Your child’s baby teeth are essential to their adult smile. Baby teeth help guide permanent
teeth into place, so losing a baby tooth early can impact your child’s future smile.
Caring for primary teeth until they naturally fall out can help your child have the best chance for a healthy smile. Children begin to lose their teeth beginning around age six and will continue until all their primary teeth have been replaced with adult teeth.
What are some best practices when it comes to your child losing his or her primary teeth? Here’s what you should know as a parent when your child is getting their adult teeth in.
Your Child’s Tooth Most Likely Is Fine
If your child is starting to lose their baby teeth, it’s important to let the natural process continue rather than trying to help it along. Your child’s tooth most likely is fine, so don’t pull on your child’s loose teeth or attempt to extract them early.
Your child’s loose tooth will come out when it’s ready. If you do decide to pull the tooth, you could cause your child undue pain, excessive bleeding, or even risk an infection. Simply letting your child’s tooth come out naturally is all you need to do!
When to Intervene with Your Child’s Loose Tooth
If there ever is a baby tooth that needs assistance with coming out, your dentist will let you know. If the baby tooth in question needs to be pulled, your dentist will speak with you about what the problem is as well as how to proceed.
It’s never a good idea to attempt to pull your child’s tooth without an evaluation from a dentist, so always get regular checkups to ensure your child’s adult teeth are coming in properly. Unless your dentist tells you otherwise, it’s best to leave your child’s loose teeth alone.
How to Help Your Child
You can encourage your child’s permanent teeth to come in properly without a hands-on approach!
First, seeing your child’s dentist can help encourage proper tooth development and a beautiful smile. Secondly, having your child care for their teeth—including brushing, flossing, and eating the right foods—can further facilitate healthy teeth and gums.
Finally, when your child’s baby teeth do begin to fall out, you can encourage your child to gently wiggle the tooth back and forth, but be clear that they shouldn’t pull on a tooth that simply isn’t ready to come out. Don’t be afraid that your child will choke on or swallow a loose tooth; this rarely happens!
When it’s time for your little one to lose their baby teeth, you can be encouraging and supportive during this time without hurting your child’s smile. It’s always a good idea to let baby teeth fall out naturally rather than attempting to pull them out yourself, although your dentist can let you know if you need to intervene in any way. Schedule an appointment with your child’s dentist today to ensure your little one’s teeth are on track to become a beautiful adult smile!
