My daughter who will be 6 in October has her first (actually 3 loose teeth at once) loose tooth. The left central incisor is wiggling like it has almost nothing to hold onto. I have heard people say to pull it out, and others say not to because it may affect the new teeth coming in. Also, I don't want her to swallow it in her food or sleep.... Advice anyone?
She ended up pushing it out with her tongue! She then decorated an envelope and put her tooth inside, then the Tooth Fairy left her $2. I added the date to the envelope for safe keeping :)
If it's hanging by a thread? Use a tissue and pull it out.
Otherwise, tell her to wiggle it a lot with her tongue or CLEAN hand.
Don't do anything, it will fall out eventually and in the very unlikely event that she swallows it then it will just pass, like a pebble.
What does her dentist say?
You don't need to do anything. It will come out on its own, and she's unlikely to swallow it.
I'd leave it, but honestly, what terrible thing could happen if she swallowed it? It won't hurt her. Other than writing a note to the tooth fairy to explain the need for cash without ransoming the tooth, there's no problem.
She isn't likely to swallow it. Most kids pester their loose teeth until they get them out themselves.
If she does swallow it, it isn't likely to hurt her.
Just leave it be and let it fall out.
Dentists suggest that pulling out loose teeth can cause more gum bleeding, more pain and run a possibility of infection. Waiting will help. An application of a little clove oil on the affected area can numb some pain if that's a problem. If not, give her something chewy to eat that she can tolerate-- even a popsicle will be helpful because it's cold.
Otherwise, leave it alone. :)
I'd let it go. If she's anything like my kid, it will fall out on its own very soon.
If it's hanging by a thread, pull it already else she could swallow it.
Swallowing it won't harm her but she'll have nothing for the Tooth Fairy.
(Our son swallowed a few.)
Get a small box like a little jewelry box (like what a ring comes in) and it makes a cute Tooth Fairy box.
20 quarters was the going rate per tooth in our house.
It's not really a lot of money but that many coins seems like treasure.
Our son LOVED putting them all into his piggy bank!
my dad used to get the pliers out and pull on 'em when they were wiggly and get them out. really unnecessary, but fun for the rest of the family to watch<G>.
with my boys i let them get looser and looser until they were really super-dangly. then they could yank 'em the rest of the way or not as they felt comfortable. with the last few teeth i think they kind of enjoyed it.
if the tooth is really loose, of course pulling it won't affect the permanent teeth. i doubt that pulling them too early would either. it's just painful and unnecessary.
she's unlikely to swallow it, but if she does, no biggie. she just puts a note under her pillow for the tooth fairy, whom i've found to be very lenient in matters like this.
:) khairete
S.
If it's hanging by a thread, not sure why pulling on it would affect the new teeth. Sometimes our dentist has pulled my kids' loose teeth if they had a cavity, rather than having them filled. Their new teeth came in fine - straight and in place. So if this one is just hanging there, if she gave it a wiggle, I'm sure the new teeth will be fine.
The only thing I can think of is if you pull it before it's ready, the gums may bleed a bit.
One of my kids works his loose. He can't stand to wait. He just wraps it in gauze, and twists. The others all let them come out on their own good time. They just wiggle with their finger or tongue to work it loose.
My mother used to hand us an apple. Kind of gross, but it worked like a charm. It's what our old dentist used to recommend.
Do nothing it will come out. Four kids, 4 of the grandchildren list teeth. No one ever swallowed one.
She can pull out the one that is just hanging on so she doesn't swallow it, but if the others are just wiggling I would not pull those out.
My daughter had swallowed at least two baby teeth and she is just fine, it does happen sometimes.
I don't do anything. All my son's have fallen out when he was eating. He never swallowed one.
My daughter pulls them out. Our neighbor who works for our dentist, says she is a good girl for pulling them. I guess there is no harm. I can't handle it!
My father was an oral surgeon. Every time I'd proudly show him my wiggly tooth, he'd go "oh, let me see!" and the next thing I knew, he'd have popped it out with his thumb! It used to make me mad because I didn't want it out! I wanted to play with it! I still tease him about it today.
So no, I'd say there's no possible damage to the underlying teeth.
I just tell my kids to keep wiggling it and when it comes out they can put it under their pillow for the tooth fairy. I never do anything. My kids excitedly tell me when they get it out. My son is 11 and has lost a bunch of teeth. My daughter is almost 6 and has lost 2 teeth. My son once had a molar that really hurt and he cried. He didn't want to eat much for a day. He did get it out later that day and it had a big root that looked sharp. Besides this one tooth it usually is an easy but long process of lots of wiggling of the tooth. I think you don't have to worry about your child swallowing it. But if they do then the tooth fairy will still deliver the $ if you leave a note.
;)
If it is hanging by just a tiny bit, you could pull it if she will let you. I always just let it be and we would find to tooth on the pillow or they would coming running to me that the tooth came out. You could also have her eat an apple and it might help. But if the teeth are just really wiggly ,I would just leave it alone. If the teeth are loose and she has not had an injury, then it is time for them to come out-the "root" they had is gone and a new one is in there somewhere. Sometimes it seems like it will never come in.
Honestly, if she did swallow it, it would not hurt her since it is small.
What do you think is going to happen if she does swallow it? It won't hurt her and a piece of paper and some creativity will replace the tooth for the pillow. So why are you willing to hurt her?
I have four kids, never did a tooth get swallowed. I would imagine it is rare considering how strange kids are about loose teeth.
No need to do ANYthing :)
It will come out on its own. And when it's truly ready it won't even hurt. Like Fuzzy said - most kids can't help but mess with it, which causes it to get looser and looser. Just let it be.
I just pulled my sons first loose incisor on the bottom last night and he pulled his own first top molar this morning. I have always been one to pull when they are ready because it gets in the way of eating. The incisor though was loose for a long time and he wasn't wiggling it. The permanent tooth was coming up under it and it actually started to firm up. football practice started and his mouth guard made it get loose enough but I still had to pull quite hard to get it out from behind the big tooth. There were no roots left on the tooth so it was being held in their by his other tooth. I say pull it if she will let you.
