Know any small children who've had to have teeth pulled? UPDATE POST 24

[luvmyboys]

DS 3 fell a couple of weeks ago and bumped his mouth on the kitchen floor. It bled a bit, and he said his teeth hurt for about a day, but they weren't loose and after a few days we forgot about it. Well, we noticed over Thanksgiving that one of his front teeth is turning gray, and after a bit of asking around and research, I think the root may be dead, and he will probably have to have it pulled. (I'll call dentist in the morning)

Just wondering if anyone has any similar stories, and am wondering what happened at the dentist. Do you think they'll have to put him under? That sort of freaks me out...

Not that there is much of a choice, but it is sort of a bummer to think he'll be missing a tooth for a few years too. Could have been worse though-- he could have broken his nose, or teeth out completely.

 

[Nala56]

When my daughter was in maybe 4th grade to prepare for braces, she had two upper baby teeth pulled. It really wasn't too bad, they numbed the area and the teeth weren't hard to pull. We did have one problem, the oral surgeon pulled the bottom teeth instead of top ones, his face lost all color when he realized what he had done and then had to pull top ones. It wasn't a big deal, they needed to come out anyway.

Good luck and I hope everything goes well.

 

[tiggger1]

if he it is a baby tooth then I would just leave it there until it falls out. He might be able to get it bleached so it isnt so gray and let it fall out on its own

 

[PaulaSue]

My friend's DD Had to have hers pulled after she knocked it on the tub. I think the tooth fairy paid double.

 

[luvmyboys]

if he it is a baby tooth then I would just leave it there until it falls out. He might be able to get it bleached so it isnt so gray and let it fall out on its own

From what I've read, it's turning gray b/c he "killed" the root by hitting it so hard, and it will start to rot, so it can't be left in his mouth. I could be wrong, but this is my understanding so far. I'd love to be wrong though!

 

[TinkerbellMama]

DS 3 fell a couple of weeks ago and bumped his mouth on the kitchen floor. It bled a bit, and he said his teeth hurt for about a day, but they weren't loose and after a few days we forgot about it. Well, we noticed over Thanksgiving that one of his front teeth is turning gray, and after a bit of asking around and research, I think the root may be dead, and he will probably have to have it pulled. (I'll call dentist in the morning)

Just wondering if anyone has any similar stories, and am wondering what happened at the dentist. Do you think they'll have to put him under? That sort of freaks me out...

Not that there is much of a choice, but it is sort of a bummer to think he'll be missing a tooth for a few years too. Could have been worse though-- he could have broken his nose, or teeth out completely.

Same thing happened to my ds...but it wasn't just one tooth! His top front teeth were finally pulled in September, with just Novocaine. We spent a small fortune (about $1500) trying to save the teeth, and then had to spend another chunk of change (although not as much) to have the extractions done when the restoration didn't work. I would definitely NOT recommend having him put under if there is any possibility of handling it without doing so. There are so many dangers associated with that, especially for a young child, and deciduous teeth come out relatively easily. My son was 2 at the time and it only took about 30 seconds per tooth. Yes, he cried, but I put my hands on his legs and the dentist and her assistant gently cradled his head and crossed his arms on his chest. The whole thing was over very quickly. He didn't have any pain afterward, that he complained of. I was instructed to give him as many popsicles as he wanted, and I did so happily! It really was over very quickly and he was easily consoled afterwards and didn't seem to mind after that. Good luck!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

my brother had his 2 front teeth pulled when he was 5. they used the novicane (sp?) and the "laugh gas" to calm him down and they pulled them. Afterwards he got many gifts from mom and dad for such a horrible thing for a 5 yr old go to through lol. Hope everything goes well with u!

 

[tiggersmom2]

DS 3 fell a couple of weeks ago and bumped his mouth on the kitchen floor. It bled a bit, and he said his teeth hurt for about a day, but they weren't loose and after a few days we forgot about it. Well, we noticed over Thanksgiving that one of his front teeth is turning gray, and after a bit of asking around and research, I think the root may be dead, and he will probably have to have it pulled. (I'll call dentist in the morning)

Just wondering if anyone has any similar stories, and am wondering what happened at the dentist. Do you think they'll have to put him under? That sort of freaks me out...

Not that there is much of a choice, but it is sort of a bummer to think he'll be missing a tooth for a few years too. Could have been worse though-- he could have broken his nose, or teeth out completely.

Hi, dental hygienist here. The "baby teeth" are a guide for the adult teeth so it is VERY important that they are saved at all cost. For that reason, I doubt the dentist will be pulling that tooth. He may do one of 2 things:

1: Wait and see how things go with the discolored tooth

2: Do a pulpotomy ( a root canal for children). Don't let this scare you, it is quick and easy and nothing to worry over.

