Your child’s baby teeth are starting to loosen, and just like me, you’re searching for guidance on to How to Care for and Preserve Your Child’s Loose Tooth.
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Not knowing how to deal with my child’s loose tooth lead me to research and write a post to help parents along this fun new stage in your child’s life!
Along the way, I’ve found some pretty interesting possibly life-saving reasons to keep your child’s baby tooth.
My son is on his 4th lost tooth now and he gets super excited about it every time!
Just this past couple of weeks he’s lost two of his teeth!
He began losing his teeth last year and it wasn’t until the end of this year that he lost another two.
We expect he’ll lose another one or two since he already has other teeth that are starting loosen up.
The tooth-fairy will be busy that’s for sure.
Children usually begin losing their teeth around age 6-7.
As I mentioned above he began losing his teeth last year, he was a few months shy of turning six.
Your child has a loose tooth, what now?
Encourage your child to wiggle their loose tooth often (with clean hands).
Wiggling will possibly minimize any pain or blood and allow the tooth to fall out on its own or with little effort.
My son also used his tongue to try to loosen the tooth further. Small twists may help as well.
Please note this may take between a few days to weeks for a tooth to fall out.
There’s no need to rush unless your child is in pain, then I would recommend visiting a dentist to see if there’s an existing problem.
Once the tooth has been extracted naturally or pulled I recommend cleaning it before storing it.
Clean and Disinfect Baby Tooth
Wash tooth with warm water and soap (not in the sink – we don’t want the tooth to accidentally fall into the drain)
Grab a small bowl instead! (Trust me on this)
Boil the tooth for a few minutes to disinfect.
Allow Tooth to Dry
Allow the tooth to dry completely to keep bacteria away. You may airdry or keep it out in the sun on a paper towel.
Place under your child’s pillow (Optional)
You may or may not call upon the Toothfairy, we have and my son enjoys getting her notes. We also place a coin under his pillow in return for a tooth that’s in good condition.
You may be as elaborate as you want, some parents sprinkle “fairy dust aka glitter” around the pillow to make it even more exciting but we don’t go that far in our household.
Store in a Memory Container
Since the tooth fairy technically collects baby teeth, I came up with the idea that she takes it away for a good cleaning and returns it to the parents for safekeeping.
I wouldn’t be able to keep them if she’s real and takes the teeth away right?
Most parents enjoy keeping small mementos of childhood and we purchased a beautiful box to store his teeth. We thought this baby tooth keepsake box was the best solution and my son loves it too.
There may be an added life-saving benefit to keeping your child’s baby teeth.
Although the science is still in its early stages, there is a report by the United States National Center for Biotechnology Information that states:
The report concludes that: “Tooth derived stem cells represent a viable source of adult stem cells for regenerative medicine.” “The unique origin of these cells can contribute to the regeneration of various tissue types.”
Now you know what to do when your child’s baby teeth start falling!
Now go on a be a good tooth fairy!
xo,
Ellen
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