult teeth you just have to consider money and how stressful the procedure is to the child. Depending on how big the chip is you may be able to get away with just some bonding. If it is very large you may have to use some type of crown. One thing that you have to consider is how much money to spend on a baby tooth that won't be around for all that long. On the other hand you don't want her to be made fun of because of her tooth when she gets into school. We were able to file down the chips in our son's teeth. It is still slightly noticable but good enough for a baby tooth. I would also highly recommend a pediatric dentist. They know how to deal with the fears of a small child and help to make it as painless and fast as possible.

Good Luck!

My daughter did the same thing -- she fell when she was 19 months old and chipped off a large portion of her front tooth. We saw a pediatric dentist, and since the nerve endings were not exposed, it was nothing more than a cosmetic issue. The dentist explained that we could have the tooth capped for cosmetic purposes, but visiting the dentist was very traumatic for her, so we just left the tooth alone. The dentist smoothed the edges so she wouldn't cut her lip or her tongue, and she's been fine since then. She doesn't bite into foods with her front teeth like my son does, but it doesn't seem to bother her. She is 6 now, so she should be losing that tooth soon. I can't wait to see her smile with two complete front teeth! :) I wish you the best with your little one(s)...

My son fell when he was about that age & busted his mouth so badly I truly thought the tooth would just fall out. It was lying flat up against the top of his mouth he hit it so hard. The dentist looked at it & told me it would fall out in due time. It fell out about 3-1/2 years later...at it's normally scheduled time! It was slightly darker in color & seemed to bother him so much in the beginning he got in the habit of eating off to the side, that took a while to break him of. But after that tooth fell out everything was fine. The tooth was very loose at first but soon that stopped as well.

Unless it's giving her lots of problems, infections, etc. they will probably leave it alone as teeth fall out in a natural order in conjunction with new teeth coming down. You don't want to leave a gap for too long there. My other son has had crowns put on his baby teeth because they didn't want his lack of tooth, waiting on the big ones to come in, to affect the alignment of his other teeth.

So she'll just have a unique look to her for now. I know it's not what you want to hear but unless it's giving her physical problems, the dentist will be hesitant to remove it early.

Hi A.,

I have two children who continually have bumped and scraped teeth. My son at 3 fell and hit his mouth on a wash tub. It pushed his tooth back up into his gums...they did ex-rays to make sure his permanant teeth were good and we just dealt with a discolored tooth until it was ready to come out. My daughter and him collided heads at the baby sitters when she was I think 3 maybe 4 and it chipped her bottom tooth and exposed a nerve...they had to pull that tooth out.

It will get better. Just do as the dentist says and things should be fine.

Jen

My now 17 year old daughter fell and "killed" a front tooth when she was 3 (it turned grey). She now has a beautiful smile, the "dead" baby tooth didnt hurt her, nor did it affect her permanent teeth after it fell out when she was 6. Dont worry, as long as shes monitored by the dentist, shell be fine, and I bet shell have a gorgeous smile hwen she gets older. Hope this eases your mind.

My youngest son fell in the bathtub when he was about a year old. He accordianed his front top teeth. They filed them down and they were fine. They were a little smaller than normal front teeth, but he was able to do everything with them.

Nope. If it is bothersome, or embarrassing to her when she gets to school, you can have it pulled when she's older. But, most likely, wait it out. The more she eats, it will grind down itself. God Bless!

My son now 4yrs.old fell when he was 10mos. learning how to walk and he broke his front tooth. I was told the same.The dentist see's it has, she will lose that tooth in a couple of years. so they don't what to put the child through the surgery and remove it.But they say to watch it. If it starts to decay they will remove it, but I went through that and you don't want your child to go through it.Not at her age my son was 3yrs old when he went through the surgery and I felt so sorry for him and I was unable to be with him in the surgery room. you could guess how I felt. I hope this helps you understand why they don't want to mess with it right now.

i would say just let it play out cause this is the baby teeth but in the mean time make sure that the baby eat health food to keep them very strong. To make sure that the adult teeth have no issues

S.

My daughter chipped her tooth when she was around that age. She is now 4. The chip doesn't look bad at all and doesn't affect her smile, so I don't worry about it. As you should not worry about it either because she is going to lose them anyway.