Pediatric Dental Emergencies: What to do When Accidents Happen

As a parent, seeing your child in pain is one of the most distressing experiences you can have. Would you know what to do if something happens and your child has a dental emergency? Knowing what to do if your kiddo has knocked out teeth or chipped a tooth can significantly affect the outcome. 

At Park Dentistry for Kids, we want to help you be prepared. So, here, Dr. Parker and Dr. Sana cover the most common dental emergencies that can happen to kids and provide guidelines on what to do about them.

A tooth getting knocked out of position is one of the most serious dental emergencies. If a permanent tooth is knocked out, here's what to do for your child:

1. Find the tooth and hold it by the crown (the top part), not the root.

2. If it's dirty, rinse gently with water. Don’t scrub or remove any attached tissue fragments.

3. Reinsert the tooth if possible, tuck it into your child’s cheek (if you know they will be careful enough not to swallow it!), or store it in milk. The goal? Keeping it moist. 

Why put a tooth that’s been knocked out into milk? Milk has casein proteins, calcium, phosphorus, and other minerals that naturally protect teeth and fight against harmful bacteria. Keeping the tooth moist in milk will help keep it viable for an hour or more. Your Houston, TX, pediatric dentist may be able to re-attach the tooth.

4. Get to an emergency pediatric dentist right away. Drs. Parker and Sana are your go-to emergency dentists for kids in Houston, TX, who are trained in emergency kids’ dentistry.

Did your toddler’s tooth get knocked out? For a toddler — or any aged child — whose baby tooth has been knocked out, it’s a slightly different situation than with permanent teeth: 

Don’t try to put the baby tooth back in. This can damage the developing permanent tooth in the gums. Contact your pediatric dentist for advice and to check for any underlying damage. An immediate visit isn’t typically necessary for knocked-out baby teeth. You can save the tooth if you can find it, but you don’t need to keep it moist. Your dentist likely won’t attempt to re-implant it.

Sometimes, a tooth — whether an adult or baby — is not completely knocked out but still hanging on to the gums. In this case:

1. Gently push the tooth back into its socket. 
   
   
2. Stabilize the tooth by having your child bite down on a clean cloth or gauze to keep the tooth in place.
   
   
3. Seek immediate dental care from an emergency pediatric dentist so they can assess and treat the injury ASAP.

A chipped or fractured tooth in kids is less severe than a tooth getting knocked out completely or out of position. But that doesn’t mean it’s any less painful or serious for your kiddo! In other words, a chipped or fractured tooth in kids still needs prompt attention. Why? First, the sharp edges of a chipped tooth can hurt your little one’s tongue or cheeks. If this looks like the case for your kiddo, cover the tooth with dental wax. Second, a fractured tooth can expose the tooth’s root, causing pain, sensitivity, and possibly a risk of infection. Follow these steps for a chipped or fractured tooth:

1. Rinse your child’s mouth with water to prevent infection.
   
   
2. Apply a cold compress to help with pain and reduce swelling.
   
   
3. Save the fragments if possible so you can bring them to the dentist.
   
   
4. Contact Park Dentistry, your emergency dentist for kids in Houston, to repair the tooth and help prevent further damage. We might be able to bond the broken piece back onto the tooth, smooth the edges of the fractured tooth, or place a crown on the tooth if needed.

A kids’ dental emergency is not just knocked out, dislodged, or damaged teeth. If your child has severe tooth pain, seek medical attention. Tooth pain can be a sign of a deep cavity or gum infection, and you should make an appointment for your child to see their pediatric dentist sooner rather than later. If a low-grade fever accompanies the tooth pain, your child may have an infection, which is a definite sign for an emergency visit to the dentist.

While fillings are never supposed to come out, there are some situations in which they might. Maybe your child has crunched into a hard candy, or maybe the fillings weren't put in right in the first place(!). With the filling out, the cavity is exposed, and your child might suffer from tooth pain. Plus, their tooth becomes vulnerable to decay again. Schedule an appointment immediately with your child’s dentist so you can get the filling replaced.

Being prepared for a child's dental emergency can alleviate stress and lead to better outcomes. At Park Dentistry for Kids, Dr. Parker and Dr. Sana can provide quick, expert care when you need it most. Our gentle, efficient approach will help your child feel more at ease in what could be a scary and painful time.

Save the number of our Houston pediatric dental office in your phone in case of a dental emergency: (713) 993-7332. We hope you don’t have to use it!