Bookmark this post. Make a mental note. If your child was born with a sense of adventure and isn’t scared of anything, just know you can come back to this one. Brave, second, third, and fourth children who are destined for the ER may also require an urgent trip to the dentist for a chipped tooth. And you’ll need to know what to do.
My second son knows no fear. He may whimper from a fall but he gets right back up and carries on. There was a series of falls over several weeks where he just kept landing on his face without bracing himself. Every time we picked him up, we found him with just a busted lip. I was careful to check his mouth to make sure everything was intact.
Until this last fall, when I picked him up to discover the corner of a tooth missing…
He finally settled down and we were able to think clearly. Although we were unsure of what to do next, a call to myKIDSdds helped us identify the next steps!
What to do When Your Child has a Chipped Tooth
- Rinse the mouth with warm water and apply a cold compress to reduce swelling. If you can locate the tooth fragment, save the tooth. Call myKIDSdds as soon as you can.
- If the accident happens close to bedtime and your child seems unfazed and in good spirits, you can give your child the appropriate dose of Tylenol or Motrin to reduce pain and swelling, to help them sleep comfortably.
- MyKIDSdds will ask you to send a photo of the chipped tooth and they will determine if you should bring your child ASAP or if it’s ok to wait. In our case, we went in the next morning.
- For a baby or toddler, myKIDSdds will conduct a lap exam to check the tooth and make sure the surrounding teeth are not damaged. During the appointment, they will also take x-rays to check the root of the tooth. Baby can sit in your lap. You’ll also get a lead apron and a thyroid shield–I didn’t even have to ask!
- Following the exam and review of the x-rays, the dentist will lay out the treatment plan–will the tooth need to be treated or can you wait a bit to watch the tooth?
For now, we are going to wait a bit on my toddler’s tooth. This will give the tooth some time to heal and recover from the trauma.
I learned along the way that many young kids and toddlers experience chipped teeth! After I shared about my toddler’s tooth, so many moms shared the stories of their kids’ falls and dental trauma. It happens!
Truth be told, I was probably more upset over the whole thing than my son was. I’ve since recovered and know that the chipped tooth won’t be there forever.
I’m so grateful to the caring team at myKIDSdds!
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