Your baby’s first tooth is an important milestone in their development, as is the first time an older child’s tooth wiggles its way out to make room for an adult tooth. Whether coming in or going out, teeth play a vital part in your child’s health and well-being – they affect appearance, confidence, and function. And a broken or knocked out tooth is a relatively common injury that requires proper care and attention.

Accidents happen

The RCH’s emergency department treated 271 children for dental injuries in 2016 – the majority of them (63%) were boys. This statistic does not surprise Kerrod Hallett, RCH’s Director of Dentistry. He said the most common dental injury was seen in children under six years of age who’ve had a fall and damaged their front baby teeth, their gums or their jaws.

Keep the tooth

So if your child happens to knock out a tooth, what should you do?

• For a baby tooth, Kerrod said it was best to leave it out but have a dentist check the gums.
• For adult teeth, Kerrod’s advice was to try and put it back straight away. He acknowledged that this could be harder than it sounds. “If you can’t do that, just store the tooth in milk and come into the hospital straight away and the emergency department will replace the tooth,” he said.

A decaying problem

While dental injuries could be serious, Kerrod felt there was a bigger problem facing the dental health of children today: tooth decay in early childhood.

“It’s rampant, and unfortunately it’s shown signs of increasing significantly over the last decade, with half of all children now affected,” he said.

A diet high in processed foods and foods with more added sugars was to blame, said Kerrod. Children as young as 18 months are being treated for advanced dental cavities and unfortunately, a child with dental problems often becomes an adult with dental problems.

“Unless you intercept the problem and change dietary and hygiene habits early, you’ve got very little chance of preventing disease in the adult teeth,” he said.

Prevention better than cure

Good dental hygiene must start early to give your child the best chance of having healthy teeth. Kerrod’s tips include:

• Avoid putting children to sleep with a bottle in their mouth as this is a primary cause of tooth decay during infancy.
• When it comes to brushing your child’s teeth, it’s best to start as soon as they appear, using a smear of paediatric toothpaste on the brush.
• Once your child is around two years old, take them to see a dentist to help them feel comfortable with a dentist and with the dentist’s environment. “Try and make a game of it, try and give them the confidence to sit in the chair,” Kerrod advised. “Get into a routine early on, and hopefully you’ll stay in that routine.”

Knowing what to do if your child breaks or knocks out a tooth can save the tooth. You can read more in our Kids Health Info fact sheet http://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Broken_or_dislodged_tooth/.