How to Pull your Child’s Baby Teeth

When your child first got their baby teeth, they probably weren’t able to tell you what they were experiencing. When they start losing them, however, you probably won’t hear the end of it!

Losing teeth can be a strange sensation for kids, and parents may not know quite what to do about them. Here’s a guide on how to deal with a loose baby tooth and ease some of your child’s uncertainty.

Removing Loose Baby Teeth

Thankfully, most of the work when it comes to baby teeth will happen without you or your child doing anything. Baby teeth will fall out on their own when they’re ready. However, if your child wants to loosen up their tooth, there’s a right way to go about it so that they don’t accidentally do any damage to their gums.

Encourage your child to wiggle their tooth with their tongue, not their hand. Kids’ hands tend to have bacteria on them that can potentially lead to an oral infection. Moreover, there’s also a danger of pulling on the tooth too hard and forcing it out before it’s ready.

What to Avoid

Often, parents have a few ideas about fun ways to pull out their kid’s baby teeth, like the classic “string on a doorknob.” There’s nothing wrong with these in theory, but you need to be careful not to accidentally pull out your child’s tooth too soon; that could result in a bleeding wound, which may become infected.

If you want to try some fun or memorable methods of pulling out baby teeth, try to be gentle. If you do tie a string to a doorknob, try just shutting the door instead of slamming it.

When your child loses their baby teeth, that’s something worth celebrating. Hopefully, this guide will help you make it an event to remember, without any apprehension.

About the Author

Dr. Angelica Rohner began her career in special education before realizing that she wanted to teach children in a different way—as a dentist! Dr. Rohner graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry, then completed her pediatric residency at the Children’s Hospital of Alabama. She’s also a current member of both the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.

If you have any questions about how children can manage a loose tooth, she can be reached at her website or by phone at (205) 870-0892.