Any dentists around?

[midivydale]

On Easter sunday my son managed to bump heads with the Easter bunny. He scraped his lip but his teeth seemed fine, not loose, bleeding in mouth seemed to come from his lip. He then had an ice lolly a few days later and said his mouth was hurting. I stupidly assumed it was because his lip was still sore.

Now a couple of weeks later I have noticed that his front tooth has gone darker, a pinkish grey colour. I am so worried about it! The tooth is not loose, there is no bleeding and my son says it doesnt hurt when he eats or drinks.

Obviously, i have made an appointment with the dentist but it is a couple of weeks away.

Any words of wisdom?

[katgod]

I don't know anything specific but tooth changing colour I think can indicate nerve damage and I wouldn't wait a few weeks. Tell the dentist it is urgent or try the dental hospital at King's - they maybe have a walk in clinic?

[shen]

Hi,

Yes this happened to my son one Easter (though he bumped into a wall not an Easter bunny) Same thing happened - it went grey though no pain. I took him to King's dental department and they advised removal of the tooth to ensure the adult teeth were not damaged. I was upset at the time but now looking back he did look quite cute with a missing front tooth. Now at 9 he has healthy adult teeth.

Also he was not bothered by the procedure at all due to the drugs they gave him and we had some interesting conversations on the way home.

Good luck!

[Sally81]

Hiya,

We had a similar thing too about 3 years ago and I just wanted to reassure that although my son's tooth did go grey and a dentist warned me it might die and drop out it actually didn't at all and went right back to normal. He took a chunk out of the gum right above it, when he fell awkwardly. I know how worrying it is, I was really upset at the idea he might lose it as he was only 3 and I knew it would be ages till another grew. But as I say, all was totally fine in the end so hopefully your son's will be too. It doesn't sound like he has done any major damage to the tooth from what you describe so perhaps a dentist would advise a 'watch and wait' scenario rather than pulling it out, so try not to worry. X

[midivydale]

Thanks everyone! Thank you Sally for reassurance. The tooth does not look that bad (several people including my oh say they cant see it) but it is really upsetting to think that he might loose it. I am really kicking myself for not seeking help straight away but I seriously thought he had just hurt his lip at the time. The tooth doesnt bother him at all, no pain or sensitivity anymore. The main thing of course is that he is not hurt. I cant help but feel really upset at the thought of his lovely teeth going grey/be taken out. I have phoned a few dentists and as it is his milk teeth and he is not in any pain the concensus seem to be to wait and see. None of the ones I have phoned has suggested that it is an emergency.

[Inkmaiden]

This happened to my daughter when she was 3- she tripped over and banged her front tooth and it turned lightish grey due to nerve damage. I also didn't realise she'd damaged her tooth, as there was only bleeding from her lip.

The dentist said to watch and wait and her tooth slowly lightened up and went back to normal again over a few months. It's really difficult not to worry though!

[shen]

Yes sorry did not want to unnecessarily worry you. We had x Rays at normal dentist and they asked us to refer to Kings and they advised removal. I know it can be fine (I hoped it would be) But I just wanted to reassure you that if the worst comes to the worst and the tooth goes it's not that bad. But at the time I cried and cried.

[midivydale]

Thanks again. Shen, you havent worried me at all, I really appreciat all of you sharing your experiences. May I ask if you self ref to Kings or did your regular dentist do it? Only asking as perhaps I could take him to Kings myself and not wait until the 28th April.

[snowboarder]

My youngest son has bashed his front teeth a number of times - seems hellbent on knocking them out! One in particular once was punched nearly 90 degrees inwards at 18m - it slowly came back into place (oh yes for thumb sucking for once!), he's had a couple of incidents since including bashing it on a kitchen worktop while falling off a step (!). This time it went grey (like you I dealt with the blood and didn't think about the tooth!). Anyway it slowly returned to pearly white. It's now a bit wonky (he's 5) and he's just about held onto it, but now it's getting loose and I think it will be the first baby tooth to come out. Hopefully your son will be fine too!

[Bumpkin]

My son's front milk tooth went grey, presumably from a bash and our dentist at the time noticed it and said it had been damaged. It went back to white again so I didn't think any more about it, however his adult tooth then came through with a significant patch of white on it due to enamel not forming properly and a different dentist said it would have been due to damage to a milk tooth and was rather shifty when I asked whether this could have been prevented by taking the original milk tooth out. I'd definitely get it checked out.

[shen]

Hi,

I had to really think about this and get corroboration because I'd forgotten parts! I went to my partner's dentist - a very upmarket but honest lovely dentist. He took the x-ray and showed the shadow and told me to go to kings. I went and queued I think (so self-referred??). They were lovely and showed me same shadow and recommended removal.

They were very professional and honest throughout. I can definitely remember that without any help.

[midivydale]

Aww thanks everyone! We will def have an xray. Will report back how he gets on.

[midivydale]

Update: we have been to see the dentist today and the tooth does appear a little loose😔. A case of wait and see, nothing that can be done. Fingers crossed that it stays put.