My Kid Chipped a Baby Tooth: What Should I Do?
Key takeaways:
Facial injuries are very common in toddlers and young children. And it can be hard to know what to do when they injure their baby teeth.
While it can be scary for both the child and their parent, most of the time there’s no long-term damage. And it’s fine to wait for a scheduled appointment in the dentist office.
Reasons to go straight to the emergency room are usually unrelated to the tooth injury itself — they include excessive bleeding that won't stop, difficulty breathing, or signs of a more serious head injury.
Babies and toddlers fall and hit their mouths and teeth all the time. As many as 1 in 4 kids have a dental injury in their childhood. But the good news is that most children younger than 5 years old only have primary (baby) teeth. And so the lost or chipped tooth doesn’t need to be saved or reinserted. It will simply be replaced by their permanent teeth when they eventually grow in. But when your child is screaming and bleeding from their fall, it can be hard to think clearly. So we are here to walk you through it.
Do we need to be seen right away?
The first question most parents have after their child chips or knocks out a baby tooth is: “Do we go to the emergency room?” And while the injured tooth itself is not an emergency, there can be associated injuries that require emergency care.
You should either call 911 or immediately go to the nearest emergency room (ER) when your child has:
Trouble breathing: Sometimes the tooth can be knocked into the airway, which can lead to choking. Or if there is a cut or bleeding in the back of the mouth or throat, this can block their airway as well.
Inability to swallow: This can be a sign of a more serious injury to the back of the mouth or around the throat, which could wind up blocking the airway.
Excessive bleeding: There’s often a lot of bleeding right after the injury. But if the bleeding doesn’t seem like it’s slowing down within a few minutes, it’s best to get to an ER. They can help stop the bleeding or look for a deeper injury.
Signs of head injury: These include loss of consciousness, excessive sleepiness, abnormal behavior or disorientation, repeated uncontrollable vomiting, or report of a severe headache.
Signs of neck injury: If your child reports neck pain or doesn’t seem to be moving their neck normally, it’s best to not delay an evaluation.
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There are other less serious reasons that warrant a timely evaluation (within a few hours, if possible), but they aren’t an emergency. These include:
Cuts or lacerations to the face or lips
Injuries that continue to ooze blood (but the bleeding isn’t excessive)
Dizziness
Mild headache
But when the main injury seems to involve just the teeth, and everything else looks OK — rest assured that the next step is to schedule an appointment to see your dentist within the day.
What are the types of injury to teeth?
While dentists have many specific ways to describe tooth injuries, there are several broad categories. Understanding the type of tooth injury often helps to know what comes next.
Impacted tooth: With this type of injury, a tooth may have been bumped or pushed into the gums, but it isn’t loose. The injury may hurt, and you may notice some swelling and bleeding at the gum line. But usually no treatment is necessary. And oftentimes the tooth will slowly work its way back out over time.
Chipped tooth: You may notice that a piece of a tooth seems jagged. The treatment depends on what part of the tooth is chipped. Chips that go beyond the hard outer layer of the tooth (the enamel) tend to be more sensitive and hurt more. So sometimes minor dental procedures need to be done to protect the tooth and prevent infection.
Loose tooth: You may notice your child’s tooth may seem a little loose. If this is the case, often the tooth can be left alone. Sometimes the tooth may be gently pushed back. If it’s very loose, where the baby tooth is close to falling out on it’s own, it’s best to remove it. If you’re feeling brave, it’s OK to give it a go.
Missing tooth: If the tooth is completely knocked out, it doesn’t need to be saved or replaced.
What can you expect at the dentist?
Whenever there’s an injury to the teeth or mouth, it’s a good idea to schedule an appointment with the child’s dentist. To assess the injury, the dentist will first examine your child’s teeth, mouth, and how they bite. And after that, they may not need to do anything else. But your dentist may also recommend the following things depending on the injury:
Perform X-rays of the teeth
Reposition teeth
Place a sealant over areas of the tooth that are cracked or chipped
Smooth out rough edges of a chipped tooth
Remove an injured tooth
Many times, the dentist will want to see you back in 1 to 2 weeks. This is because right after the injury it can be hard to know how the tooth will heal. It can also be tough to know if any more treatment will be needed.
What can you do at home?
Most of the time, an injured baby tooth doesn’t result in any long-term consequences. And the permanent tooth will grow in time without a problem. But in the short term, kids can have some swelling and sensitivity around the injured tooth, trouble eating, or trouble saying certain words. Here are the things you can do at home to help your child feel more comfortable:
Over-the-counter pain medications: Acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen are great to help with pain or swelling.
Ice packs: Because most ice at home comes in bigger blocks, bags of frozen vegetables like peas and corn make great ice packs. And the smaller frozen vegetables allow the “ice pack” to mold better to a child’s small face. With ice packs, the general rule of thumb is to place it on for 15 minutes, and then leave it off for 45 minutes.
Soft diet: Eat a soft diet for 7 to 10 days. Foods like scrambled eggs, cheese, mashed potatoes, yogurt, and pastas are gentle and easy to chew with a sensitive mouth.
Keep the mouth clean: Wait to brush the teeth until after the child sees their dentist. But you can still rinse out the mouth well after eating. And you can gently clean the other teeth with a damp washcloth or gauze.
The bottom line
Toddlers and young kids fall on their faces all the time. And this can often lead to injuries to the mouth and teeth. A chipped or lost baby tooth can be traumatizing to both a parent and their child. But the good news is that there’s typically no lasting damage or reason to rush to the emergency room. Scheduling a dentist appointment is usually the next best step. Other helpful measures include over-the-counter pain relievers, mushy foods, and a welcome break from the nightly toothbrush routine.
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References
Keels, M. A., et al. (2014). Management of dental trauma in a primary care setting. Pediatrics.
Levin, L., et al. (2020). International Association of Dental Traumatology guidelines for the management of traumatic dental injuries: General introduction. Dental Traumatology.
