Dentures: Facts, Figures and Friendly Advice for Seniors

Should You Pull Your Child's Loose Baby Tooth?

13 June 2022

Herman Kim

When your young child has a loose baby tooth, you may be tempted to try and pull it out. A loose tooth can cause discomfort when your child eats, particularly when biting into hard foods, and your child may be quite vocal about how annoying their wobbly tooth is. However, you can be assured that it's perfectly normal for a milk tooth to take weeks, or even months, to fall out once it starts to loosen. A loose baby tooth presents no risk to your child and you shouldn't try and hurry things along by attempting to pull it out, as this can cause problems. Read on to learn about the risks associated with pulling out a loose baby tooth.

Bleeding

The roots of your child's baby teeth will dissolve before the tooth falls out, so it tends to fall out naturally when there's nothing left connecting the tooth to the socket. At this point, there's very little bleeding when the tooth comes out and minimal discomfort for your child. However, if you pull a tooth when the roots are still intact, damage to the gum tissue can cause significant bleeding. This can be distressing to young children and cause them to be anxious about further tooth loss.

Pain

When a tooth is removed before it is ready to fall out, the soft tissues, tooth socket and nerve within the tooth pulp can experience trauma, causing pain. Your child may develop facial swelling in response to this trauma and require painkillers. Again, this can negatively influence how they feel about future tooth loss and even routine dental appointments.

Bacterial Infection

Pulling a tooth can cause pieces of the root to be left behind in the socket or expose the socket and gum tissue to bacteria from the mouth. When bacteria enter the tooth socket, an infection can develop quickly. This type of infection tends to be painful and may require a dental procedure to help with recovery if an abscess develops in the socket or along the gum line.

Misalignment

When a baby tooth is removed before the adult tooth that will replace it has moved into the correct position within the gum for emergence, your child's remaining teeth can move and spread out into the gap left by the extracted tooth. This means that when the replacement tooth does emerge, it may not have enough room and overcrowding can occur. This can impact your child's speech, and orthodontic care may be required to correct the misalignment.

A wobbly tooth may be a little frustrating to you or your child, but as long as there's no pain or signs of infection, such as gum inflammation or tooth discolouration, it's best to let the tooth fall out on its own. If you do have any concerns about your child's teeth, schedule a check-up with their dentist.

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