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I was at swimming lessons in Coatbridge with my girls the other day when one of the mums asked me to have a look at her daughter’s mouth as she’d fallen in the playground and banged her tooth.  

Now, being a dentist this happens quite a lot!  You’ll be on a night out and someone will find out you’re a dentist and the next thing you’ll be standing in the middle of the pub examining someone’s wisdom tooth and discussing the merits of sedation!  

Anyway, my friend’s daughter had done a lovely job and had a swollen lip and a huge cut across her frenum (the wee attachment you can feel when you stick your tongue up between your front teeth and your top lip).

She’s only 5, so was feeling quite sorry for herself, but I was able to reassure her that the cut would heal amazingly quickly.  Her mum, naturally, was more concerned about her teeth, so I had a wee look.  Now bearing in mind her age, she still has her baby teeth.  When I looked, I was looking to see if any of them had obviously been broken or moved.  Fortunately, they hadn’t and actually everything looked normal.  

However, what I did say to her mum was to keep an eye on things.  With trauma to teeth,  the nerve in the tooth can sometimes die off.  So what I asked her to keep an eye out for was

  • Any pain in the tooth
  • Any discolouration in the tooth (turning grey)
  • Any swelling or a little bubble forming above the tooth
and I asked her to go to her dentist or speak to me if she saw any of those things.  

Usually if a baby tooth turns grey we would leave it in place until it comes out itself, but pain and swelling are signs of infection and an indication the tooth would need to come out.

My daughter did the same thing on daddy’s watch a couple of years ago, and although her front tooth discoloured, theres been no signs of infection and she’s due for it to fall out soon.

Trauma to an adult tooth can be an entirely different kettle of fish, but I’ll look at that another day.

In the meantime, if your kids traumatise there teeth, or even you for that matter, give us a call at Coatbridge Family Dental Care on 01236 421103.  We’ll be more than happy to give you some advice.