scubamama Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Yesterday my 4 yo dd chipped the corner of her front tooth. She cried for a bit and then went on with life as usual, but would start crying again when her sibs would point out hat her tooth was chipped - they were freaking her out! She isn't in any pain and is eating normally. I looked at her tooth and it seems like the "inside" part isn't exposed. That would be super painful, I bet! Should I take her to the dentist? We don't have dental insurance until 1/1/12 so it would be out of pocket. Should I continue to watch her? I"m not worried about the cosmetic aspect - it's barely noticable and it's a baby tooth...I just don't want to take a chance that it may open in some way and lead to other complications... Any moms ever go thru this? Help me Tooth Fairy!!!! Michele in SoCal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 From what I know, as long as it's not hurting, then there are probably no exposed nerves. I think that would be the main reason for bringing her in now. My daughter had a badly chipped tooth for about 6 months before we could afford to fix it, and it was fine. (And she was fine.:)) I'm not sure how dental insurance works, but with regular medical insurance, they usually won't cover something that happened before you were insured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 I have a small chip that my old dentist was obsessed with fixing. Bonding material, however, does not bond so well to tiny, high stress (it's a front tooth) surfaces... So it's been there for 20 or so years and doesn't cause any issues. Unless it's a huge chunk, I would worry even less about it in a tooth that is going to fall out in a couple of years. If it was one of my kids and wasn't causing discomfort, I'd have the dentist check it after 1/1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pqr Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 (edited) As an aside: Remember the tooth fairy only pays full price for whole, complete teeth. Typo corrected :-) Edited November 20, 2011 by pqr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pqr Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 The toot fairy maybe, but not the tooth fairy! The tooth fairy isn't that mean. ;) Touche! ....but the tooth fairy can be that mean, especially if a tooth has a cavity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubamama Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share Posted November 20, 2011 I hope the toot fairy skips my house....I don't even want to think about what a $ incentive on toots would do to the males here...:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbholly Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 My son chipped the corner of one of his front teeth when he was three. We did take him to the dentist. The chipped edge was a little rough so they sanded it down. He cried while they did it, but it really took only a minute. They did say to watch the tooth to see if it changed color (gray), but it has been over a year now and seems fine. If it doesn't hurt and your child doesn't have any discomfort with hot/cold foods you can probably wait until your dental insurance kicks in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugarfoot Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 My DD 5 did this same thing, with the same response, when she was 2. I never took her to the dentist, as it was just a tiny corner of a baby tooth, and she was fine after a few minutes. It's never bothered her. Tell the other kids to quit talking about it! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubamama Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share Posted November 20, 2011 Ha - I did tell them - it's dh who keeps asking me about it in front of her now. That gets the kids started :tongue_smilie: I feel like I have to keep 'em all separated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cera Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Three chipped baby teeth here (so far) and we haven't gone to the dentist for any of them. If it doesn't hurt after the initial pain of the injury or change color it should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 As an aside: Remember the tooth fairy only pays full price for whole, complete teeth. Typo corrected :-) Umm, no. I get that some parents want to use this as a way to get their kids to brush, but sometimes they don't come out whole, and it has nothing to do w/ brushing/flossing habits. My dc have never had a cavity, but dd's teeth don't always come out whole. They just don't like to come out at all, and tend to come out in pieces after new tooth is already coming in. Why would I punish her for that? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I wouldn't. She's 4, she could lose them as early as 5, why bother? My eldest fell on concrete and chipped his front tooth at the ripe old age of 2. Despite constant nagging from friends I refused to take him in, why have him terrified of a dentist at such a young age for a tooth that would fall out anyway!! Our middle one damaged four of his front teeth in a fall at a young age too. It wasn't cool, but it wasn't worth rushing him in either. We waited it out for both and the tooth fairy accepted said teeth and their adult teeth are beautiful. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pqr Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Umm, no. I get that some parents want to use this as a way to get their kids to brush, but sometimes they don't come out whole, and it has nothing to do w/ brushing/flossing habits. My dc have never had a cavity, but dd's teeth don't always come out whole. They just don't like to come out at all, and tend to come out in pieces after new tooth is already coming in. Why would I punish her for that? :confused: Come on.....It was a joke! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 I have a small chip that my old dentist was obsessed with fixing. Bonding material, however, does not bond so well to tiny, high stress (it's a front tooth) surfaces... So it's been there for 20 or so years and doesn't cause any issues. Unless it's a huge chunk, I would worry even less about it in a tooth that is going to fall out in a couple of years. If it was one of my kids and wasn't causing discomfort, I'd have the dentist check it after 1/1. My two front teeth have been bonded for over twenty years. That stuff stays! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 My son has done this twice! Both front teeth are chipped. He's fine though :001_smile: no exposed nerves, no problems. We are leaving them alone. One tooth did "bruise" and turn gray but it's slowly lightening and looks less gray now. We did take him to a density on that one. The guy said he was fine. He told us to just make sure he never had pain or sensitivity and to make sure it didn't turn dark again. It totally freaked me out though! So, from our experience, sounds like you don't need to worry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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