Possible Nerve Damage to 3 yr old's front tooth... Will dentist suggest to have the tooth extracted?

Concerned Mother

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Originally Posted by oowens74

Possible Nerve Damage to 3 yr old's front tooth.... Will dentist suggest to have the tooth extracted?

Concerned Mother

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It depends if the damage is effecting her adult tooth under that baby tooth. Not usually but it also depends on the dentist. Would have to take an x-ray to determine that. But I doubt they will have you extract it... Just my opinion, I'm not a dentist just an assistant..

What does the tooth look like, why do you think nerve damage?

My son had the mouth of a typical 3 yr old. After the fall, one of his tooth has changed colors dramatically. He busted up his lip and cut his gums in this accident. I suspect nerve damage, because when I got a root canal the nerve was removed and my tooth has changed colors as well.

Unless it's causing pain, in this situation they will probably let the baby tooth stay until the adult tooth pushes it out. Since the color is turning, he should see a pediatric dentist so they can suggest the right approach to take.
My daughter had bottle decay on her front two teeth. I let her have a bottle at nap and bed time which caused it - I had no idea that could cause something like that. Anyway, I took her to the dentist and they did something to her teeth that made the yellow/brownish look white again and stopped it from doing anymore damage. Maybe they can help your son too. My daughter was 3 years old as well.

No, it's not causing any pain at all. He is perfectly fine. It's just unsightly. I didn't want them to pull it, because he probably won't get it back until he's 6 or 7, then he'll have to be little "toothless" toddler before his time.

A dentist may be able to stop the browning process somehow, they did in my daughters case. It will eventually turn black if nothing is done at all. I don't think this is a good sign as most nerve damage causes pain. There is definitely something happening to the tooth - I would strongly recommend taking him to a pediatric dentist as soon as possible. If you wait to long it's possible that the damage will be to severe and the only option will be to pull the tooth.

This accident happened around 12/14/06. His appointment is 1/25/07. Do you think too much time has passed to save the tooth? Or should I insist he be seen immediately? His appointment is with a pediactric dentist as well.

Concerned Mother

Backed up dentist appointments do seem to be a problem these days. I ran into the same issue with my daughters cleaning being scheduled so far in advance that I forgot about it and missed it.
Have you told them of the discoloration? If you told them the story and they didn't try to work him in as an emergency visit, then maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit and the tooth will be OK.