Daughter Fell Almost Knocked Out Tooth

We ended up having a tooth pulled about 3 years later.
It got a tiny abscess above it and was slightly discolored.
It could take years to die.
I would never get a root canal on a baby tooth!

Awe sweetie...calm down. Yes...the root is probably damaged and it will die. I know it sucks to possibly have a missing tooth for a few years....but it's not so bad. Yes...you will know when there is an access. It is painful and there will be a big red bump on the gum. A round of antibiotics is all it may need.

Now my son knocked his a million times. Never so bad to move it like that...but he did it over and over. His tooth was discolored. One day he said his tooth hurt. I looked in...saw a big red bump on his gum...called the dr and antibiotics took care of it but he ended up having to have it pulled. He knocked his second tooth out ...all the way..in a scooter mishap. 2 teeth missing and my kids do not lose their teeth until about 8. He has no spacing issue and looks cute without his two front teeth.

I would let her know if her tooth or mouth hurts then she has to tell you. But yes...she will get a fever with it if not caught early....but it would take an awful long time and she'd be really sick if it spread. Now...my sons abscess came years after his worst knock....but I'm sure he knocked it again a little right before the abscess and I didn't know. Now that you are aware it could happen....just make sure if he complains of her mouth hurting or a low grade fever to check.

SHe will be just fine!

Oh...and no one warned me about abscess....I had no clue what was wrong until I called the dentist.....but I knew something was wrong. You won't miss it...

No, you do not have to watch for an infection/abscess for 3 years. You only watch for it until the tooth has anchored it's self and the gum healed. And, yes, the gum will become painful if either occurs. No need to stress over this. Just look at the gums everyday for a few days and see if it's healing OK. It will heal, just like a cut or scrape. You'll know if it's infected.

I've has both an infection and an abscess. I knew both times because there was pain. Only slight pain at first. After the gum is appears healed you can press lightly on the gum and if there's pain call the dentist. But wait until it's healed. You don't want to displace the tooth while it's still loose in the gum.

My daughter did the same thing at age two. The ligaments around the tooth tightened back up on their own, and the tooth lived a healthy toothy life right up to the time she lost it at age 6. Do watch for signs of infection - continued swelling around the tooth (after the first 3 days or do, at which time the area around it will be swollen anyway - after that, it should begin to diminish), weird colors (other than bruised purple, which you may see a little of, and which should fade as the swelling goes down), weird odors, fever, pain getting worse instead of better over time. The first few days, your daughter's mouth will look scary. Then you should see improvement. The husband is right - kids' mouths are surprisingly resilient.

My daughter's dentist had her come in so he could check how she was healing one week, two weeks, and one month after the injury so he could take a quick look and check progress. Did your dentists recommend any follow-up checks?

I hope your daughter mends quickly and well.

My daughter fell two times within four days and hit the same front tooth, the second time sounds just like your daughter's tooth trauma. I actually took her to emergency because of all the bleeding. I was told to keep her comfortable and have her see a pediatric dentist in the morning. Her tooth was X-rayed and all looked good. A few months later her tooth turned gray, but the dentist said that was nothing to be worried about. Since her tooth had been pushed in it was loose forever and the tooth just wouldn't come out. Her adult tooth started to grow out of the gum over her baby tooth. She had it pulled out a year later. I hope your daughter won't be hurting too much, good luck.

Your poor baby!

I agree with the others. My daughter broke a tooth when she was two, and our regular dentist suggested that I "file it yourself with an emory board" !!! Needless to say, we switched the kids to a pediatric dentist.

She filed it for us, and kept an eye on it, and it turned out fine.

Something else to consider, my oldest son lost his front teeth and bottom two front teeth at age 5, so you might only have a year or so left with the baby teeth anyway.

