I Broke Zachary's Teeth

We’ve had too many doctors in our lives the last little while. And last week, on Wednesday, May 11, we saw another doctor. This time, for Zachary.

I was getting Z-man ready so we could go to the pediatrician’s office for Emma. He was in the bathtub and we were done. I wrapped the big soft yellow towel around him, around his head. We both laughed because that was funny. I opened it back up and we laughed! So I did it again—but this time, Zachary fell forward.

HE FELL FORWARD FACE FIRST INTO THE SIDE OF THE TUB. The towel was around his face, but there was still this horrible, sickening crack. He had fell mouth first—teeth first—onto the side of the tub.

Blood started coming with the scream. I looked at his mouth and freaked. It looked like his two front teeth had been shoved into his gums. I grabbed my sobbing boy and held him to me while I ran to the phone.

I called the last dentist Mark and I had seen. They told me that they don’t really do pediatric dentistry. They told me I could either find a pediatric dentist or take Zachary to an ER.

I was crying. I called Mark and told him what happened. I asked Mark if he could help me. I told him I wanted him to find us a pediatric dentist while I called the pediatrician’s office to cancel Emma’s appointment.

Mark called a pediatric dentist’s office at the Granger Medical Center, a clinic we’ve visited for other reasons in the past two years. He got us an appointment for 11:20.


Mark came home to help me. I was so, so grateful that he took time from his day to help his crazy wife and to be there for his broken son.

Zachary started swelling and the teeth looked like they were almost back to their original location. I could also see that they both were chipped. Yes, chipped.

When we got to the clinic, they tried to take an x-ray of his mouth, but he wouldn’t hold still for it. No worries. The dentist looked at Zachary’s mouth only briefly because Zachary’ wouldn’t hold still (I don’t blame him). He comforted me by telling me that this kind of accident happens a lot more often than I might think.

The dentist then told us that he didn’t think there would be any permanent damage. From what he could see, he thought that Zachary’s mouth was still so unformed that even if his teeth did break, there would be no damage to the permanent teeth. He said those teeth were still “buds” and that ramming baby teeth into them at this stage wouldn’t really do much. The dentist said that if these baby teeth were damaged beyond the chips, he would be able to ascertain better in a couple weeks.

He asked us to make a follow-up appointment for three weeks.

Poor Zachary’s teeth hurt so bad. They still hurt. He tries to bite some things and just can’t—he forgets. But he tries any way. The dentist told us to treat his swelling by alternating between ibuprofen and acetaminophen. (I had to call our pediatrician’s office the next day to find out how much time between the doses. (It’s three hours between the alternating doses, if you want to know.))

Later that same day we went in to the pediatrician’s office for Emma’s check-up. The nice pediatrician (not ours, but other from the office) offered Zachary an Otter Pop because she said it might make him feel a little bit better. I thought that was superb of her.

Zachary’s swelling was at its peak the next morning. The poor kid looked like a Who (think of Dr. Seuss). But the alternating doses of medication did their magic. The swelling was finally gone by Saturday morning.

I have never seen bruised gums before. I have never seen bruising on the inside of the lips. And I have never seen a bruise on the outside of the mouth caused by trauma on the inside. But, I saw all of that with Zachary. Poor kid.