Children and milk teeth - current recommendations ?

A bone of contention in the house.

Sprog has a couple of loose teeth and has been wiggling frantically at one of them this morning, pulling it out before school.

Once I found out- not difficult owing to the blood on the fingers, breakfast plate, napkin, I asked why and was told it was something the dentist recommended.
Mum also thinks it's a good idea to manually extract rather than let them fall out naturally, so my suspicions are probably right that the dentist had no involvment in this, but is this the current state of affairs in how teeth are managed ?
I was brought up to believe they should come out on their own, with maybe some persuasion before bed just in case they are so loose they could be swallowed. I'm also aware of the curiosity of kids and the possibility of money under the pillow.

Who is right ?

Not sure what the official advice is, but surely children putting their fingers in their mouths in such a fashion isn't exactly hygienic: Despite parental exhortations and supervision, the nature of the beast is that their fingers will be contaminated with all sorts of nasties. Transferring them to teeth and gums wouldn't be the best of ideas.

Putting fingers in mouths is also something I doubt I could dissuade, so I have stressed the importance of washing hands and hygiene. This thread is more abouut what a dentist (in the UK) would tell somebody, my quick search has brought up nothing on either side of the fence.

A little dirt won't matter. Kids' curiosity compels them to try a worm or two when mucking about in the garden. Or don't children have the opportunity these days to get dirtied up when playing outside? I know we did as youngsters.

I've nothing against garden soil and worms, its the picking up of footballs after they have been kicked into the undergrowth, rolling over stuff that should be in the dog bin.

i can guarantee that children NOT putting their dirty fingers in their mouth would be a lot worse than putting their fingers in their mouth. Its nature, and what children do.

WHATAGOAL1 said:

i can guarantee that children NOT putting their dirty fingers in their mouth would be a lot worse than putting their fingers in their mouth. Its nature, and what children do.

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What about pulling teeth out ?

Channel Hopper said:

What about pulling teeth out ?

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Well I remember the comic books and cartoons that had suggestions for loose teeth, string around the tooth and slam the door closed to extract (not recommended). I do think it is an individual thing and each person will handle it in their own way. I do remember my milk teeth coming out (or some of them) as I remember it was often one side that detached first making it difficult to eat anything thus leading to picking and poking. The body is a powerful chemical factory and a few germs will help build up the immune system. Part of the reason kids today are often sickly is that they have been cosseted by the parents thus never been exposed to germs so have little or no immunity to them, another reason being that many mothers prefer not to breastfeed thus denying their child of the first milk which is rich in antibodies. As long as the hands have not touched animal faeces there should not be an issue with them going in their mouth

Mother Nature will sort this. As long as it is no problem for the kid.