sensitive teeth after a fall

[susyp]

my daughter fell quite badly onto her front teeth about a year ago and chipped one of them. The dentist said it was fine, but it might go grey. Both teeth still look fine but she sometimes complains of a discomfort and just said to me that she wished her hurting teeth would fall out. She;s 4 so it's a while before they will. She eats fine, even apples, although I haven't noticed if she is using her front teeth.

We are seeing dentist next week but I am still worrying - does this mean they would need to be taken out - could it have caused damage to the permament teeth? I don't think the discomfort is too bad, but I am worried about what it means. Has anyone had this experience?

thank you

Susypx

[EDmummy]

From personal experience, not too much to worry about. They may have to take them out but it won't affect the development of adult teeth when they're ready to grow. The only problem we found is that as my son had his front teeth out by the age of 2 he went without front teeth for slighty longer and cannot pronounce 'th' so he says 'free' instead of 'three' etc. he just never had time to learn how to use his tongue against his front teeth.

[susyp]

so it won't matter to keep them in either - as they are not bothering her that much so would rather keep them in!

susypx

[EDmummy]

I'm sure the dentist will advise on whether to keep them or not. She'll probably only have them for another year or two anyway. IME x-rays were a complete waste of time to find out if adult teeth were damaged - all they managed to do was severely distress my son and tell us that they couldn't tell.

All the best at the dentist.

[susyp]

thank you, yes , I really don't want to do anything unless we really have to!! how to create a dentist phobia....!

susypx

[Saffron]

With what have you tried to treat the sensitive teeth? If the enamel has microscopic cracks from the fall, something like Sensodyne Pronamel toothpaste might help. Also, do you notice if your LO complains more about her teeth when she has a nose cold? When the nose is congested and you breathe through your mouth, this can temporarily dehydrate the enamel. Basically, it dries out your teeth. So that can aggravate sensitive teeth.

[susyp]

yes she does have a cold at the moment. I'll keep an eye on whether it does come up more when she has a cold. I hadn't thought about the enamel I was just worried about nerve damage. Not sure she would accept a different toothpaste but it's definitely worth a think about. thank you

susypx

[Saffron]

Since the teeth aren't discoloured, it doesn't sound like there is nerve damage.

If the nerves had been severely traumatised by the impact of the fall, then their innervation of the vascular bed supplying the teeth could have become damaged, causing the blood supply to the tooth to faulter. This can result in a "dead" tooth, even though the tooth may remain embedded in the gums. But that doesn't seem to be the case from your description.

It does sound like the enamel may be damaged, especially as you mention one tooth is visibly chipped. I have tiny chip in one of my front teeth as well, and if you put a dental torch behind the teeth, you can even see a fracture running the length of the tooth. I've been using Sensodyne for years, and generally my teeth don't bother me. However, I recently noticed when I had a bad cold and blocked sinus (lots mouth-breathing at night when I was sleeping), that not only were my teeth incredibly sensitive to hot tea in the morning, they were also visibly dehydrated. I could actually see white patches on the enamel where it was dehydrated. These gradually disappeared as the enamel rehydrated, and my teeth aren't bothering me now.

Personally, I'd think removing the teeth ought to be a worst-case scenario, as it sounds like the damage is mainly superficial. But if they do have to come out early, I agree with EDMummy. It'll probably be just fine. One of my brothers kicked out our other brother's tooth when we were kids. (Yes, they were very naughty children.) The permanant tooth grew in just fine some time later despite the rather traumatic exit of the milk tooth!

Could you try mixing a pronamel toothpaste with your LO's regular toothpaste to get her used to the new flavour?

[susyp]

thanks saffron that's reassured me no end. I am not bothered if they fall out early - just don't want forcible extraction because of nerve damage. I'll see if the dentist can check that. I think it's fine just an annoyance for her but may try mixing the toothpaste, she would probably accept that.

susypx