This is often a question we receive here at Forever Smiles Pediatric Dentistry. Children’s “baby teeth” can sometimes cling on for far longer than we would like. These hanging teeth can cause slight bleeding at the gums, pain, and sensitivity to cold and hot temperatures. Growing up, it was pretty common to hear about parents helping their loose children’s teeth out in a variety of ways.
Ways We’ve Heard Of Parents Removing Teeth
- The Classic – Attaching the tooth to a doorknob and closing the door
- The Gamer – Attaching the tooth to a nerf projectile
- The Caveman – Attaching the tooth to a rock and letting gravity do the work
- The Outdoorsmen – Attaching the tooth to a bike and having it pull the tooth out
(We DO NOT suggest any of these)
These situations can end in a bit more blood than the parent was expecting but the question still lingers. Should parents give their children’s teeth a little extra help on the way out?
At the end of the day, the answer to this question is no. Not only can pulling teeth in these inventive but unmonitored ways lead to tissue damage but your child could end up with a serious infection. If manual removal is required, the tooth should be removed by a professional. Call our office at 650-282-5758 to get your child seen quickly. Or request an appointment with this easy online form.