Wiggling teeth
VISIT any six-year-old classroom, and you’re sure to be met with gap toothed smiles, and if you ask, you’ll get stories about what the Tooth Fairy left under the pillows for each lost tooth. It’s a rite of passage for children, one that can bring any emotion, from stress to anxiety, fear and excitement at finally entering the world of the big girls and boys.
Many adults will tell stories of how they lost childhood teeth — traditional stories usually involve a piece of string and a slamming door, or a dad holding a pair of pliers. It’s this tradition that many paediatricians warn against, leading many parents to question what exactly should be done with a loose tooth.
Baby teeth won’t fall out until your child’s permanent teeth are ready to come in, some time around age six. The teeth will fall out in the order they appeared — usually bottom front two first, then top front two.
Doctors advise that you not attempt to force out the baby teeth to make preparation for adult teeth as force — like the strings and pliers of our past — can cause problems with infection and excessive bleeding.
Instead, the advice is to allow the new teeth to push out the old ones, and at best, talk with your dentist about concerns before you intervene and play extractor yourself.
Other suggestions include allowing the child to wiggle the tooth themselves, with their tongues or fingers, thereby allowing them to control the pain, and feeding them food which when bitten, may allow the tooth to come out painlessly with the food.
When do they lose the teeth?
Children will lose teeth around age six, but some do so before, and some long after. Dentists say that the longer the baby took to get teeth, the longer the child will take to lose them. The teeth usually start shaking, and sometimes new ones grow behind the old ones — called shark teeth — before the old ones become loose.
Lessons they can learn from the Tooth Fairy
Whether you think it’s bollocks to believe or not, there are some lessons your child can learn from the Tooth Fairy — lessons that can help them in life. Before you go with your apathy, killing their hope and belief in this magical tooth-collecting gift carrier, consider these suggestions from mother of three Sandra Brooks.
1. Don’t tell your kids that the Tooth Fairy doesn’t exist. There’s absolutely no reason to do this to a young child, as they will eventually find out for themselves — the same applies to Santa Claus! Instead, feed their imagination and play along with them as you tell stories of what method of transport the fairy will use to come collect lost teeth.
2. The Tooth Fairy’s arrival is a great way to get a fussy child to sleep. Tell them that the fairy won’t come unless they’re sleeping, and they’ll go eagerly to bed.
3. You can use the Tooth Fairy to spread the oral health message. Write a note from the Tooth Fairy, telling your child of the importance of brushing often. Your problems with getting your child to brush before bed will practically disappear.
4. Let them use money from the Tooth Fairy to invest in dental care items. Don’t buy candy, let them, on the instructions of the Tooth Fairy, of course, use the money for toothbrushes, floss and toothpaste.
— PC
