Why Would a Child Need a Tooth Extraction?

By the time your child turns three years old, they will most likely have all their baby teeth. These teeth act as important placeholders for your child’s underlying permanent teeth and allow them to learn how to eat, speak, and smile with confidence.

Ideally, we want baby teeth to fall out when they’re ready instead of being pulled out. This means we avoid extracting baby teeth unless it’s the right choice for the patient. In this blog post, we discuss why a child might need a baby tooth extracted!

When Is a Tooth Extraction Necessary?

Baby teeth can decay and get damaged just like permanent teeth. If your child has a baby tooth that is damaged by decay or trauma, we’ll determine whether a crown or filling would be the most beneficial for your child. If the decay or damage is severe, we may need to remove the tooth to protect the health of the adult tooth underneath and reduce your child’s chance of experiencing pain when chewing.

We might also need to extract a baby tooth if it’s crowding the neighboring teeth or preventing an adult tooth from coming in properly.

What’s a Tooth Extraction Like?

The first thing we do is apply a local anesthetic into the gums. This numbs the area so your child won’t feel any pain during the procedure. If your child is scared at the thought of getting a tooth pulled, we offer dental sedation. After the baby tooth is out, we often utilize a space maintainer so the adult tooth can grow in correctly.

Healing After an Extraction

After an extraction, there will likely be some discomfort and pain that can be relieved with ibuprofen, rest, and a cool ice pack. When the numbness from the procedure has worn off, your child can eat soft foods like bananas, yogurt, smoothies, soup, applesauce, mashed cooked veggies, and macaroni and cheese. Make sure they avoid hard and crunchy foods, straws, and vigorous physical activity for a few days.

If you have any concerns about the healing process, please contact us!

Pediatric Tooth Extractions in San Antonio, TX

Daily brushing and flossing, a balanced diet, and regular visits to Tots to Teens Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics in San Antonio, TX, will help keep your child’s baby teeth and permanent teeth healthy. If you have questions about how to care for your child’s teeth or if you think you child may need a tooth extraction, please contact us today!