Deciduous (milk or primary) teeth are very important for our young patients. We often hear parents saying that milk teeth don’t need brushing, let alone fixing. This is a huge misconception which can put a child in unpleasant and painful situations.
Deciduous (milky) teeth
There are 20 milky teeth, 10 in each jaw:
- 4 incisors – front teeth
- 2 cuspids – canine teeth
- 4 premolars
Shedding (exfoliation) of deciduous teeth
Around the age of six, deciduous teeth start to shed. Lower central incisors are the first to go, between 6 and 7 years of age, followed by the lateral incisors between age 7 and 8.
The shedding than goes like this – first premolars go out between age 9 to 11, followed by second premolars and finally cuspids between age 10 and 12.
When the time comes for shedding teeth, some milk teeth start wobbling by themselves. This happens because permanent teeth push on the roots of the primary teeth – a so called root resorption.
Who should pull out a wobbly tooth?
Our stomatologists advise that tooth should be pulled out at the dentist’s office, in controlled and sterile conditions. This prevents any and all complication.
It is best that this intervention is scheduled during morning hours when a child is still well-rested. The child should have a light breakfast hour or two before the intervention.
No matter how simple the extraction of milk tooth might look, it is still considered to be an oral-surgical procedure.
Our stomatologists are very caring to a child who comes to our office to have its tooth extracted. We won‘t scare a child with complicated language but we won’t lie to them either. We usually tell the young ones that they would feel a little sting, which is the truth.
Anaesthesia – yes or no?
If a tooth is not loose enough (which is often the case with milk premolars), we use a local anaesthetic. Why? It is much better for a child to have a painless intervention than to get an aversion towards the dentist and dental office in general because of the pain it felt. If a tooth is wobbly enough, we would use an anaesthetic in a form of gel and place it on the gums around the tooth, so the child wouldn’t feel even that little yank needed to pull out an already loose tooth.
In case the tooth isn’t sufficiently loose, we apply an anaesthetic to the area already anaesthetised with the gel, so the child doesn’t feel the needle prick. All instruments, including the needle with a carpule syringe, are prepared outside the child’s eyesight, so it wouldn’t get scared and give up the intervention.
The child is allowed to sit on their parent’s lap, if that makes it feel safer, although we recommend that the child’s independency is encouraged from an early age.
What happens after the extraction?
The intervention is very short, only a few minutes, if a child cooperates. After the tooth has been extracted, the stomatologist will place a sterile gauze pad in the child’s mouth which should be kept for 5 to 10 minutes. Parents will receive the advice which should be followed through the rest of the day:
- Child should not rinse the mouth
- It should not eat anything too hot
- On that day, soft and mushy food is advised
- If necessary, a cold compress can be used
- Use ibuprofen for the pain and avoid all aspirin based medications (which are not recommended for children anyway)
- Make sure the child doesn’t bite its cheek or lip, because it would have no sensation due to the anaesthetic.
Extraction of deciduous teeth - price
The price of deciduous tooth extraction at the Pavlovic Clinic is RSD 1,200.
If you have any doubts about your child’s teeth, stomatologists at our Clinic are at your disposal every work day from 9 to 19.
All appointments at the Pavlovic Clinic are made by phone.
Call us and ask what you want to know!