My seven year old daughter ever so slightly chipped her permanent front tooth on our granite countertop. She was sitting in my lap and ever so lightly tapped it. I still can't believe it chipped. It is the area near the mamelons, the little grooves on the bottom of her teeth. It is really barely noticeable because it is near the grooves, but I am still worried about it. I took her to the dentist this morning who xrayed it and said the xray looks good. She thinks the part where the chip is will wear away with time anyway with time, but I am still concerned. Does anyone have any experience with a similar injury? Thanks
I chipped the corner of my front tooth at about age 30 & the dentist
fixed it. He "made" a piece somehow AND matched the color of my other
teeth. It's still there (fingers crossed). ;) I'd try that route. Very non-invasive.
Happens all of the time and not a big deal. They can file it so it is smooth and does not cut her tongue or mouth. Over time all of our teeth wear down a bit.
She should be fine.
My granddaughter chipper her tooth a year or so ago. It wasn't a big deal to look at. We took her to our pediatric dentist and he simply picked up a tool, smoothed it off, then coated it with something. It was perfectly shaped.
Let the dentist decide if it needs work or not.
If it bothers her when she gets older she can have it filled. Beware of causing some kind of obsession with looks in your daughter.
I chipped one of my front teeth in the same place many, many years ago and still have no idea what I did. It is barely noticeable, in fact I think I'm the only one who sees it. Never had any problems.
If the dentist isn't worried, you shouldn't be either. I mean, your alternatives are have it "patched" every few years as it falls out or discolors, pull it and have an implant surgically embedded, or have several teeth sanded down to nubs and porcelain veneers put on. All options are expensive and the last two are incredibly painful and invasive.
My daughter broke her front permanent tooth off about halfway down (up?). When she was in third grade. There was no letting it wear away with time... she'd have had a fang.
You do have to watch it, (and be aware that grayness can be delayed for YEARS) b/c the tap may have been enough to damage the root. Our dentist told us that often times, when you see an adult with grayish teeth (not all of them, but one) it is from a childhood injury of the permanent tooth's root, that the person probably wasn't even aware of or was so mild that they don't even remember it happening.
Our dentist applied a filling (basically) to reform the missing part of our daughter's tooth. He did an excellent job, and you can't even tell when she smiles that she had anything happen or any work done. (She can tell, because the back of the tooth is built up a little thicker where the filling was applied to the back of the remaining part of her tooth). I can't even remember which tooth it was, because you can't tell when you look.
BUT, she has to be aware of how she uses her mouth. NO using her teeth for tools. She can eat apples just fine. :) But no chewing nails, or using her teeth to tear open plastic bags, etc... And no biting into peanut brittle or other really hard foods like that with her front teeth.
So far, no problems. She just turned 13.... so it's been over 4 years now. Eventually, she'll probably need a crown.
Your daughter may never need all that, nor have all the same concerns. But I think I might want to have it repaired anyway. The idea of letting it "wear down" seems like something I wouldn't think would be a good thing.
Most likely it will wear away with time. If it is rough and irritating her tongue/gums, have the dentist smooth it down.
My daughter broke half of one of her front teeth off.... snapped it off while horsing around with her little brother. I took her to the dentist, and he bonded it back on. She even went through braces with no problem. In college, it broke again, and a local dentist bonded it together once again.
At some point, if it happens again, she will most likely have to have a cap..... but that is a relatively simple fix. At this point, it has lasted her probably 15 years with the two bondings. It didn't damage the dentin or the root, and you wouldn't notice it at all.
If you have a good dentist trust his/her judgement, or you could seek out a second opinion.
I have 2 kids that were running when they were very little and face planted and chipped a front tooth. The dentist filed them down a little bit to make them so they weren't sharp and did their best to even them out as much as they could for cosmetics and because they were pretty decent sized chips. They did xrays to check for any root damage and wiggled it a little bit to make sure it wasn't too loose. We were told that if it didn't discolor or cause them pain or become super loose/fall out there was nothing wrong with it. The oldest kept that tooth until it fell out and was replaced by his adult tooth, his adult tooth was undamaged. The youngest that did it still has that tooth as she's not old enough to begin to loose baby teeth. At each check up it's looked at along with all of their other teeth.
I side with the dentist that it's fine and there is no reason to be concerned.
Did something similar myself when her age ... Nothing was done for it because, at that time, getting into see a military dentist for a dependent was nearly impossible. It's fine 35+ years later and no one knows or can see anything. Ignore it and over time, you'll forget it's even there.
I chipped a tiny corner of one of my front teeth when I was about 13... it wasn't too noticeable, only to me... However, thru the years, it did kinda smooth out... In my 20s and then 30s.. despite it noticeable only to me, I decided to get it bonded.. The problem was it's location in that no matter how gently I would bite down on something, eventually the bonding came off.. I eventually let it alone.. I think for the bonding to have worked, the dentist would have needed to bond the tooth down farther down than they did.. they only bonded right where the chip was... I have a bottom tooth, which I also chipped.. in that case, the dentist bonded over the chip and then some... looks natural and has lasted over 18 years....
so If you do decide to get it fixed.. get a few opinions from different dentists.. just bonding the chipped area alone, in my opinion won't make it stick...
good luck
I chipped off the top half of a tooth goofing around as a kid. The filling lasted more than 30 years before I had to replace it because it was discolored and worn. If she ends up needing one at some point, it's not a big deal. I think the entire process took maybe an hour or so.
Are you worried about the strength/integrity of the tooth, or about the appearance?
I'd say to relax and leave it alone. It's not near the gum and there's no damage to the root. Either it will wear down or they can file it so it's even. If that doesn't work, in the long run, they can always do a little bonding and match the color. I'd hold off to see what happens over time, and then talk to the dentist when you've had time to get used to this. You're daughter's too young to have the appearance bother her, so you have plenty of time to make a decision when you are calm and not still recovering from your worries.
You can always go get another opinion from a pediatric dentist any time if you really aren't comfortable waiting.
My kids were playing in the basement when they were younger. My son chased one of my girls and she fell and shipped her tooth on the cement floor. This was a bit more than you describe but not too much. The dentist did let it go for a bit but about 1 1/2 yrs ago decided to file it a tiny bit and bonded it a bit. It is not horribly noticeable but she hates it The dentist said as long as she takes care of her teeth, she should not have any problems with it.
my older son chipped a tooth years ago after a quack dentist screwed up a whitening session. he's had to have it repaired twice. it's no big deal, and looks completely undamaged.
khairete
S.
