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Three-Year-Old Son - Injured Upper Teeth

Hi, this morning my three-year-old son fell out of bed while sleeping. We heard a "thud" folllowed by his screams! After an hour of blood, sweat and tears (and much resistance from my son) my husband and I noticed his two upper front teeth were pushed back (bleeding gums) and his bottom lip was swollen, punctured and bloodied from the impact.

As this was Saturday, no walk-ins were open yet, so we took him to a local dentist who was open (we didn't have one for our son yet). The dentist took x-rays, which revealed a clean break to his right upper front tooth (a small portion of the tooth was located above the break) and the left tooth had been jolted/damaged. As he wasn't a paediatric dentist and NONE were open in the area, he recommended we go to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, deeming this a pediatric medical dental emergency. NOTE: the referring dentist refused to charge us for the examination or x-rays despite the fact that my husband and I both have family dental coverage!!).

The staff at Sick Kids were amazing! After reviewing the dentist's x-rays and giving us a couple of options, we elected to have my son's right tooth extracted, and to try and save his left tooth (jiggly). My question is: because my son's right tooth was a clean fracture, they removed only the broken bit (which was the majority of his tooth ) but left the remaining "stub" (above the fracture) saying it will stay there until his secondary tooth comes in. Does this sound right/okay? Please advise if you've had different opinions/outcomesl I'm devastated by my loss of my baby's smile/ability to use pacifier and baby bottle (although this should have been given up a long time ago :(

Thank you!

2 Responses
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134578 tn?1693250592
If the break is clean and there is no chance for infection to enter the tooth (if it is sealed in some way), I would not worry about that approach.  You do want the tooth to stay where it is so it will act as a "spacer" for the permanent teeth.   If the shortness of the broken tooth bothers you a whole lot, you could consider having a small prosthetic half-tooth made to add to the length of the tooth, but I sure wouldn't bother.  He will cope just fine with the new length of tooth.  Kids with NO front teeth manage to eat corn on the cob, after all.  :)
Helpful - 0
535822 tn?1443976780
I am so sorry I can imagine how you feel .I think that it would be okay to leave the stump to be pushed out by the new tooth, however it is always good to get a second opinion so take him to another pediatric dentist this week ask their opinion . He will get his smile back its understandable to be feeling sad, accidents happen .We do have a dental forum on Med Help you may want to ask them what they think...good luck let us know how he is doing
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