Is there a Need to Fix a Toddler’s Broken Tooth?
The teeth of a toddler are very different from adults because there really is not urgency in fixing or replacing missing or broken teeth. If a toddler knocks out a tooth, the dentist will mostly just let it be and wait for the permanent teeth to take its place and fill in the gap. The reason for this is that young children do not need their teeth to maintain the shape and integrity of their jaw’s shape, unlike that of adults.
The facial structure of a child will allow the jaw to just normally grow despite the absence of a tooth. Also, a permanent tooth will just grow in the next months and then just fill its place.
After a Mouth Injury
Check if the child has lost his whole tooth or just a part of it. If it is chipped, look for the broken piece and ensure that the child was not able to aspirate or swallow it. After this, get your child to rinse water from their mouth, making sure that they spit the water out and not swallow it.
If the entire tooth is knocked, bring it with you to the dentist. Do not scrub the broken teeth in an attempt to clean it or remove a foreign body. Rather, submerge it in milk on your way to the dentist. You can also out the tooth in your mouth, between your cheek and gum. This might seem silly but it is only milk and saliva that is able to preserve the tooth. So if the dentist can reinsert it, it is still usable.
Following the injury, get your child to hold a wet gauze or damp washcloth on the site where the tooth broke. Instruct the child to bite down on the towel. If the area is bleeding, soak the gauze or washcloth in cold water and use it to apply gentle pressure on the bleeding area. You can let your child suck on a cold Popsicle to minimize the bleeding, pain and swelling.
Getting a Child Dentist
Get in touch with your pediatric dentist in Newtown following a traumatic tooth injury. You can also get call the primary physician of your toddler to ask for referrals and recommendations. These professionals should also be of great help in teaching dental hygiene to toddlers and checking on kids dental health.
Dental Testing for Toddlers
This proceed is not really a necessity for kids baby teeth. But this procedure should give the dentist an idea of what happened with the mouth following the injury. Your dentist might even ask to get an x-ray done to look at any bone and root problems.
Recommended Treatments
The process of fixing a broken tooth for kids highly depends on the extent of damage on their teeth and gum damage. A loose tooth can be a choking hazard and so dentists will most likely take them out than leave it to fall on its own.
There are cases when the space left by a missing tooth can cause changes in the surrounding teeth. In this case, they might recommend a spacer to ensure that the teeth grow in proper alignment.
