How Broken Baby Teeth Can Affect Adult Teeth
Accidents happen, and with toddlers, they happen more often than parents would prefer them to happen. At this early age, little ones are learning to walk and growing in their first set of teeth. As they toddle around, they will inevitably crash headfirst into furniture and outdoor objects. When you notice that your child has a loose baby tooth after a he or she has taken a tumble, do not hesitate to take your child to a pediatric dentist. There are multiple reasons why you should not wait.
A Broken Baby Tooth Can Die
Teeth are living things. The most central part of every tooth, the pulp, is where the tooth gets blood and nutrients. When a baby or adult tooth is broken, tiny blood vessels in the tooth are damaged and the tooth is open to infection. Unless a dentist looks at it right away, the tooth can die. Even though it may remain in position and the gums around it will heal and hold it in place, the tooth itself will become discolored and obvious as a dead tooth.
What a Broken Baby Tooth Means
An infection can develop if the break left a space between the parts of the broken tooth. In this space, bacteria can grow and impact the teeth on either side of it. It can become very painful, and a dentist might have to excise the infection or any pus that builds up. A broken baby tooth can also affect when the adult tooth above it comes through, because the adult tooth will have to push the broken baby tooth out of the way. If the accident that broke the baby tooth was jarring enough, it could affect the health, shape and coloration of the adult tooth too.
Seeing a Pediatric Dentist for Emergency Care
A pediatric dentist fully comprehends how necessary baby teeth are to a child's development and how they affect the development of adult teeth as well. It is an emergency situation when baby teeth are broken, and being able to visit a clinic for pediatric dentistry that also does emergency care is vital to your child's oral development. These dental specialists will take x-rays of the broken tooth, assess how to best fix the situation, and monitor changes in the development of the adult tooth buds below your child's current baby teeth. When the time comes for the adult tooth to come in, your pediatric dentist, like those at North Phoenix Pediatric Dentistry, may suggest an in-office visit to pull the dead tooth and give the adult tooth an easier path through the gum line.
Share