Is your child losing their baby teeth? – What to expect

During childhood, there are many representative milestones, one of which is losing their baby teeth. It is normal for a child to lose their baby teeth, to make way for the permanent ones to grow. This process will end when your child is 17-21 years old when the last molars will erupt (known as wisdom teeth).

When most children feel that they have a wiggly tooth, they will feel excited because the tooth fairy will visit them. Others worry that the fall of the tooth will hurt them. If your child is concerned about this, you can make them feel better by reassuring that the process will not hurt.

The first in – first out rule

A child has in total 20 baby teeth that erupt by age 3. The rule about changing teeth says that the teeth will fall in the same order in which they erupted. The first teeth to go are most of the time the lower center teeth, around age 6, being followed by the top center pair.

The baby teeth don’t start to become wiggly until the permanent tooth below start to push from beneath. It is possible for kids to lose a tooth or two before the permanent tooth is ready to come in, as a result of dental disease or a traumatic accident. If your child has lost a baby tooth and the permanent one is still not showing, you should take them to a dentist to receive a custom-fit plastic holder until the adult tooth emerges. The spacer helps prevent future spacing problems for the permanent teeth.

The period when a child starts to lose their teeth may differ from other children. Some kids start to lose their teeth at 4, while others at age 7. In general, the younger the child was when the baby tooth erupted, the earlier the tooth changing process will begin. If your child starts losing teeth before age 4, you should take them to a dentist because this could be the sign of an underlying problem.

Baby teeth become obsolete

You can encourage your child to softly wiggle the tooth that has become loose. But you should explain to your child to avoid yanking it before the tooth is ready to fall out. If the tooth is removed forcibly, the broken root can cause an infection.

If a loose tooth refuses to fall, it may require a little bit more motivation from a dentist (although it is hardly ever necessary).

Permanent teeth are gold

You will see that the permanent teeth are bigger than baby teeth, and this is normal. In addition to this, the adult teeth tend to be discolored and with pronounced ridges. This is because the adult teeth have not been used for biting and chewing yet.

Sometimes, a couple of permanent teeth come in before the baby teeth are gone. This will create two rows of teeth, but this is only a temporary stage (known as shark’s teeth period).

For more information about baby teeth, you can ask your dentist.