If you liked bearing through your child’s process of teething, you’re going to love going through it all over again while they start losing their baby teeth and growing in their adult teeth. The good news is that they won’t be crying incessantly from the pain of the adult teeth growing in. However, losing the teeth is a slow and awkward process that can get a bit emotional at times.
When kids start losing teeth, they will experience a lot of anxiety over the moment that the tooth finally comes out, but the more teeth they lose, the more comfortable they will get with this process. Here are some basics to know for when your child’s baby teeth start to fall out.
The Typical Age Period is 5-7 Years
The baby teeth are also known as the primary teeth. Most kids start to lose their primary teeth around age 5 or 6. In some cases they may not start losing teeth until they are about 7 years old. Your child may be anxious to start losing teeth like their friends, but it should definitely happen by age 7, and if you have any older children, I’m sure you will welcome the extended period between guiding your kids through this process.
Some Kids Start a Little Bit Earlier
It’s important to remember that just because most kids don’t start losing their teeth until 5 or 6, it’s not at all unheard of for some kids to start losing those teeth at age 4. It may seem like they just finished growing in all of their baby teeth not that long ago, but rest assured that this does happen a lot and it’s not an indication of anything wrong with your child.
The First to Go
Typically, the two front teeth on the bottom are the first to go. They also tend to be the first ones to grow in when your baby is teething. Nonetheless, these are usually the smallest and the oldest, so they are almost always the first to go. Your child will surely tell you when they start to feel that first tooth wiggle, and you will need to make sure that they are not sticking their hands in their mouths at all times of the day.
When to Become Alarmed
If your child starts losing teeth extremely early and it’s not the ones in front and on bottom, then your dentist should be sure to look for signs of trauma or decay. If your child has experienced some form of trauma to the mouth, then it’s likely that the teeth that have been struck will go first. If there is some kind of decay happening in their teeth, then you will need to talk to your dentist immediately about getting to the bottom of it.
How to Support Your Child Through the Process
There are going to be times when your child is happy and excited about losing teeth, and there will be times when they are in a lot of pain. You want to be sure that you are listening to them when they are in pain and teaching them how to gently wiggle and eventually pull the tooth out.
