Chipped tooth: broken teeth and teeth injuries in children
These teeth injuries can occur in a wobbly toddler after a hard fall, a sporty preschooler who gets knocked in the mouth by a ball, or a curious youngster who crunches on hard candy. Sleeping children who aggressively grind their teeth, and even cavities that weaken the teeth, can also lead to chips or fractures.
Your child’s injury may be to a baby tooth or a permanent (adult) tooth. The tooth can be fractured (broken or cracked) or chipped, and sometimes it may not even hurt. If a large piece of tooth breaks off, however, it will probably cause pain, and your child’s tongue may get cut against the sharp, jagged surface. If the break extends into the tooth’s pulp, where the nerves and blood vessels lie, that tooth becomes much more sensitive to hot and cold liquids and food.
Your child’s dentist can recommend the best method of treatment for a chipped or broken tooth. Treatment can depend on the size and location of the break or crack and sometimes, in the case of very small cracks, no treatment is required.
For a chipped baby tooth, your dentist might leave it alone or simply smooth and polish it. If one of the front teeth gets chipped, the dentist can smooth the jagged edge and insert tooth-colored filling. A permanent tooth may require filling material to stop the damage from getting worse and to help the tooth feel better.
A broken tooth usually involves the whole tooth down to the nerve. Typically, the break can be fixed with a filling to repair the lost tooth structure, but sometimes a crown is required.
What should I do if my child has a chipped tooth?
- Inspect your child’s mouth to ensure that no pieces of tooth are stuck in the gums, tongue, or lips. Rinse the mouth with water to clean the area.
- If the affected area is bleeding, fold a clean piece of wet gauze on top of the area and tell your child to bite down on it, or simply hold it in place. Apply this pressure for about 10 minutes, or until the bleeding stops.
- Keep a cold cloth on the area to reduce swelling. Your child can also suck on a popsicle to help with the pain and keep the swelling down.
- If possible, collect the chipped pieces and keep them moist in a cup of milk or saliva. In some cases, the dentist can reattach the tooth fragments with special glue.
- Contact your pediatric dentist quickly. If more than half the tooth is broken, the nerve may be exposed and may require immediate attention.
- If necessary, give your child an age-appropriate, over-the-counter pain reliever.
In the case of any tooth injury, contact your dentist right away. If you act fast, you can help to save your child’s tooth and any future potential for extensive dental work.
Reviewed by Dr. Sara Connolly, February 2019
Takeaways
- Chipped or broken teeth are quite common in kids and can happen easily.
- Your child’s dentist can recommend the best method of treatment, depending on the size and location of the chip or break.
- For a broken tooth, contact your pediatric dentist immediately, especially if more than half the tooth is broken.
My 4 year kid’s half teeth are breaking and he has no any pain or bleeding plz help me how could i stop his breaking teeth
Hi Moona! In this case we need the help of a dentist. The teeth can be breaking due to caries (cavities) or enamel defects or a few other reasons. The dentist will evaluate why the teeth are breaking and advise you of how to stop this process. Your pediatrician’s office can help you find a local dentist who sees children or you can seek out a pediatric dentist. If dental care is unaffordable to you at this time you can also contact 211.org for some help in your local area.It is important that he is seen soon so that his adult teeth are not damaged as well as the baby teeth.
My child age will complete 3 years age this month. While playing 1 upper teeth was broken half but no swelling &pain. Other 2 teeths like to be decay. What to do now. Baby tooth can be done root canal ror else to extraction? Is it safe to give anesthesia for 3 years child while treatment.
S.murthy
So this is a complicated question. I would start by getting the opinion of a pediatric dentist that you trust. You will have to consider the risks associated with letting decayed teeth remain in the mouth verses any risks of anesthesia. If you are not happy with your first opinion, then get a second to confirm that both dentists agree on the necessary course of action. The goals are to prevent infection, to prevent damage to the adult teeth and to prevent pain.
Every parent should be careful about their child’s health and I am sure all the parents are, but their are such situations or accidents that are out of control. These wonderful tips will surely help in such situations but if your child is old enough to go out to play then you are supposed to be more careful. Those children who go out to play should wear a mouth guard to reduce the risk of losing or breaking teeth while playing. Crocked teeth may be affected more then straighter ones so parents should take their children to orthontiscexperts when they reach their 7th year to prevent any future problem.
Chipped or broker teeth and that is also in children, quite a careful subject to handle and appropriate dental treatment to seek for – it is rather more unfortunate too to occur with small aged children facing sort of accidents or falls (often, yes). They need to be handled cautiously at least treating the problems they have; further preventing any kind of damage spreading more – tooth sensitivity due to harm radiated through the teeth pulp may likely happen with your child having broken/injured teeth; tooth loss – consequent dental surgeries are the real enemies of your child!
Tips provided to handle child’s teeth injuries are just awesome, sound of a great help!
Great article! My son dove into our pool two years ago and not only did he break his tooth but half of it was stuck in his gums! I did not like the way our dentist handled it at all. He pretty much dug it out with barely any numbing gel, it was very painful to watch 🙁
This is one of my fears for my twins, great article!