Losing Baby Teeth – What To Do
Early years dental advice
Here at your Abbey Road dentist, we know how excited children can get when they get their very first loose tooth. Usually this is because they have been told about the magical tooth fairy who might just leave them a gift in exchange for their tooth! Their first wobbly tooth is certainly a milestone, and is just a small part of a long process the child has to go through to get their permanent teeth.
Is Your Child Worried?
It might be that your child is worried about getting their first wobbly tooth and isn’t too keen on the prospect. If this is the case, you have a few different approaches. Of course a visit to us to reassure them about the tooth is fine, we’re more than happy to include some gentle chats about wobbly teeth as part of your child’s general dental checkup. Of course, you will also want to reassure them yourself and tell them their teeth falling out isn’t likely to hurt at all; but if it does, then there are ways to make the pain go away.
What Will Happen And When?
Your child has 20 baby teeth, which they were born with and their first tooth is likely to pop up when they are about 1, but could come up before or after that time – every child is different. All of these 20 teeth are likely to have come up by the time the child reaches the age of 3. The teeth tend to fall out in the same order they popped up.
More often than not you will find the two teeth in the lower centre set are the first to fall out when the child gets to between 5 and 6, although sometimes they can be as young as 4 or even reaching 7. The higher centre set are then likely to follow. None of the teeth will start to come loose until the permanent tooth underneath starts pushing its way up. The only exception to this is when there is a dental disease or injury. If a child does lose a tooth prematurely, a spacer might be used where the baby tooth came out, in order to keep the space until the adult tooth is ready to come through. If your child loses a tooth pre aged 4 or they get to 7 or 8 and haven’t lost any teeth yet, it is a good idea to visit your NW8 Abbey Road dentist to check there isn’t anything wrong.
When Your Child Has Wobbly Teeth
When your child starts to get wobbly teeth there’s nothing wrong with them gently wiggling the tooth, but the loose teeth should never be pulled aggressively so the root isn’t damaged. A broken root can be vulnerable to infection. The entire process should not be painful for your child, but the 6 year molars might cause some pain, in which case your pharmacist can advise you on topical painkillers suitable for our child.
When Your Child Gets Their Permanent Teeth
Your child’s new teeth may look too big for their mouth, because they are bigger than the baby teeth your child had before. The teeth will also be much less milky white than the baby teeth, and have little ridges on them, which will fade as the child uses the teeth for eating.
Visit Abbey Road Dental For More Advice On Baby Teeth
Regular visits to the dentist are really important for children, particularly at this vital stage of the dental change. Oral hygiene is particularly important, and as the family friendly dentist we have lots of great techniques to teach children how to care for their teeth in a fun and easy to understand way they will understand. Call us on 02076241603 and we will be more than happy to book you an appointment.