I totally get the confusion—sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s urgent and what’s just “kid teeth being weird.” Our dentist actually gave us a little printout with red flags to watch for, but honestly, I still second-guess myself. Have you ever had a dentist downplay something that later turned out to be more serious? That happened to us once with a chipped tooth that ended up needing more attention than we thought.
That’s happened to us too—one time my daughter had a tooth that looked just a little grayish after a fall, and the dentist said it was probably fine. A few weeks later, she started complaining about pain and it turned out she needed a baby root canal. I try to trust the pros, but sometimes you just know something’s off as a parent. I still keep the “red flags” sheet on the fridge, but honestly, if there’s pain or swelling, we don’t wait around anymore. It’s so hard to tell what’s urgent when it comes to kids’ teeth...
That grayish color is so tricky, right? I swear teeth have a secret language just to mess with parents. Do you ever wonder if we’re overreacting or not reacting enough? I usually go straight to the dentist if there’s pain, but sometimes I wish there was a “tooth mood ring” or something…
Honestly, I worry about overreacting too, especially since a dentist visit isn’t cheap. Unless there’s pain or swelling, I usually watch for a day or two before rushing in. Sometimes it’s just staining or something harmless... but yeah, the guessing game stresses me out.
I totally get what you mean about the stress. I used to panic over every little spot or chip, but after a few false alarms, I started taking a breath and checking for pain or swelling first. Once my kid had a dark stain and I freaked, but it turned out to be from blueberries... Go figure. If there’s no pain or fever, I usually wait it out, but I always keep an eye on it just in case.
