Losing front tooth and speech development

Hi ladies! Happy 4th of July.

1.5 yr ago, my son got cavity on just right front tooth. We should have left it ago. But my husband decided to fix it. It got filled couple times but fell out. So the dentist decided to cap it. It was the most horrible experience. I was with him, held him down and he was so freaked out and begged me let him go. He was numbed but scared. I cried so much that day and promised to myself that I'd never do that to my kids if its not necessary

Ok yesterday, he knocked himself on the table. And today that capped tooth turned bad. The gum color turned dark. And it does got loose when I shake it abit. I can tell it will come off soon. I am taking him in dentist first thing in the morning. I have a feeling that his dentist will say "ok it has to come out." Ok I don't care about the look. I'm worried about his speech development. He talks so much. He can sing so many songs. And creates his own lyrics. He still can't correctly say words start with L yet: love, like,lion,.. They both can't.

Have u ever sealed with this issue before? And did u decide to leave it that way after the tooth fell off or inserted a fake one in. If I decide to leave it that way, will it affect his speech development??? If it doesn't affect... I will just leave it that way. I won't put him thru another scary experience.

Thank you so much ladies!

 

Vivi is missing both of her front teeth. She broke one in half at 18 months but a later accident just shy of 3 caused an abcess. I asked about speech development and was told it isn't normally an issue. In the last 6 months, I have noticed no speech issues. Most people can understand her just fine and those that can't don't understand other 3 year olds either. When she doesn't speak properly, it doesn't have to do with the missing teeth - it's just her stubborn streak Coming out. I would probably just leave it be unless you start to see issues developing and are confident that they are related to the missing tooth.

 

I don't have an opinion on leaving it or not but..
If you decide to have it fixed definitely look into different dentists.
My brother had a similar experience as a young child. My mom carried him out in the middle of the appointment. They were both crying.
She avoided doing anything for as long as she could but since his problem was a cavity she had to do something. She found a great dentist and the experience was VERY, VERY different.

 

I really don't think it will be much of an issue either. Some kids lose their teeth very early, as early as 4 yrs old, and don't have any speech issues as a result of it. If you do notice some problems in the next year or so I'm sure you can get in with a speech therapist to have him evaluated.

And as daisies said, if you do have to have something done, my suggestion is to not only find another dentist, but have them knock him out. Not just numb him. As someone who had a horrible dentist growing up, and has lived with a huge fear of dentists ever since, and who went 10 yrs without a check up and has since had 3 root canals, multiple cavities and a couple crowns......don't put him through an experience like that again. I have a fantastic dentist now who treats me as a child, at my request. And anytime she has to recommend me to someone else for something (like the root canals), she recommends me to someone who will treat me similarily. It's helping me conquer my fear of dentists. And it's giving my kids positive dental appointments rather than terrifying ones like I grew up with. :hug:

 

Oh, yeah. Definitely find a good pediatric dentist. Our regular dentist wouldn't consider removing the tooth herself for this very reason. We took Vivi to a dentist that gave her something that basically made her act drunk and while she wasn't knocked out she had no problems being handed off to the nurses. She has shown no signs of fear for her checkups since then. (Thankfully!)

 

We just went in and the dentist pulled his tooth

It was horrible. He broke it badly. So he only pulled out the tooth, the root was still in. And she had to one it out. She numbed him pretty good. But he fought so hard and it took her so long to get the root out. He went completely nuts ;( he screamed and was so freaked out. Somehow, i thought he was in pain. But the denstist told me that he just screamed and no tear, so shouldnt be any pain. But he screamed like his lwg/arm got chopped off. And i just hoped its over with faster. I should have asked to numb him again but i didnt (( I felt so so horrible. After its over. He cried so much even after we got home. Now he passed out huuhhu. I cried to. I called my husband on the way home and cried. ... Damn sh!t dentist. I won't ever take my kids back there again, too much horrible memory. I am looking for another dentist.
I'm still crying. The though of he was in pain when she poked it, just killing me. Wth!!!!

 

I have a similiar issue with my son, he's 3 and shall we say, spirited. So when he broke a tooth I asked everyone I knew, really like over 100 people, for their recommendation on a dentist who is good at working with kids. Like not that their prices were fair or even that their work was the highest quality, but someone who was good with kids. I wrote down every name and then made a list of the ones with the most repeat recommendations. From that I choose 5 dentists and I went to visit all their offices and choose the one I thought my son would feel best in, I totally had nightmares of a situation like you had.

 

Yeah don't we all (adults or babies) hate dentist!!!!?

Yesterday, he came home still crying. Then I made him drink some water. And he passed out for 4 hrs!!!! He usually naps 3 hrs. So I was worried I came checked on him and woke him up a bit see he's ok. But he said he wanted to sleep more. I guess he was exhausted after all the fighting an threatening.. Or because of the crappy relaxing gas that he breathed...
He woke up, ate 2 baby donut balls, went to playground for 20 mins then biked for 1.5 miles. Then ate a string cheese, drank some juice. Then we went to restaurant, he ate so much. He was happy again. He still remembered about it but didn't care.

At the restaurant, he told us he didn't run into the table at the park. He bit Michelle and broke his teeth. I didn't believe him. But later on I asked Michelle. She said "we played golf, then I threw rock at Nolan. Then he tried to bite me. But I moved and he bite the table and broke his tooth at the park." We grilled out at the park the day on 7/3. I heard he cried. And I checked. He was ok. But next day, the tooth got loose and... Now we know the whole story. Man don't u love kids!!!?? Always give u some kind of problem.

And today he enjoys teasing himself that he has a hole in his mouth!!!?? He thinks it's cool!!! Lol
Thanks ladies!

 

I'm a speech-language pathologist and, honestly, Inwould not be too worried. There are many sound errors (s, r, l, th, for example) that are developmentally appropriate until the child gets older. Let me know if you would like a chart of speech development by sound. You should be able to help your child develop these sounds appropriately by encouraging correct tongue/lip/jaw placement as these sounds are developing. As I mentioned before, though, some sound errors (e.g., /w/ sound subsistuted for /l/ until around four years-ish) are totally normal...so try to not stress your child with the corrections. You might just model the correct sound in words in conversation (e.g., child says I wike it and you say that's right you LIKE it... While exaggerating the /l/ sound) . 2 missing teeth in front could make it difficult to find appropriate placement for /s/ or other sounds as they develop, but with a bit of modeling, you should be ok... One tooth missing should not make much of a placement difference. If you do become very concerned that sounds are not developing properly, then seek out a certified speech-language pathologist in your local school district (this is typically free) to do a small screening and see if it warrants services (I.e., sigficant difficulties understanding child when he is speaking).

 

Thank you! I notice he can't say /s/ well now like; dogs, cats,.. But we still understand well what he says. I try to encourage him practice but he doesn't want to. And I don't wanna push him. He is very happily talkative lol. He doesn't care about the hole. I will be patient lol. Thank you so much!

 

I just saw this - wow, I am sorry to see you went through such an ordeal with Nolan , the dentist experience sounds horrible. I have a friend who's daughter broke one of her front teeth when she was 3 - she is now 5 and she still doesn't have the new tooth, but her speech is fine - and she's proud of the hole also .