Can definitely relate to the milk advice—sounds odd, but it's spot-on. Had a patient once, a young boy who'd knocked out his tooth playing soccer. His parents were pretty frantic, understandably... but they remembered the milk trick. Brought it in submerged, and we were able to successfully reimplant it. Parenting throws curveballs, but it's impressive how quickly parents adapt. These moments do become great stories later, you're right.
"Parenting throws curveballs, but it's impressive how quickly parents adapt."
Couldn't agree more. Reminds me of when my daughter chipped her tooth on the playground slide—total panic moment. Thankfully, our dentist squeezed us in last-minute and fixed it up nicely. Kids bounce back quicker than parents sometimes...
Been there... my son's first dentist trip was after he face-planted off the couch. I swear, I aged 5 years in those 20 minutes. He was giggling again by bedtime, meanwhile I was up googling tooth injuries all night. Kids are tougher than us sometimes.
Totally agree, kids bounce back way quicker than we do. I've seen plenty of parents come in panicked after similar incidents, and usually the little ones are already over it by the time they're in the chair. One thing I've noticed is that baby teeth injuries often look worse than they really are—lots of blood, swelling, tears—but thankfully they heal pretty fast. Still, it's always good you got it checked out, because sometimes damage isn't immediately obvious. And don't feel bad about the late-night googling...even as a dental professional, I was guilty of that when my daughter chipped her tooth on the playground. Parenthood definitely keeps us humble (and sleep-deprived).
"One thing I've noticed is that baby teeth injuries often look worse than they really are—lots of blood, swelling, tears—but thankfully they heal pretty fast."
This is so true. I remember the first time my son fell face-first on our kitchen floor (tile, of course 🙄). It was like a scene from a horror movie—blood everywhere, screaming kid, panicked parents. After the initial chaos settled down and we got him cleaned up, I was convinced he'd knocked out half his teeth or something equally dramatic.
But nope...turns out it was just a tiny cut on his lip and a slightly loosened tooth that tightened back up within a week. Kids really do have some kind of superpower when it comes to healing. I spent the next few nights googling "loose baby tooth after fall" at 2 am, convinced I'd missed something important. Glad to know I'm not alone in the late-night dental anxiety club!
One thing I've always wondered though—maybe someone here knows—is there ever a situation where an injury to a baby tooth can affect the adult tooth underneath? Like if the baby tooth gets pushed up or something? I've heard mixed things about this from friends and online sources (yeah, I know...Dr. Google again 😂). Curious if anyone has experience or insight into that.
Parenthood definitely keeps us guessing...and humble for sure.
