When will our children lose their milk teeth?

We all have two sets of teeth, our milk teeth and our permanent teeth.

Our first set are always much whiter than our second set which is why they have the name ‘milk’ teeth as they are the colour of milk.

We normally have all our milk teeth by the age of three but at around six these teeth will start to fall out and continue to fall out up until around the age of ten years. Children aged between six and nine will have both their milk teeth and some of their permanent teeth. This stage is called the mixed dentition period, however, by twelve they will probably have all their permanent teeth.

Why do the milk teeth fall out?

As your child’s permanent teeth start coming through they wear down the roots of the milk teeth making them loose as their support in the bone is worn away.

The tooth fairy

The legend of the tooth fairy is a great way for children to get excited about their teeth falling out rather than feeling nervous or afraid. Each family tends to have a slightly different version of the tooth fairy, usually adapted throughout the generations. There are plenty of books, some even containing a little tooth bag and plenty of information on the internet regarding the ‘tooth fairy’. All you need to decide on is how much is a tooth worth?