Table of Contents
Introduction
In an ideal world, parents would instead allow their children’s teeth to fall out naturally. When the baby teeth fall out at the right stage during the child’s physical development, the adult tooth can grow in and minimize the chances of problems happening later on. However, you know that everything in life is not always ideal. That is why there are cases when an extraction of a baby tooth is essential. Even if it must happen before the age of six, baby teeth naturally begin to fall out so the permanent ones can take over.
Let’s talk about the reasons for the milk teeth extraction and how to remove baby teeth.
Why Is It Sometimes Necessary To Extract Baby Teeth?
The last thing that dentists want to do is pull out baby teeth before they naturally fall out. That is because there are plenty of risks associated with premature extraction of baby teeth, such as the adult teeth not coming correctly. That can cause overcrowding of the permanent teeth, which means that plenty of expensive and extensive orthodontic work must happen. The reasons go beyond cosmetic purposes. That is because other forms of complications will occur if the orthodontic work doesn’t correct overcrowding issues.
However, there are times when it is critical to remove baby teeth. That is because the risks outweigh the benefits of keeping them in. Let’s look at some of the reasons that dentists opt for baby tooth extraction.
- 1. Severe Tooth Decay
Anytime a child has a cavity in any of their first teeth, the first option is not dental extraction. There are fluoride treatments dentists use to help restore a tooth with a hole and fillings. However, there are times when tooth decay is too severe that dentists do not have a choice other than to pull the decayed tooth out. If a decayed tooth stays in, it can cause the surrounding teeth to rot away. That is not a risk to take. Therefore, in that case, extraction of the baby tooth is the best option.
- 2. Damaged Tooth
Removing chipped or damaged baby teeth beyond repair because of a severe accident is sometimes the way to go. If damaged teeth stay in, it can bring on other complications such as tooth decay and long-term gum problems. Therefore, the extraction of broken teeth is the only solution to worsening a problematic situation. A minor chip on a tooth will not warrant the tooth for removal.
- 3. Over-Retained Baby Teeth
An appropriate time for the extraction of baby teeth is when it comes to them preventing the eruption of permanent teeth. The baby teeth overstay their welcome and will keep the adult teeth from naturally coming in. For example, at age six is when the first bottom teeth fall out. However, if the child is eight years old, and those teeth are still present, the dentist will want to extract it. The dentist may remove the top middle teeth since they naturally fall out when the child is around seven years of age. A reputable dentist will know when a baby tooth is staying in its place for too long and will not extract it before the right time.
That issue occasionally happens when a young adult or an older teen has a baby molar left. The dentist will extract that molar so the permanent one can erupt.
- 4. Providing Space For Orthodontic Treatment
If permanent teeth are growing poorly, the child’s dentist may refer the child to an orthodontist to evaluate whether or not the extraction of remaining baby teeth is necessary. Sometimes the dentist will agree to remove baby teeth if the child will need to have extensive orthodontic treatment because of the permanent teeth beginning to erupt poorly. Removal of baby teeth in this particular instance will help provide enough space for the child’s orthodontic treatment.
As you can see, there are rare circumstances for baby tooth extraction. When it comes to a loose baby tooth taking a long time to fall out, the tooth should fall out naturally. The parents must not extract the tooth as that can cause gum damage and bleeding. A tooth falling out at the right time should not cause much or any bleeding. Parents should also never be the ones to extract baby teeth. Dentists will do that when it comes to any of the above reasons for them to do so.
How Do Dentists Remove Baby Teeth?
There are several ways that oral surgeons or dentists remove baby teeth. One way is the simple extraction where the oral surgeon or dentist injects a local anesthetic where the procedure will take place. Then they use a tool called an elevator to loosen the tooth and uses forceps for the extraction. If the tooth is visible, then a simple extraction will work.
The other form of baby tooth removal is through a surgical extraction. That is a lot more invasive than the simple extraction. That is only necessary if there is an embedding of the tooth or impacted by the jaw bone. The child will require a local anesthetic as well as nitrous oxide. Sometimes a general anesthetic is necessary.
After the procedure, children must wait several hours to eat and to drink. The dentist or oral surgeon will tell parents that they must monitor the healing and not allow their kids to use a straw or spit too much. That can remove the blood clot required to heal the open wound from the procedure. Parents can place ice packs during 20-minute intervals to help reduce swelling. Children that undergo either operation will have a follow-up appointment with the dentist or oral surgeon.
Conclusion
In a perfect world, children‘ will lose their baby teeth at the right time so that the permanent teeth will grow naturally. However, it is a known fact that this world is not perfect, and there are circumstances when the extraction of baby teeth is necessary before the time it can naturally fall out.
Examples of reasons for baby tooth extraction are the result of severe tooth decay or tooth damage. Over-retained baby teeth are another reason the first set of teeth must come out. And finally, if the permanent teeth are growing poorly, dentists will sometimes agree that the remaining baby teeth’ extraction is the best idea for orthodontic reasons. However, otherwise, allow the baby teeth to fall out at the right time, so the adult teeth have an excellent chance to grow correctly.