How to Pull a Loose Tooth That Won’t Come Out?

Losing the first tooth is one of the very important moments in your child’s life. This is the time when they learn more about Tooth Fairy, plus they are excited to get new teeth. This process usually starts at the age of six and the first baby teeth to go are the incisors, located in the middle front. The molars which are placed in the back come out later at the age of ten or twelve. 

While this is in most cases a very exciting period for kids, parents might have a lot of concerns about potential complications with loose teeth, and one of them is a situation when they simply won’t come out. Luckily there are different ways how you can speed up this process and help your child get that stubborn tooth out. 

One of the first things you should do is to check why the tooth is loose in the first place. The natural reason for this is osteoclasts, a process in which the cells underneath gums are falling apart to release a way for the new teeth to come out. However, in some cases, the tooth can become loose because of injury or trauma, in those situations, it is necessary to visit your dentists right away because it can lead to infections that will affect the permanent teeth too. 

Let Nature Handle It Unless Your Child Has Tooth Pain

The best thing you can do is to let nature take its course and wait for the tooth to come out. This will minimize the bleeding and pain because you will not be pulling the tooth prematurely. Also, it will lower chances for infections caused by injured gum tissue or different spatial problems like crowded or drifter forward teeth which usually happens when you pull out the tooth before the permanent teeth are ready to replace them. 

Although it might be challenging to wait for so long until that stubborn tooth falls out, it is the best thing to do. On the other side, if your child is dealing with extensive pain, swelling in their gums, or stops brushing teeth or eating regularly because of discomfort caused by this teething process you should schedule an appointment at your dentist.

Besides waiting for nature to handle this, it is very important to explain to your child that good oral hygiene is a must even when the tooth comes out and that they shouldn’t skip brushing, and using the kids’ mouthwash regularly. 

When You Should Visit Your Dentist?

Besides the above-mentioned issues like tooth pain and swelling gums, there is another situation in which you will need to take your child to the dentist. If you can see the permanent tooth is coming out and trying to push the baby tooth out of the way, this is something that should not be left to chance. 

A dentist will be able to check if the baby tooth is affecting the permanent one and whether it can cause problems with alignment that can lead to medical necessity for braces in the future. This is something that only a professional can tell, and if necessary extract the primary tooth to prevent damaging the adult one. 

In case that you have managed to pull the baby tooth out at home, keep in mind that it is normal for your child to feel the pain and soreness for a couple of minutes after that. If it continues, this can be a sign of a more serious problem, so you should visit your dentist as soon as possible. 

Should You Pull Out the Loose Tooth on Your Own?

Because of the difficulties that a loose tooth can cause to your child, you may have the urge to just pull it out. Because of that, many parents are thinking about whether they should pull the baby tooth out on their own or not. 

Although it may seem like a simple procedure, it can cause various dental problems to your child, and the answer is – no. As we said, the safest way is to wait until it comes out naturally or to visit a dentist and get professional advice. 

Many of us remember getting a little help from our parents with loose baby teeth when we were kids. This usually included strings to be attached to the tooth and other objects to make this process finish a little quicker. However, when the time comes for your child to experience this, we suggest you not to use the tricks from your childhood and to consult a professional for any further actions. Besides that, the children are usually very curious about this process, and they might play with a loose baby tooth and wiggle it until it falls out on its own.