Pulling out baby teeth yourself can cause many dangerous complications.

At what age do baby teeth change?

When the baby teeth reach the age of replacement, they will automatically fall out or become loose according to a special rule. At this time, under each baby tooth, a permanent tooth grows straight up, destroying the root and crown of the baby tooth above to make room for the permanent tooth according to the following rule:

Order of baby teeth replacement and age of baby teeth replacement:

Central incisors 5 - 7 years old.

Lateral incisors 7 - 8 years old.

First molars 9 - 10 years old.

Baby canines 10 - 11 years old.

Second molars 11 - 12 years old.

When baby teeth are old enough to be replaced but still do not loosen or fall out, external intervention is needed to pull them out to help permanent teeth grow in the right position. The growth or replacement of teeth in children can be 6 - 12 months earlier or later than the above time, but it does not affect the child's development.

How to distinguish loose baby teeth and other diseases

Physiologically loose baby teeth are often suitable for the age when children often change teeth, the looseness will gradually increase and not suddenly cause pain, hindering the child's chewing, the child can feel it slowly. In other cases, if the tooth is loose, the tooth is always accompanied by a pathology directly related to the tooth or the area around the tooth, there is a swelling, pus leakage, the tooth is damaged and the tooth body is broken, maybe only the root remains. Looseness changes suddenly, hindering the child from eating and drinking, there is a feeling of pain when touching or chewing in that tooth area.

Common risks and complications

Children who have their teeth extracted at home run the risk of not removing all of their teeth, prolonged bleeding at the extraction site, infection due to not sterilizing the instruments or not cleaning their hands before extraction, swallowing the extracted tooth due to improper extraction techniques, children being "in pain" and "haunted", and afraid of future dental treatment.

In addition, the time when children lose their baby teeth is also the time when permanent teeth begin to grow. If the child is taken to the clinic to have their teeth extracted, the doctor can also examine the growth of the permanent teeth (are they growing in the correct order, is there enough space on the jawbone for the teeth to develop, are there any signs of disease in the newly grown teeth, are there any abnormalities, etc.).

If children pull out their baby teeth at home, parents may miss the golden time to intervene and correct permanent teeth misalignment at an early stage.

In what cases should you absolutely not pull out your teeth at home?

Children with systemic diseases (such as type 1 diabetes) who attempt to extract teeth at home will not be able to control bleeding after extraction and are at high risk of infection. Children with cardiovascular disease are at risk of endocarditis, blood diseases, liver and kidney diseases, rheumatism or infectious diseases, etc., so tooth extraction must have the consent of pediatricians, cardiologists, maxillofacial surgeons, etc. and must strictly follow antibiotic regimens before and after tooth extraction.

Before extracting a tooth, the doctor must also carefully take the child's medical history, dental history and general medical history to have a suitable tooth extraction method for each individual case. If the child has a high fever, acute gingivitis... then the tooth should not be extracted until all the systemic and local symptoms have disappeared.

Doctors' recommendations for children to have beautiful teeth

Regular dental check-ups are a way to monitor the process of teething, tooth replacement, and jaw bone development in children, helping dentists and families to control early signs of abnormalities, make simple repairs, and limit teething disorders in children until adulthood. Take your child to the dentist for a dental check-up every 6 months to have healthy teeth.

Doctor's advice

When the baby teeth reach the age of physiological replacement and show signs of starting to loosen, parents can help their children apply force to the teeth to speed up the tooth replacement process. Parents can wash their hands or wrap gauze around their index finger to shake the tooth in an inside-out direction, gradually increasing the force day by day until the tooth becomes loose enough to reduce the pain and discomfort of the child pulling the tooth out.

After the baby tooth is extracted, the doctor will let the child bite on cotton (gauze) for 15-20 minutes. Parents should remind the child to bite the gauze tightly, swallow saliva normally, do not use the tongue to kick the newly extracted tooth to avoid prolonged bleeding, eat soft and cold foods, and clean the mouth as usual. If there is prolonged bleeding that does not stop, swelling and pain in the extraction area, fever and other systemic signs, contact the doctor immediately.