What To Do When Your Child Gets Their First Wobby Teeth

Just a couple of days before her 5th birthday, Erin told John that her teeth felt wobbly. He didn’t really believe her at the time, thinking 5 was a bit too young for baby teeth to be falling out. Then, when she told me I just had to check and there they were, two wobbly teeth on the bottom row. Immediately, I thought back to her very first birthday, which was the day that both of these teeth came through.

Erin was a little bit worried to begin with, I think not really understanding what might happen to her teeth. She definitely didn’t want to end up losing them, swallowing them etc. Luckily, she had also been reading a book about the Tooth Fairy at some point so this put her mind at ease a little bit. I think a lot of children get quite excited about anything that might get them some money!

As first time parents though, John and I didn’t really know what, if anything, we should or shouldn’t be doing. Do you leave the teeth alone to fall out when they’re ready? Do you keep checking how wobbly they are? What do you tell your children who are bound to keep wobbling the teeth with their tongue? What’s the going rate from the tooth fairy?

I asked some fellow bloggers, and other parents, what advice they might give to someone who is in our situation. Here’s what they had to say:

My daughter was always very excited and enchanted by fairies and anything magical, so the impending arrival of the tooth fairy following the early wobblings of her first loose tooth was eagerly awaited. Helping the tooth fairy by ordering both a miniature letter and little trinket especially for lost teeth to go in for easy fairy collection made the whole process exciting and memorable. Family Travel With Ellie

Don’t be surprised if the adult lower teeth are slightly behind the lower baby teeth, and the adult upper teeth look to be well in front of the baby teeth. It could even look like the adult teeth are coming through into the tongue or top lip. This is in most cases perfectly normal even if it does look alarming. The best advice is to discuss it with your dentist if it is causing trouble. Or wait until the next check up if not. A Rose Tinted World

Keep an eye out for white spots on the new teeth which could be hypermineralisation. These softer spots on the new adult teeth are common but may need fluoride treatments and extra care when brushing. Nomi Palony

My stepdaughter gave herself a very painful and bloody gum by forcing her wobbly tooth out before it wanted to go. Because of this, I’m going to tell my son that the Tooth Fairy pays less money for forcibly removed teeth!

Kids get so excited by the potential of a fairy visit and some payment, that they can potentially end up hurting themselves trying to speed up the process. Paternal Damnation

Our dentist said that as teeth fall out and new teeth come in, they can be a bit all over the place. Making parents worry about the placement. But, not to worry teeth move a lot and the final place of teeth can be very different to how they first look. This was the best advice for me. I was worried, but hearing this and now seeing my daughters final adult teeth, I didn’t need to worry. Inside Laura’s Life

I was always made to pull mine out as a child which I found traumatic and painful. Luckily I learnt in good time for Arthur getting his first wobbly that you can just leave them and they will fall out when they’re ready! He woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me his tooth had just fallen out and there wasn’t any pain or blood either. Arthurwears

We’re still waiting for those two bottom teeth to fall out but thanks to this great advice, we’ve left them to go on their own. Erin is excited about the tooth fairy coming although we still haven’t figured out how much she pays per tooth yet!

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