My 6-year-old tripped yesterday at the playground and chipped his front tooth. It's not huge, but noticeable enough that I'm kinda worried. He says it doesn't hurt much, but I'm wondering if I should take him to the dentist asap or if it's okay to wait a few days. Never dealt with tooth injuries before, so I'm a bit clueless here...anyone been through something similar?
We had something similar happen last year—my daughter chipped a tooth on the edge of our coffee table. Dentist said it wasn't urgent since it wasn't painful or sensitive, but we did end up going in within a couple days just to be safe. Did your kid's tooth chip near the nerve or is it mostly surface-level? That might make a difference in how quickly you'd wanna get it checked out.
We had a similar tooth-chipping adventure at our house a couple years back—my son decided he was Spider-Man and leaped off the couch, landing face-first onto his toy truck. (Spoiler alert: he's not Spider-Man.) Anyway, it looked pretty gnarly at first, but after the initial panic subsided, we realized it wasn't bothering him much. Still, being the paranoid parent I am, I called our dentist right away.
Funny enough, our dentist was super chill about it. He basically said if it's not sensitive or painful, it's probably just cosmetic and not an emergency. But he did mention something similar to what you said—if it's close to the nerve or deeper than surface-level, it's better to get it checked sooner rather than later. Apparently, if the nerve gets exposed or irritated, things can escalate quickly from "no big deal" to "midnight emergency dental visit," which nobody wants.
We ended up going in after a day or two anyway because my wife couldn't stop googling horror stories about chipped teeth (thanks internet). Turned out it was mostly superficial and just needed smoothing down a bit. The dentist joked that my son now had "character," which made me feel slightly better about the whole ordeal.
So yeah, I'd say you're probably fine to chill for now if your kid isn't complaining or showing signs of discomfort. But if you're anything like us and can't resist imagining worst-case scenarios at 2 AM... maybe just book an appointment for peace of mind?
Totally agree, no need to panic right away. But just to add—it's worth keeping an eye on the tooth color over the next few weeks. Sometimes trauma can cause discoloration (like a grayish tint), which could indicate nerve damage even if there's no immediate pain. Happened to my niece after a playground tumble, and they ended up needing treatment later on. So yeah, chill for now but stay observant...and maybe limit the Spider-Man reenactments for a bit?
