Hi I have a question about my 3 yr old son. About 2 1/2 weeks ago my son fell and hit his mouth on the side of the tub while we were out of town in a hotel. He got a fat lip and bruised the top of his gums in the front really bad. I put ice on it and waited a few hours to see how he was since none of his teeth were lose and nothing was split open where he would need stitches. About 5 hours later he was still complaining that his teeth were hurting. By this point the top of his gumswere purple and his lips were swollen. I took him to the emergency room to have an xray done just to make sure that he didn't break anything. The xrays came back okay and they said just to give him motrin/tyenol for the pain and in 7-10 days the swelling and bruising should be pretty much gone. Well over the last week I have noticed that is front two teeth have discolored some since this happened. He used to have beautiful white teeth and now those two front teeth are discolored. Has anyone had this happen to their child? He was just to the dentist about 2 months ago and I wasn't sure if this is something I should take him in for or what. A few people have said he possibly could have nerve damage and if that is they case I am not sure what a dr would do. Any information or advice anyone can give me I would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
J.
I would definitely not chance the mouth. I look at it's better to be safe than sorry. I would definitely call the dentist first thing on Monday morning...
Absolutely get him to a dentist!
XOXOXO, B
TAKE HIM IN...please
K.
Hi J.... This actually happened to one of my children as well... she slipped in the bathroom and hit her face on the tub too... anyhow.. her tooth discolored and i had to take her to the dentist as well. The dentist told me as long as she does not complain of pain in the tooth not to worry about it, because it is a baby tooth and eventually it will fall out. Believe it or not, it was her first baby tooth to fall go. so unless your worried about the discoloration, and or your child is still having pain in the tooth, i would not worry too much about it..
hugs to you and your little ones.
S.
J.,
I think it is an excellent idea for you to take your son to the dentist. They are trained in this sort of thing, and then you don't have to wonder.
Best wishes,
K.
Hi J.,
Most of the advice below is accurate, My husband is a dentist, he advises you to take your son to your dentist ASAP for evaluation, more than likely all is well and will heal, it takes time, but please have a professional take a look and note it in his chart to watch during future visits. Take care.
Yes this has happend 2 my nephew an the tooth fell out but its gunna grow back when the big ones r due he fell of his bike an same thing happened brusied gums bad bad bad an discolorashion
Hi J.~
I actually work in an endodontic office (root canals). My niece also busted her front teeth when she was younger and they also discolored.The dentist opted to leave them alone. She has been fine with them. There could be nerve damage to the teeth. The dicoloration is the tooth bleeding from the inside because of the trauma. I would make an appt. for his dentist to see him. Because he is still so young root canals wouldn't even be an option. He is going to eventually lose those teeth anyway. But you want to make sure that it wouldn't cause damage to the perminant teeth above them. If the color is bothering you you can definately do something about the color. But they may opt to just leave the teeth in their place until he is a little older and eitehr loses them on his own, or they are able to be pulled. This is just my opinion and my experiences of course so I would definately take him to the Dr. for a professional opinion. Is your son still complaining of pain? The teeth can become bruised on the inside causing the pain in the teeth. It's like hitting your elbow and it bruising. If the teeth are hurting on their own, hurting really bad with a pain that lingers with cold, not feeling cold at all, or hurting to the touch I would say it is nerve damage. Teeth are supposed to feel pain with cold, but it's a pain that goes away very quickly. If you got an icecube and placed it on your front tooth it would hurt, then as soon as the ice is taken away, the pain goes away. That is normal. It's when it shoots you through the roof and doesn't go away that is abnormal. The hurting to the touch, that again can be from the bruising. Good luck with everything! I too know how it feels, esp. being in the dental field. For some reason my sons 2 lower front teeth came in spotted with yellow- almost like the enamel didn't form on his teeth, I am constantly looking at them cause all the others are fine. He is 15 mths. though. Well, make an appt. with your dentist and try not to stress too much, easier said than done. There is definately something that can be done if needs to be.
