My two-year old fell and hurt his/her tooth;What now?

Today's post is about a real case scenario based on a true story

                                          

  Every child,from the moment he/she starts to walk, stands the chance and danger that he/she might fall and hurt somewhere.So a patient comes to the dental office and tells me that he and his daughter where in the amusement park,and his daughter bumped and hurt her tooth.Similar case scenario would include the house and an open door or a kitchen table or a sudden fall and a blow to the jaw.

When I examined the child I noticed that her tooth had become a little dark;not like the one shown in the next picture

                                         
but rather than the one seen in the picture below,with a grey hue although not all over the tooth.



It was more localized.Unfortunately I couldn't get a photo,because the child was petrified,so the pictures are from the web.
  I told the father, who had regretted his decision to go to the amusement park,that it was not something "to die for".Most likely the tooth,not his daughter, had suffered a concussion, and a small vain had bursted somewhere around or inside the tooth,causing this change in color.

His actions should be :

• To take a picture of the tooth,and to review it in a few months(2-3 months).There is a great propability that the color of the tooth will be less dark or near the natural tooth color.
• To be careful not to hurt the tooth again because repeated blows might cause more permanent and serious damage like necrosis of the pulp. Now the tooth is healing and is vulnerable.
• To check the gum surrounding the tooth,by lifting the lip,every week,in case there is a rash or a pimple-like buble.In the case that the lip was also hurt during the incident that action should be done when the healing of the lip nad gums is done.If the pimple-like buble appears,then things don't look good for the tooth and it might requier endodontic treatment or tooth extraction.And if the tooth belongs to the natal teeth,it might require the use of an orthodontic appliance,in order to keep the space for the permanent tooth. This is the dentist's decision,and it might not be necessary since the canine holds the position of the ather front teeth.
• Last but not least,he shouldn't worry about what other people will say about his daughter's black tooth. Children play,they fall and get hurt in the process.Everyone with a child or a nephew/niece knows that.

It should be noted that if the blow and the resulting trauma happens to a child older than six years,when the permanent teeth have erupted in the mouth,then things are more complexed and the possibility that an endodontic treatment will be required is greater,without being definite.

In any case a dentist's consultation is necessary everytime there is a trauma to the head that includes the mouth

Happy playing always with safety.Cheers