Tag Archives: damage to teeth

Ignored loose tooth

I was at a neighborhood play area where there are a lot of tubes. One of the boys got accidentally kicked in the mouth. He was crying pretty stoutly and there was an impressive amount of blood. The mom went over there, looked him over, said “Yay! A loose tooth.”, brushed him off, and sent him back into the tubes.  Is that OK or will there be permanent problems with his teeth? Should she have taken him to the emergency room?

Emile P.- San Francisco

Emile,

It is always easy to look at a situation we’re not directly involved in and make judgments. It’s also easy for us to judge ourselves in hindsight.  However, answering your question will depend on how old the child was, or more specifically, what kind of tooth was affected.

If it was a young child, there is less of a chance it was a true dental emergency. Likely, it was just a baby tooth. The blood is not uncommon either. The mouth does bleed easily.  That was more likely blood from his mouth being cut by his tooth, than it was blood from the tooth area itself.

An older child could mean that an adult tooth was knocked loose. In that case they would need to be seen right away. The tooth will need to be stabalized so it doesn’t fall out.

This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentist Drs. Kevin and Hillary Peck.