Grey Teeth
About two weeks ago, Julia fell in the gymnasium at her school on the hard tiled floor. Her front right tooth took the brunt of the impact and we immediately noticed that her tooth had been pushed back. Thankfully there was no bruising or other issues with her face or mouth. She got teary but didn't cry. Jeremy arrived to pick her up immediately after it occurred and thankfully he did as they weren't planning to write an accident report on it. Otherwise we wouldn't have known she had hit her mouth unless she told us... which she probably would have, but it was nice for him to get more details from the teachers as to what exactly happened.
We kept looking at her teeth as she smiled. The tooth continued to turn from somewhat white to light grey to dark grey. I made an appointment at the dentist for her and took her in yesterday. It was her first time ever to see a dentist. We don't have dental insurance (it's actually more expensive than not having it for us) and there was no need to get expensive x-rays and cleanings when we're consistently cleaning/brushing/flossing every night at home. At least at the age of 4. This is just my opinion...
Julia was excited to go. She loved that the chair moves up and down. She loved that she got to wear a big napkin around her neck. As for the x-rays, she wasn't too fond of holding this large black square in her mouth and biting on it for a few seconds. But she didn't fuss and did an awesome job.
Dr. Seidler told us that the tooth was not cracked despite the nerve being dead. She didn't have an abscess, but it's possible one can occur as the permanent teeth pushes down on the dead tooth where there is already trauma. He told us what to look like (basically a pimple with a white/yellow head on her gum above the tooth) so we'll keep an eye out in the next 1-2 years until the tooth is pushing. At that point it may need to be pulled to avoid infection, but she's good otherwise.
Now to build up her esteem in case kids say "what's wrong with your tooth?" or "why is your tooth grey?" Giving her words to explain will help so that she doesn't feel that she looks wrong or bad. Earlier in the year a girl at her school told me that I needed to brush Julia's teeth more because they were nasty. Julia came home crying because three girls made fun of the way her teeth looked. Made me so sad for her and you can believe that we took care of it in a healthy way with her friends. Thankfully her teachers became involved and listened for the mean conversations about her looks. They were great about helping out and worked to build up Julia while quieting the mean words. Since then, the girls have been really great.
We kept looking at her teeth as she smiled. The tooth continued to turn from somewhat white to light grey to dark grey. I made an appointment at the dentist for her and took her in yesterday. It was her first time ever to see a dentist. We don't have dental insurance (it's actually more expensive than not having it for us) and there was no need to get expensive x-rays and cleanings when we're consistently cleaning/brushing/flossing every night at home. At least at the age of 4. This is just my opinion...
Julia was excited to go. She loved that the chair moves up and down. She loved that she got to wear a big napkin around her neck. As for the x-rays, she wasn't too fond of holding this large black square in her mouth and biting on it for a few seconds. But she didn't fuss and did an awesome job.
Dr. Seidler told us that the tooth was not cracked despite the nerve being dead. She didn't have an abscess, but it's possible one can occur as the permanent teeth pushes down on the dead tooth where there is already trauma. He told us what to look like (basically a pimple with a white/yellow head on her gum above the tooth) so we'll keep an eye out in the next 1-2 years until the tooth is pushing. At that point it may need to be pulled to avoid infection, but she's good otherwise.
Now to build up her esteem in case kids say "what's wrong with your tooth?" or "why is your tooth grey?" Giving her words to explain will help so that she doesn't feel that she looks wrong or bad. Earlier in the year a girl at her school told me that I needed to brush Julia's teeth more because they were nasty. Julia came home crying because three girls made fun of the way her teeth looked. Made me so sad for her and you can believe that we took care of it in a healthy way with her friends. Thankfully her teachers became involved and listened for the mean conversations about her looks. They were great about helping out and worked to build up Julia while quieting the mean words. Since then, the girls have been really great.
Comments
Post a Comment