Evie's broken tooth

Not many of us enjoy going to the dentist but we know it’s a necessary part of life. When Evie came in to see us one morning with her face swollen up on one side it almost looked like she had eaten a bee. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case, one of her baby teeth was broken and she had a big abscess over the root of the tooth. We don’t know how Evie broke her tooth as she didn’t chew on any antlers, bones or hard chews– all common culprits for broken teeth. Anyone who has ever had either a broken tooth or abscess will know how sore Evie must have been feeling. Although she was being very brave she needed treatment straight away.

Once Evie was under a general anaesthetic we took x-rays to check what was going on. The picture is really interesting because her adult teeth are growing hidden behind her baby ones! We could see that the break in her tooth went right through to the pulp cavity, the sensitive part of the tooth which looks like a darker centre area on the x-rays.  If this pulp cavity is opened up it is a great pathway for bacteria to get to the root of the tooth and set up an infection which is exactly what had happened to Evie.

The treatment was to remove the broken tooth and start on medicines for the infection and the pain. Sometimes the infection is bad enough to affect the growing adult tooth but luckily Evie had her treatment before this happened. At her post-op check her face was already back to normal and she was much happier! In a few months she will have forgotten all about her trip to the dentist and have a lovely set of adult teeth.