How To Handle My Child's Chipped Tooth

Kids are often prone rough and rowdy playing. It is not surprising then that accidents happen more often than they should. Take riding a bike for example. Childhood is that stage when parents teach children the skill of riding a bike and of course most kids fall a few times and can hurt themselves in the process. Among all the injuries that they can get from learning how to ride a bike, probably one of the more devastating is falling face first and chipping a tooth.

Pain may not be the primary driver of the tears and panic that fallows a fall. Fractures of the tooth do not exactly cause direct pain, unless the gum line is directly affected. The natural reaction of the child would be to feel frightened and even cry so it is important that you calm them down and assure that it can be fixed and in most cases a chipped tooth can be fixed by most pediatric dental offices.

Chipped Tooth First Aid at Home

There is actually no way to fix a chipped tooth at home. It will have to be done by a qualified kids dentist. But because getting an immediate appointment with the dentist may not be possible, you will have to do a little first aid and evaluation in the meantime.

Calmly take a look at the chipped tooth. If it only has been chipped slightly, the dentist should easily be able to smooth out its rough edges. However, if a large chunk of the tooth is chipped off, try your best to locate the piece that has broken off and soak it in saliva or a milk solution. This will preserve the chipped portion of the tooth from drying out until the dentist can replace it.

There really is not much that you can do aside from preserving the chipped off tooth and to take it to the dentist by scheduling an emergency dental visit as soon as possible. Try to prevent your child from eating anything solid that requires too much chewing to prevent further damage. Instruct your child to avoid using that section of the mouth when chewing. When there is bleeding, use gauze and slight pressure initially and then place a moistened tea bag on the gum line to help curb the bleeding. If the child complains of too much pain, a pain killer such as Motrin for children may be helpful.

Chipped Tooth Repair by a Dentist

Minor chips do not always need treatment via a kids dental emergency appointment if there is no tooth pieces to bond together. If the chip is pretty small, visiting a gentle dentist within a few days to just polish and smooth out the chipped area is recommended. But if the chip is relatively big, find a kids dentist in Central Bucks that can see you within 24 hours. He or she might suggest that the teeth be repaired with filling material to help prevent tooth decay and future discolorations of the damaged area. The key to the successful treatment of a chipped tooth is to keep calm and act quickly.

Make sure that you schedule a follow up visit with your pediatric dental offices in Council Rock within one week of the repair work has been completed. Getting a chipped tooth while biking is not uncommon and hopefully your child will return to biking rather quickly after this traumatic incident.