Yes he did damage his nerves to the teeth, I would take him to the dentist. I don't think they can do anything but just to make sure. His teeth will probably continue to darken and you will just have to wait til they are ready to fall out for his permanent teeth. Good Luck
My kids also did this. When it happened to my daughter (she was 9 months at the time) the PED referred us to the pediatric dentist who had us come in immediately (I was on my way to take a mid-term exam...prof had never heard that excuse). Anyway, we didn't have discoloration but her top two teeth fell out earlier than they were supposed to because of it. She is six now, lost the teeth shortly after her sixth birthday but there is no sign of the adult teeth yet (it has been six months now). The dentist said it would be at least a year before teeth grow back in. Good Luck.
Hi J.!
I'm sorry to hear what happened to your little boy. This happened to one of my friends, she had a mouth injury and her one front tooth turned grey. They said the nerve died and there was nothing they could do for it. This was when we were teens. Since then, I believe she went to a cosmetic dentist and had either a porcelian cap put on it for had it "painted" I heard someone once call it. I'd call your dentist and make an appointment to see hwat they have to say. Good luck and I hope everything works out!
Hi J.,
Sorry to hear this has happened. Sounds like there may be some nerve damage. I would at least call the dentist and more then likely they will want you to take him in for a look.
Good Luck!
J.
Hi J.,
Please call the dentist ASAP! It's better to be safe then sorry even if there is nothing else the dentist can do!
There is definately some injury. The extent & treatment will be be decided by the dentist.
I hope it is nothing serious. Good Luck!
Happy Holidays!
K. :)
Hi. When I was in like 5th grade, I fell and landed on my mouth, killing the nerve in my front tooth on the top. My mom took me to the dentist that afternoon because of the pain, and they did a root canal immediately. I know that if a damaged root is left in it can be detrimental. Take him to a dentist. Doctors couldn't do much but send him on to a dentist anyhow. Unfortunately, I know that the discoloration is permanent. My dentist bleached my tooth from the inside when I got my braces off when I was like 16, and the bleach lasts for a few years. My personal recommendation would be to take him to the dentist immediately!! Good luck!!!
Hi J.~ My daughter fell when she was 2, and she was bleeding so bad that it looked like she knocked out her front right tooth. I was so upset she had beautiful straight teeth. I took her to the emergency room, and they wanted to know if I had found the tooth, but I didn't. They took x-rays and there it was. She had fallen so hard that she had actually pushed that tooth up inside her gums. They advised me to take her to an oral surgeon. I made an appt for her at a pediadonist, and that is when he told me that they would leave it alone, and let it come down on it's own. The next few months the tooth came down little by little but it is backwards, and a little black. I take her for an appt every 6 months to have it evaluated, and make sure that she does not get an infection in her gums. She is now 5, and has not had any trouble with it. The dentist says that if she gets an infection they will have to pull it, but it has been 3 years now, and she has been ok with it. The dentist also claims that she could have damage to her perminat teeth too, but they won't know for sure until she actually gets them. Take your boy to the dentist. I am sure he will not do anything, but better to be safe than sorry.
J. C
I agree with the other moms who have suggested you make an appt for your son w/ the pediatric dentist - we love ours, and we had a similar situation where my daughter bumped her 2 front teeth badly on our dining room table. We took her in on the same day, and he said he couldn't see any damage at that time, BUT to please watch for discoloration and to bring her back in if the teeth began to get grey. He wanted to reassess her if that happened. So... I'm so sorry this happened w/ your little guy, and I really hope you're able to locate a pediatric dentist that you like & trust to take a look at your son's teeth.
Hi J.. This also happened to one of my boys. The two of them were wrestling around and the youngest got busted in the mouth. I did take him in and they said that the nerves had died and that basically the teeth (front two) were dead and that they would fall out soon. I would definetly take him in to make sure there's no additional damage.
Hi J.,
That has actually happened to both of my kids. When it first happened to my daughter we didn't know what was happening. Took her to the dentist and he told us that she killed her nerves in that tooth. He told us that we could try to have it bleached and that it would probably take about 3 tries to get it bleached out. We were going to do it for her because it was right before she started kindergarten and we didn't want the other kids to make fun of her. For some reason, it reattached itself and turned white again all on it's own. Now, my son just did it several months ago and his tooth is very dark. It kind of fits him though. We are just going to leave his alone. Unless as he gets older (he is only 3) and it starts to bother him we will bleach it. As long as the x-rays that you have had done show that there is no permanent damage, he will be fine when he loses that tooth. His permanent tooth will come in white. My daughters did. Hope this helps. I know I didn't give you much advice, but at least you know that it has happened to someone else.