 

[YourMajesty]

DS (7) just had a baby tooth pulled. The root on the baby tooth died because of the permanent tooth trying to come down killed it. When the root died it caused a small absess. We did the abstraction with just a local. They numb the surface some with something on a cotton swab and then come back to give the shot of carbocaine (I'm not sure it that's how you spell it but it was not novacaine or lidocaine). DS had a reaction to lidocaine once so I didn't want them to use that. The one they chose to use wears off quickly. His lip above the tooth did get a little puffy. I'm not sure what that was but he did fine. He said oww...oww and then it was over. Good luck to your DS.

 

[TinkerbellMama]

Hi, dental hygienist here. The "baby teeth" are a guide for the adult teeth so it is VERY important that they are saved at all cost. For that reason, I doubt the dentist will be pulling that tooth.

This is not true for front teeth...at least that's what four pediatric dentists have told me.

What I was told is that molars will shift and the natural tooth should be saved if at all possible or a space maintainer (bridge, etc.) would be needed...but that front teeth won't shift at all. All four of them told me this, and only two of them work in the same office or even know each other, so I tend to believe it. They did say that some childen can develop speech problems with missing front teeth, and of course there is a cosmetic aspect to it...but that there would be no pressing reason to save a front tooth that is irreparably diseased just to maintain the space. That's exactly why my son's teeth WERE pulled, after the restoration attempt failed.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I babysat a girl who had a gray front tooth for years, probably from ages 2 to age 6 when it fell out. I guess the dentist decided it was OK to just leave it. I'm sad to say, it really did affect her appearance negatively, though. It was unsightly. But I guess nothing else could be done.

 

[TrixieBel]

This happened to my daughter at about the same age. The dentist said that it needed to stay there to "hold" the place for the adult tooth when it came through. If you take the baby one out too soon, the other teeth can move into the gap...

 

[nskjerven]

My son tripped on the cement at about age 2, his mouth bled but we really didn't think it was a big deal. Shortly thereafter we noticed his front teeth were graying. They ended up being ok (had them x-rayed) He just lost them 5 years later and it looks like the new teeth coming in are ok in color. Our dentist told me that in about +90 % of the cases he sees the adult teeth that come in are fine. And that there is nothing to do but wait. I'm sure if your dentist finds serious damage to the root that he/she will advise. I highly suggest that you see a peditric dentist. It's not worth being wrong over and having a bigger problem down the road.

 

[Frye7127]

My son bumped his mouth on his friends head when he was 2. One tooth turned gray, the root had died and we just left it until it fell out. Just make sure that you check occasionally for a little blister above the tooth. That means the tooth is abscessing and will need to be removed. otherwise, it will just stay their until it falls out or you can't stand the gray, in which case they will pull it (again, no biggie with a good peds dentist).

 

[bumbershoot]

Obviously there is a vast array of answers from dentists out there...what one believes another vehemently disbelieves.

You will get to choose who to listen to, and what you want to do.

My guy was unfortunate enough to slam his little face down onto a table at 6 months, knocking out a brand new bottom front tooth. Since it had JUST come in (well, come in enough to be sitting tall in his gums, it wasn't just a nub of a tooth) it didn't save the space at all, and at 3.5 (today!) there's barely a gap. We are already figuring out what we're comfy doing when the time comes for permanent teeth but the room isn't there.

Possibly as an effect from that face-slamming, or possibly because crumbling teeth (sounds like a pregnancy nightmare, yes?) run in DH's family, two of his upper teeth came in brown, only a month or so later. Came in off color, grew a bit, turned brown. By the time a year (during which time we were actively looking for dentists with BRAINS in their heads...not always easy to do, especially when dealing with ped dentists!) had gone by, it was disintegrating, and JUST before we had our appointment with a decent, intelligent dentist, they had finally started to hurt him.

The brain-free dentist wanted to put DS under general in the office (ha ha ha ha, NO), would NOT let parents in (again, ha ha ha ha, what are you a pedophile? NO!), thought I was a wimp for leaving the room before he examined DS (we had figured out that DS responded differently when I was there, so to make it EASIER on the dentist I left DH, DS, and the dentist and sat out front), and was talking about pulling those teeth and probably the two middle front teeth b/c of a cavity on their back, and filling in every little bitty thing he could see. (all of that planned out without an x-ray, even!)

No!

The intelligent dentist filled the cavity behind the middle front teeth without ANY pain medication or laughing gas at all. DH was in the room, and DS sat on DH's lap, facing DH, then lay back with his head on the dentist's lap, rather than making him lay on a cold table. He did, however, get to watch Finding Nemo on the TV in the ceiling, which was a great anesthetic.

