Can having a baby tooth knocked out affect a permanent tooth? while on vacation, our son trip and knocked out one of his front baby teeth. we were quite a ways away from any dentist, and were not able to get there in time for the dentist to do anything. h

Tigard, In : Tigard, in short, not usually. Especially if it is a front tooth, which is my suspicion. Loss of a back tooth prematurely can effect the eruption sequence and shift teeth causing adult teeth to be blocked from coming in. It is always a good idea to see you dentist following an such incident, even if it is not immediately. Hope this is helpful, michael i. Wollock, dmd, agd fellow dentistry at suburban square 610-649-0313.

Loss : Loss of the baby tooth will not hinder the eruption of his permanent tooth. Sometimes, if the baby tooth was really hit hard, and the tip of the root of the baby tooth rubbed up against the enamel forming on the permanent tooth, there could be a small mark on the permanent tooth. It is nothing to worry about and nothing that anyone can do about it right now. When the permanent tooth erupts years from now, if it has a small white spot on the face of the tooth, remember this question and answer. Hopefully it will not be an issue.

It : It would be advisable to seek the care of a pediatric dentist (hopefully, your child has already seen a pediatric dentist) in order to have and examination and a necessary xray to view the unerupted, developing permanent central incisor. If your child has had an xray of this area in the past, the two xrays can be checked for any visible changes. In most cases, with primary teeth that are "knocked out" cleanly it is unlikely that there will be any effect on the permanent teeth, however this is not a guarantee and should be followed routinely by a pediatric dentist.

Should be OK: However, if other front teeth missing may need space maintainer. If back tooth lost early must have space maintainer. Your son should be checked for gum lacerations, fractured-off root, displacement or damage to underlying permanent tooth, and bone fractures. This is a situation where a pediatric dentist, a specialist in childrens' dentistry, should be consulted.