Help! My 9 Yr Old Daughter Broke Her Front Tooth Yesterday!!

Updated on November 05, 2007
L. asks from Coppell, TX
7 answers

So she was at a bday party at main even with her dad and while playing laser tag, someone knocked their gun into her face (it was apparently not intentional) and broke her front tooth. It is quite a big chunk that has broken off (not just a chip that can be filed) and she is SO upset because it looks weird and it is her permanent tooth. She is not in pain, so hopefully no nerves have been damaged and i'm calling her dentist in the morning to get her in asap to get it fixed.

Has this happened to anyone or your kids? What will they do? Is the repair noticeable? Is this going to cost a fortune? I feel so terrible for her - and hopefully this will not have any negative affect when we get her braces in the next year.

Any advice/stories/guidance would be very much appreciated!!

L.

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J.S.

answers from Dallas on

Did you file an incident report with Main Event? They may have insurance which will help with the cost of repairing her tooth. I had an accident at our church, where a football came over a temporary wall in our gym, and our church's insurance paid for my visit to my eye doctor (I had just recently had eye surgery). I would suggest going ahead and calling Main Event and asking them if they have insurance to help cover such costs. (They should!) But in order for them to help you with the costs, the incident should be reported ASAP.

Your daughter's dentist may have to make a crown, which will involve filing down the broken tooth, as well as having a mold made of her teeth. However, with all of the advances made in the last 20 years in dentistry, I can't tell you exactly what they will do. The dentist will be able to explain everything to you, and answer any questions you and your DD may have. Be sure and ask, though, how long the "new" tooth should last, and if she will have to have it replaced sometime down the line. (My bridge is 21 years old, now, and should've been replaced 10+ years ago, but I'm still doing ok with it, and really just now NEEDING to replace it.) I can tell you that the repair will probably NOT be noticeable, and if it is, everyone will just think it's an "improvement".

Good Luck with this!
~J.~

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M.S.

answers from Dallas on

My friend's 8yo stepdaughter just had this happen to her. While on vacation and riding in a motorboat, the driver(family member) of the boat, who didn't have a lot of experience handling a boat, stopped too quickly. As a result, my friend's stepdaughter, who was in a seat up front beside the driver, was thrown into the dash/windshield of the boat. It chipped her tooth pretty bad. They were able to recover the chunk that broke off but their dentist just capped it with a porcelain cap and it looks as good as new! You can't even tell that it was broken off or that the cap isn't a real tooth! As for cost, I have no idea, I imagine it would depend on many factors such as your dentist, your insurance, etc. Good luck!

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M.H.

answers from Dallas on

well, it's not happened to my child, but it happened to ME!! i broke so many teeth as a child! i busted my two front teeth out roller skating when i was in the 3rd grade and had two root canals and temporary caps 'til i turned 18 and got permanent. then around 5th grade a friend did a cartwheel and kicked me in the jaw, my teeth clacked and my front top right canine tooth chipped hard. i thought i'd be in trouble and didn't tell my parents, but the nerve was exposed and the pain 3 days later was unbearable. the dentist repaired the chip and no one except me can tell. i've never had anything else done to it. as for cost, i couldn't say, but it was kind of a non-issue, except for me sweating the fact i thought i'd get my butt kicked by my parents for busting more teeth. ;-)

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B.S.

answers from Dallas on

The same thing happened to me when I was seven, and I had a compound type cap put on. I have had it replaced 4 times in 30 years. Nobody notices it at all. You can still have your teeth whitened and taking care of it is no problem. I would advise against having a porcelain crown if at all possible, because they have to file the tooth to a point. I don't see a reason to file my healthy tooth to a point when they can simply 'fill' it in with compound.

BTW, my dental insurance has always paid for this as a filling, not a cosmetic porcelain veneer.

Tell her not to worry, noone will know unless she tells them. :} Best wishes!! (If she wants to see one on an adult or just talk about it, you are welcome to get in touch with me. I am happy to help!!)

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R.F.

answers from Dallas on

A very similar incident happened to my daughter when she was about 9 years old (she's 19, almost 20 now). She broke one of her top front teeth almost in half horizontally. She, too, experienced no pain or discomfort other that the odd feeling of the missing tooth. Our pediatric dentist, at the time, simply built up the tooth with some type of compound that looked very natural. I looked and couldn't tell. We did have one incident where it the bond came loose and had to be repaired shortly after the initial repair. She then went on to have braces for two years and nothing affected that tooth. However, after close to 10 years, the bonding began to wear thin and our current dentist did some minor repair and it is better than ever. She has never had a problem with this repair, other than the one time the bond broke. And, that was easily fixed.

Good luck to you! I do know how scary this can be!
R.

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L.S.

answers from Dallas on

My daughter broke her front tooth in half when she fell off her bike and hit the handle bars. Hers too was a permanent tooth. For the time being, they repaired it by filling in the half that was missing. You can't even tell that it is not a whole real tooth. They said that it is a temporary fix that will last for a while but that she will probably need a crown or something later on. With insurance, I think all we paid was the deductible of $25. She'll be getting braces later too so I'm not sure how that will be affected.

Good luck!

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L.

answers from Dallas on

I am so sorry. I broke my tooth when I was a child. The dentist recommended that we wait until I was older to fix it. Whatever you do, get it bonded or something!!! It is so traumatic to have a broken front tooth. I went around with mine for 3 or 4 years. It was horrible!!! Technology has improved. Mine is bonded now. I have to get it redone every 10 years, but you can't tell it's been bonded. They did not have to file my tooth or anything like that. Good luck!

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