Next visit the dentist did use a tiny bit of lidocaine (but still no gas) to pull the two awful teeth (which were just nubs by that time). That time, only a week after the filling, DS *ran* back to the Nemo room and jumped up on the table, and was, I hear, happy as a clam to be there.

This dentist is happy to watch and see for the little spots, and ever since we got the buzzy Buzz toothbrush, those spots have faded for the most part.


And that's just two of the DDSs we saw. Opinions differ widely, but dentists don't seem to realize that and don't seem to admit it.

For us, there was absolutely no chance in Hades that we were putting him under, at 3, for fillings or extractions. And in the course of the appointments, we had figured out that he was whiny and clingy with ME, but a Brave, Big, Boy with DH, so we knew that DH would be with him, and he would NOT be alone with the staff. So we had to find someone who agreed with that, and had protocols in the office that matched the other things that were unacceptable (dentist and staff alone with child) and acceptable (series of things to try, starting with no anesthetic and working up as needed, to keep kiddo happy) to us.


Back in my childhood, there were plenty of kids with a brown or grey tooth in front. Nowadays it's a bit less acceptable...I know that while DS's teeth were changing color but not painful, I had a really hard time dealing with his teeth being that color, knowing the judgment that was being passed on us. And it really changed his appearance! Even if they hadn't disintegrated, I would have likely wanted to have them out...and especially for purely cosmetic reasons, General was NOT going to happen.

Decide what you're OK with, find dentists with protocols that match up with your wishes, and find out exactly what is going on with his tooth, and go from there.

 

[sue1013]

When I was 2 I fell and injured one of my front teeth it turned gray. They left it alone until I was around 5 or 6 fell off my bike and broke the tooth very close to the gum. At that time the dentist pulled the remaining tooth out. I don't remember anything except he gave me the rest of my tooth in a treasure chest. Had I not broken it they would have left it until it came out on its own.

 

[Buckalew11]

Hi, dental hygienist here. The "baby teeth" are a guide for the adult teeth so it is VERY important that they are saved at all cost. For that reason, I doubt the dentist will be pulling that tooth. He may do one of 2 things:

1: Wait and see how things go with the discolored tooth

2: Do a pulpotomy ( a root canal for children). Don't let this scare you, it is quick and easy and nothing to worry over.

My nephew had this happen and this is what they did for him. he tooth ended up being lost like his other teeth. At 3 yo, it can definitely effect their speech progressnot to have heir front teeth.

 

[petrymom]

Well, here is my story.
DS was 18 months old and fell off of a Little Tykes "Ollie" riding toy in our driveway. He broke one of his top front teeth and pushed it into the gum.

Pediatric dentist told us to leave it be. It came back out by itself and she added a piece to make it appear to be a complete tooth.

Fast forward to DS's second year of life. I received a phone call from the sitter that DS was fussy and had a pussing sore on the top of his gum. Turns out the tooth became abcessed. Went back to the pediatric dentist (for the last flipping time) and she pulled the tooth. It was the most traumatic experience of my life. DS cried and the dentist yelled at him to stop crying. (HELLO - he is only 2 years old, what do you expect!). She put him in this papoose contraption and he screamed until he popped blood vessels in his face.

All of DS's pictures until his 5th grade year show this front tooth missing. When his permanent tooth finally did come in, it erupted in front of the gum, not at the bottom, where normal teeth erupt. This is because the permanent teeth find the easiest route out of the gums. If a baby tooth comes out right before eruption, this is the tip of the gums. If not the sides are weaker.

With time, the tooth has traveled down to even off with the other teeth. You can hardly tell it is higher than the others. We have all survived, but I will never take my kids to a pediatric dentist again, especially that one. Our local dentist is WAY more understanding with kids.

Anyway, good luck!!!

 

[golfgal]

I fell in the driveway when I was 18 months old an cracked one of my upper front teeth. The dentist removed the stub that was left and I had a gap until my adult tooth came in when I was 8-9 or so. My teeth are perfectly straight, no braces needed.

My niece had a serious sledding accident about 4 years ago-closelined into a tree branch. She broke her jaw in two places, broken nose, knocked out a couple teeth (fortunately baby teeth) and killed on of her permanent adult teeth. They left that tooth in, it is about 1/2 the size of her other front tooth but they wanted to wait until her other teeth are in completly to see what they need to do, how large to make the implant, etc. The upside to all of this, her teeth shifted enough that she was going to need braces but now doesn't .

 

[luvmyboys]

Wow! Thanks for all of the responses & stories. Obviously no one clear decision is made in this situation! I'm calling the dentist in a little while, and may consult a pediatric dentist as well, though he's always been great with the kids.

I'll let you all know what he said!