Daughter fell and knocked out tooth. What would you do? Opinions please!!?

My 2 year old fell and knocked out one of her front teeth and chipped the other. I took her to a pediatric dentist and on her first visit, they removed the almost completely knocked out tooth. In order to do this, they put her in a papoose and gave her nitrous oxide. The second visit to the dentist, they took xrays and cleaned her teeth, again putting her in a papoose. It took two of us to hold her down to put her in the papoose and an hour to get the xrays. The pediatric dentist says we should put a bridge in so she has a full set of teeth, so she doesn't get teased in school. At first i said ok.....so I made an appt. that happened to be two months later. during that time, we made a few visits to her pediatrician and eye dr. and she has become deathly afraid of going to the dr. now since the dentist incident. She wasnt like that before. I talked to her pediatrician, family and some friends about wether or not I should put my daughter through the dentist again right now for the bridge. Everyone says to forget it, even the pediatrician, because when she starts kindergarten, many other kids will be without teeth as well. A few friends kids have also had a few teeth pulled or some were knocked out during a fall and they chose not to put a bridge in. I called the ped. dentist and cancelled the appt. and they said i should really get it done for spacing issues, speech, etc. My daughter talks just fine without the one tooth and doesn't lisp. I really don't want to put my daughter through this again and want her to become comfortrable around dr.'s again. If need be, I can do the bridge in a year or two. Your thoughts on this? what would you do?|||Personally, I would not have this done because a front tooth really isn't necessary for spacing issues. Space maintainers are to maintain the space for back teeth, not for front teeth.


It could possibly affect her for speech issues but you could wait and see on that.


The esthetic issue - I agree with your pediatrician. If kids start to tease her in kindergarten, you could get it then, what's the hurry now?


Also, any bridge placed at this young age of 2 tends to come off easily (kids play with it with their fingers, kids bite into hard foods, etc) and you will have to go back to the dentist often to have it recemented or remade because it could get warped (when biting hard foods, etc).





If it was my child, I wouldn't have it done right now.|||im sorry to hear this and what is a papoose . i would do what the dentist recommence.|||While you do need to worry about spacing issues, I would not place a bridge in a childs mouth. The most you should do is have a space maintainer placed to insure that the adult teeth come in where they are supposed to.





It is a common practice to place a two year old in a papoose if the child is being "difficult". I am sorry that your daughter was traumatized. I would look for another pedodontist who is more patient with her.





Good Luck|||WoW, I have never heard of a bridge for a child so incredibly young. Are sure they weren't recommending an acrylic partial or flipper? Even still at the age of 2 that is sooooo unusual. Children start getting their permanent front teeth somewhere between 6-8 yrs of age, yes, she would fit right in at school with a missing tooth and because it is gone at the age of 2 she will learn to speak appropriately without it, especially if you take the time with her if she starts to show signs of lisping, but it sounds like you have check all the appropriate avenues on getting second opinions, especially educated 2nd opinions. You might want to ask your Pediatrician the name of another good Pediatric Dentist. A child of 2 is still growing so a bridge would be kind of crazy. The papoose.......I understand the need to sort of mildly restrain a child, especially at 2 because they can do some pretty unexpected things and this can help so they don't hurt themselves or the dentist by trying to pull on the dentists hands,instruments, drill etc. but if the child is reacting more to the papoose than to the treatment he is creating a phobic before you even start, such a shame because there are other alternatives if needed, but some do take more time. Would your daughter do better sitting on your lap? Do they try to interact with her prior to treatment? (this gains a child's trust and helps them get through the procedure much better).


Hope it all works out for you, If it were my child I would not do a bridge I would talk with another Pediatric Dentist and I would speak with an Orthodontist. Orthodontist use space maintainers, if needed, but again at the age of 2?????|||Shyla, MK, and frdrdt all give great advice. Listen to them