Common Waterslide Mistake Ends in Dental Horror

Waterslides are a children’s dream. However, for one mum, a trip to the waterpark at a caravan park turned into a nightmare after her daughter was seriously injured on a waterslide.

The mum shares her story with Tiny Hearts Education, a first aid website, through Instagram. It serves as an important reminder for all parents – don’t let your kids climb up the slides!

The mum writes to Tiny Hearts Education from a paediatrics ward with her 10-year-old daughter. As she explains, the family were visiting a caravan park and went to the waterpark which included waterslides.

She writes,

‘Never did I think our weekend away would end the way it did.’

[My 10-year-old] went down the waterslide with her brother having a blast. They then decided to walk back up the slide, the wrong way, when her brother lost his footing, taking her out.

She fell face forward into the slide, knocking her two front teeth into her nasal region, losing a whole tooth which she spat into my hand and causing multiple fractures to her alveolar bone in her jaw.

dental trauma after waterslide accident — Source: Instagram

She had to undergo maxillofacial surgery to bring the teeth down and re-implant the tooth that came out, stint the teeth and stitch her mouth back together.

She was left with only 50 % and 70% of the bone and will likely require a bone graft in the weeks/months to come.

I for sure never thought such injuries could come from walking up a water slide, but the signs are there for a reason.

This is the greatest dental trauma the emergency hospital we attended has ever seen.”

What to do if your child’s tooth comes out

The story has received an outpouring of “happened to us too” moments from parents who have also witnessed their little ones lose a tooth. Turns out, that kids having their teeth knocked out is really common. Two out of three of my kids knocked their teeth as toddlers (mum of the year award right here).

Tiny Hearts Education shares some incredibly important tips for parents if they are ever faced with a missing tooth situation:

🥛 Handle the tooth by the crown (smooth white part, not pointy part).
🥛 If dirty, rinse with milk or saline for a few seconds (Don’t use water!).
🥛 Don’t let the tooth dry out. Keep the tooth in saliva, milk or saline.
🥛 If the tooth that has come out is a baby tooth do not attempt to put it back into the gum.

Tiny Hearts Education adds,

Save this post so you know exactly what to do, should this ever happen to you or your little one.”

An important reminder

Of course, it’s easy to say, “My child would never do that” or “I wouldn’t let them do that” but let’s all remember that sometimes kids do things they shouldn’t, even when told not to. Accidents happen to us all. Not just at waterparks but at regular parks too. Children love to climb, and climbing UP a slide is part of the fun.

waterslide child — Don’t even think about it! Source: Bigstock

However, hopefully, stories like this will gently remind us all to take action if our kids do try this common stunt.

A mum shared a similar horror slide story at her local playground. She went down the slide with her toddler (as we do) and her toddler got his leg trapped in between her leg and the side. It resulted in a horrible snap and a very scary trip to the ER. You can read about it here. The image of the accident in action is below.