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!

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Wiggling the Tooth

To wiggle that tooth out, use a piece of clean gauze and wrap it around your child’s tooth. Gently wiggle it back and forth. You never want to force a tooth to come out. If the tooth doesn’t feel very loose, leave it alone. If, however, the tooth is very loose and practically hanging there, could can employ the wiggle method until the tooth comes out. You may try twisting a bit to encourage it. Using gauze will help you get a proper grip on the tooth and lessen the chances of a slip!

Eating Crunchy Foods

Crunchy foods are not only great for getting loose teeth to come out, they’re also great for your smile! Foods such as apples, carrots, and celery can actually act as little scrubbers on the teeth and remove plaque and bacteria. These are excellent snacks to keep on hand or to pack in school lunches. If your child has a loose tooth, you can simply encourage them to crunch into an apple or eat some carrots and celery. The chewing action combined with the crunchy, firm nature of these foods can help encourage the loose tooth to come right out!

Employ the Help of Floss

Flossing should be a regular part of your child’s oral care routine, as this important step can remove unseen plaque, food particles, and bacteria. Floss is an excellent tool for when you’re trying to get a stubborn baby tooth to come out as well. You can wrap the floss around the tooth just like you would during normal flossing. Gently pull on the floss near the crown of the tooth and see if the tooth is ready to make its exit!

Leave It Alone

It’s never a good idea to pull a baby tooth before it’s ready and this is never advised. Your child’s set of adult teeth are working their way in at their own pace. Removing the tooth too soon could impact the growth of the adult tooth, or cause unnecessary bleeding and pain for your child.

On the contrary, if the new tooth is clearly coming in and the old one clearly isn’t coming out, it could be time to see the dentist. Regular checkups are a vital part of any child’s oral care. Visit your dentist to ask how your child is doing with their tooth development. Your dentist can advise you what’s normal and even assist with pulling out that tooth!

Your child’s tooth will let you know when it’s ready to come out. Encourage your child to wiggle the tooth on their own until it’s ready. If your child needs assistance, employ one of these dentist-approved ways to remove your child’s tooth!

The post The Best (Dentist-Approved!) Ways to Remove Your Child’s Loose Tooth appeared first on Your Dental Health Resource.

Children generally begin to lose their teeth by age 6 and will continue to lose them for the next several years as they get their adult teeth in. If your child begins losing teeth earlier than age 4 ½, you should see a dentist to evaluate your child for any oral health problems.

Timing of Lost Primary Teeth

Generally, anytime within these years is normal, but a dentist visit can help ensure your child’s adult teeth are on their way!

Age 6-7: Lose First Tooth (Central Incisor)

The first teeth to be lost are usually the central incisors—these are the teeth in the center of the top and bottom rows of teeth, also known as the front teeth or biting teeth. Many children lose their bottom teeth first, but top or bottom teeth may be lost around the same time, which is around age 6 for many children!

Age 7-8: Lose Lateral Incisor

Also known as laterals, these teeth are the teeth neighboring the front teeth. They are usually the next to go after the central incisors and will happen with a year or around the same time as your child’s first baby teeth.

Age 9-11: Lose First Molar

The molars are those bigger teeth towards the back of the mouth that are designed for grinding up food. Your child will tend to lose these teeth a little later in their childhood years, around age 9 or possibly age 11. Your child’s adult molars should be on their way in!

Age 10-12: Lose Canines

Your child will lose their top and bottom canines around the same time, around ages 10-12. Many kids experience a gap in losing teeth between ages 8-10 after losing their incisors but before shedding their molars.

Ages 10-12: Lose Final Primary Teeth (Second Molars)

The second molars are usually the last teeth in the mouth to be shed. These are also the teeth that come in the latest during your child’s toddler years, so it makes sense that they are around for longer! Don’t forget your child’s third molars— also called wisdom teeth— will arrive around the ages of 17-21!

When Is It Too Late to Lose Primary Teeth?

Just as early tooth loss could potentially be a problem, so can late tooth loss. Visiting your dentist can help identify any problems that are present. If your child has not begun losing their teeth by age 7 or 8, you should be concerned.

Losing baby teeth can be a fun experience for children and is a great opportunity for you to talk with them about how important their teeth are to their health. The arrival of their adult teeth is a great milestone for many children, so teach them how to properly care for their teeth and visit your dentist for a checkup!

The post Sequence and Timing of Losing Baby Teeth—Is Your Child on Schedule? appeared first on Your Dental Health Resource.