Beware The Darkened Toddler Tooth! (And Other Obscure Kid Health Scares)

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed one of Thing 1's two front teeth looked blue.

Or gray. Or tinted in some way, so it didn't look like the others.

Toothpaste didn't alleviate the situation. And he hadn't eaten anything that would leave a blackish/blueish/grayish residue. I couldn't imagine what might be affecting one tooth, as all the others looked normal.

Normally in these situations I reach for Dr. Spock's trusty book, or some other medical book about kids. But Late Blooming Dad got to the web first, and soon we learned the source of the dreaded Darkened Toddler Tooth.


Apparently when a toddler falls face first, suffers a ball in the face, or manages to hit a nearby door handle or run smack into another kid, a tooth can suffer trauma. The blood supply to the tooth gets compromised, and Darkened Toddler Tooth can result. It can get worse too: if the blood supply is totally cut off, there can be nerve damage, and a baby root canal may be required. An infection can develop, and there can be an ugly abscess that looks kinda like a bubble under the gum. It may even form above a neighboring tooth, for no reason anybody understands.

I thought back: a couple of weeks prior to my discovery of Darkened Toddler Tooth, I'd gotten an injury report from the preschool. During a sports enrichment class, Thing 1 and another kid had gotten into a collision. That song from ANNIE, "It's A Hard-Knock Life," wasn't written to describe the play habits of preschool boys, but it could have been. Have you ever observed these boys in action? It's no surprise that Thing 1 got a bloody nose. Luckily, when he did, he soon received ice, hugs and TLC from the teachers.

According to the web, it can take a couple of weeks for Darkened Toddler Tooth to manifest and/or get better, or worse. A visit to the dentist and an X-ray are recommended. So off we went to the dentist. Thing 1 was due for his second cleaning anyway (he'd had his first dental visit last year). An X-ray was taken. The verdict was: the tooth looked okay but definitely traumatized. There was no infection, no abscess. One might still develop: I was shown graphic pictures of them so I'd recognize one if I spotted it. But knock on wood, it wouldn't. Another head-on collision and Thing 1 and his front baby tooth might still be parted, but we're keeping fingers crossed this doesn't happen. The boy's only four, and we'd like that tooth to last a few more years until the tooth fairy comes to visit. We don't want him to have Pirate Face until he gets his permanent tooth.

The dentist, however, managed to point out something I'd missed while focusing entirely on the darkened tooth. The neighboring front tooth was chipped! Dunno how I missed this. But I have learned that a symptom of Mom Brain is focusing laser-like on one problem, and somehow becoming oblivious to everything around it.

All in all, Thing 1 enjoyed the dental visit, especially the tooth cleaning and fluoride treatment (did you know they have marshmallow-flavored toothpaste these days?) There was a fish tank, a TV tuned to Noggin', and a treasure chest full of cheap plastic toys. Thing 1 insisted on taking one for his sister, not just one for himself. Twins are like that.

Now, when I help Thing 1 brush and floss, I keep hoping that lil' blue-gray tooth sticks around. And I think back on the other odd things that have come into our lives since having kids: coxsackie virus (hand, foot and mouth disease), 24-hour stomach flu that has no traceable cause, rashes that appear and disappear of their own accord, and a cough so persistent it had me convinced Thing 1 had allergies, asthma, or pneumonia (I was wrong on all fronts: it was just a long, lingering post-cold cough; we're talking 2 months-plus). Here's hoping for a healthy spring and no more hard knocks!