My son just about knocked his front tooth out when he fell into the coffee table mouth first. I pushed it back up. Went to one dentist , not our regular dentist, he was talking root canals etc . Took him to our normal pediatric dentist and he said to wait and see. He said if it tightens up within the next week then it will stay in. It tightened back up and stayed in until if fell out on it's own. You aren't going to have to watch it for 3 yrs , like a couple of weeks maybe.
The tooth turned grayish , not THAT much of a color difference, that was about it.
I would never get a root canal on a baby tooth.

eta:
My daughter knocked her front tooth out when she was about 4 when she faceplanted in the driveway off of one of those bouncy balls with the handle. Tooth was gone , it stayed gone for 4 yrs and she didn't have trouble with spacing ( it's her bottom teeth that are crowded lol)

My daughter had this happen and it did absess. It is something you need to watch for. Tooth ache, white spots with swelling underneath it. All sorts of stuff.

We chose to leave the tooth alone and it did die. It fell out on it's own and her adult tooth did eventually come in.

My granddaughter fell at her moms and broke her tooth. They pediatric dentist put her to sleep at Children's Hospital in OKC while he did the work. She was awake and ready to go eat in about an hour. The tooth eventually fell out when her adult teeth started coming in and we literally could not tell it had been capped.

I do not think it was a root canal though, just capped. There is no way a child as young as yours should be awake through this type of procedure. Please find a dentist that will do general anesthesia for it so she can sleep and wake up ready to go. The gas anesthesia is much harder on little kids than a general anesthesia done in an out patient place.

My older son fell down the last couple steps and landed on his face. He didn't get an infection but the tooth did die and he needed a root canal. Oddly, that was a less stressful process for him than a simple filling.

Not all dead teeth need a root canal though. There is no always/never answer to that.

If she gets an abscess there may be swelling of the gums or fever. There almost certainly will be pain. It might feel like a headache or sinus pain before it becomes obviously tooth-related.

My son did something similar at preschool. He tripped and hit his tooth on the lunch table bench when running. He was in a quite a bit of pain for a couple days. We didn't take him to the dentist immediately because he had an appt the next week. I don't think it was knocked as loose as your daughter's, but the dentist did say it was loose and that it would die and turn gray. He did tell me to keep and eye on it and to bring my son back in if there was infection. Like you, I'm not really sure what to look for. My son's tooth is gray and will stay like that until it falls out on its own. Other than that, I have seen no signs of any problem and I do look in his mouth daily when I brush his teeth. So far its been about 6 months. Sorry, I'm not answering your question, but just wanted to let you know it happened to my child and so far everything is okay.

I am a dentist. You have done the right thing and all you need to do is look at her gums when you brush her teeth and have the DDS check it at her 6 month recall visits. If the tooth dies it would most likely be due to the nerve being severed because of the trauma. This happens all of the time. Also check for loosness or darkening of the tooth.

I definitely agree you should go to a pediatric dentist for a child that young. There are differences that they do that will benefit your child. Get that second oppinion for a child dentist.

My DD did that too and her front tooth was pushed back and bleeding. I was at the beach and her dentist was inland. It was a Friday afternoon. I made an appt for the next morning but in the meantime, she told me that the tooth will be pushed at into place by the tongue. My DD was so upset and crying that she wore herself out and fell asleep, bloody mess and all. When we got home, she exclaimed that her tooth was back. The gum line was a little bruised and it wasn't perfectly back but far better than it was. The dentist saw her and we kept an eye on it. Fortunately, it did not die but she bumped it a year later and it eventually came out. It's been 9 months since the tooth came out but not permanent tooth has come in. There is a tooth there but I think from the initial injury, there was some scar tissue and so the tooth is coming in WAY slower. She's been seen and they are not concerned. She just turned 6 and has already lost 5 of her baby teeth.
Good luck and hope all goes well.

This happened to my daughter when she was about two. It did okay for a couple of years until she bumped it again. That time it died and we did have a baby root canal, but didn't pull the tooth. We just left it in place until the new tooth started to come in and then we had it pulled - because it didn't seem to want to fall out on it's own.
Just check it daily when she brushes her teeth. I'm sure it'll be fine, but you'll know. The gum may look different, swollen or even bleed. She may complain of pain. If any of the above occur, take her in. Otherwise, just wait it out. At least you don't have as long to wait as we did!