Pulling teeth...literally

[.455 Webley]

Well my oldest girl has her first baby teeth ready to come out. How do reasonable modern parents pull loose teeth? My dad used needle nose pliers, I am told that is no longer the right way to do things.

[JimB..]

We left them until they were really hanging by a thread, most just dropped out on their own, pulled one or two by just grabbing it with a tissue.

[MrWolf]

We left them until they were really hanging by a thread, most just dropped out on their own, pulled one or two by just grabbing it with a tissue.

We did the same. Don't forget the bucks under the pillow. Quarters don't cut it anymore :groner:

[cwtebay]

I like to change it up a bit! Sometimes floss tied to an arrow, radio control car....etc.
But the best was my youngest pulled his own with his fingers!

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[country gent]

We did the same and when they were ready there was almost no blood or pain. A lot of times kids cant leave them be always wiggling them and they drop out.

Back in my day the tooth fairy left a quarter for a tooth, wonder what the going rate is today?

[GregLaROCHE]

I grew up with tie a string to the tooth and the other end to a door knob and slam the door shut!

[Plate plinker]

Mine had one that just dangled, but she would not finish it off. Fed up with the thing I had her point to it with her finger, that is when a quick tap on her had knocked it out. Most just dropped off at random.

[trails4u]

We taught ours to pull their own....basically making a game/challenge of it. We never explicitly said the TF wouldn't come otherwise, but we never really presented other alternatives either. That transaction was pretty much between them and the TF. ;)

[Scrounge]

We did the same and when they were ready there was almost no blood or pain. A lot of times kids cant leave them be always wiggling them and they drop out.

Back in my day the tooth fairy left a quarter for a tooth, wonder what the going rate is today?

My kids were getting a buck 20 plus years ago. I think now it would have to be a fiver. Inflation, you know? ;)

[megasupermagnum]

You don't have to do anything. If you can't pull it out with your fingers, it's not ready to come out.

[sigep1764]

Once they find out its painless, they aren't scared anymore. Making a game out of it, to me, is the way to go. I like the idea of using an R/C car, boat, plane, drone, etc. Sounds like fun to me and if I think its fun, they will see that I'm not scared. Tie it to a baseball and let them hit the baseball, tie it to a water ballon launcher, theres so many different fun ideas!

[BP Dave]

For the ones hanging by a thread, using a tissue to grab them does work well. I wouldn't go with pliers--seems a little excessive.

Our tooth fairy left a Susan B. Anthony dollar under the pillow--I believe she ran them in the brass tumbler to make them shiny beforehand.

[JSnover]

You don't have to do anything. If you can't pull it out with your fingers, it's not ready to come out.

That's how I handled it. Me and all four of my brothers, my three daughters. If there's no pain or complications, just wait for it to fall out.

[Thumbcocker]

One of mine came out when I took a bite of a caramel apple. Took a bite and tooth stayed in the apple. My dad pulled one of mine with needle nose pliers that he first dipped in Canadian Club bourbon. Ahh growing up in the 60's.

[KCSO]

I lost my last baby tooth at 55 years old. I mailed it to my Mom and she mailed back a dime with 50 years interest at 5 percent.

[lavenatti]

I grew up with tie a string to the tooth and the other end to a door knob and slam the door shut!

My Dad did this to me, probably thought it was funny at the time. Years later following some prostate surgery he needed to remove a urinary catheter but it was stuck.

You can guess what I suggested.....

[cwtebay]

My grandmother would have us gargle with whiskey before she pulled ours!! I didn't think it too strange, but I would bet she would be strung up today!

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[waksupi]

We were a "string on a doorknob" family. More for the drama than need, I think.
I had a wisdom tooth pulled a couple weeks ago. Things sure have changed over the years. Totally painless.
When I was a kid, having a cavity drilled was pure torture, and I hate teeth cleanings. More lingering pain than having a tooth pulled.

[gwpercle]

Let the child and their tooth alone ... eating an apple sometimes gets them free .
Whatever you do ... Don't come after the child with a pair of Vice Grips telling him it's for his own good ... the child will be traumatized for the rest of his/her life .
Stay out of it and let child , tooth and mother nature take care of itself ...
Kids have lost teeth for ages and don't need any help from adults .
Gary

[gwpercle]

My Dad did this to me, probably thought it was funny at the time. Years later following some prostate surgery he needed to remove a urinary catheter but it was stuck.

You can guess what I suggested.....

ATTABOY ....

Paybacks can be Hell !!!

The mental picture I have of You with that doorknob , tied string , catheter, look on your old mans face and you getting ready to slam the door shut ... Is Priceless Funny !
Gary

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I grew up with tie a string to the tooth and the other end to a door knob and slam the door shut!

Exactly how we did it! :grin:

DG

[nvbirdman]

Best thing to do is just let it fall out. I think that's what I did when I lost my baby teeth, but it's hard to remember that far back. It was so long ago that the tooth fairy only left me a dime.

[TyGuy]

I knocked my sister’s loose tooth the rest of the way out during a pillow fight… I felt terrible about it.

[Buck Shot]

That's how I handled it. Me and all four of my brothers, my three daughters. If there's no pain or complications, just wait for it to fall out.

+1

They don't need to be pulled out. They fall out.

Terrorizing kids with the whole "let's rip out that baby tooth" Channellocks routine seems like an unnecessary cruelty to me, kind of like telling a 3-year-old, "Yeah, you're gonna die just like Barky did when he got hit by that car." Learning about mortality, like learning about baby teeth, seems to work fine all by itself without our help.

Remember, your kids are the ones who will choose your nursing home.

[gwpercle]

+1

They don't need to be pulled out. They fall out.

Terrorizing kids with the whole "let's rip out that baby tooth" Channellocks routine seems like an unnecessary cruelty to me, kind of like telling a 3-year-old, "Yeah, you're gonna die just like Barky did when he got hit by that car." Learning about mortality, like learning about baby teeth, seems to work fine all by itself without our help.

Remember, your kids are the ones who will choose your nursing home.

ATTABOY Buck Shot !
Well said ... Remember , when they putting you away ... them Channel Locks and Vice Grips and Strings on Door Knob Paybacks can be Hell !
Gary

[Bmi48219]

Back in my day the tooth fairy left a quarter for a tooth, wonder what the going rate is today?

We got a nickel. Two of my older brothers knocked my still sound buck teeth out in a jousting match when I was seven. They got a beating.

[TCFAN]

Here is how one kid pulls his tooth with a bow and arrow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTXrK6MtE5M

[cwtebay]

Holy cow y'all are a bunch of fun haters!!
No, they don't necessarily need to be pulled - but it does lead to a number of incredible memories!! I asked my 19 year old daughter about this subject last night on the phone. We laughed until I had tears thinking back about using a bow, rc car, ski boat, etc to extract the teeth. She said that she remembers being scared, but they are all happy memories (as are mine from childhood).

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[JoeJames]

Awhile back - about 1917 - but my dad said his grandfather tied a string around the tooth, and tied the other end around the cocked hammer of his old muzzle loading double barrel shotgun. Pulled it taut and then pulled the trigger.

[bedbugbilly]

Boy . . . it's been well past a half a century and a few more years that would require both hands and taking my shoes off . . . but my folks just let then do their own thing - I remember them getting loose - and of course, I then had to keep wiggling then with y fingers - my Dad may have taken one or two out by his thumb and index finger. I don't remember it being unpleasant - sort of a "right of passage" actually. I'm guessing things have changed though - in those days, the tooth fairy left a nickel under the pillow.

[Bmi48219]

I'm guessing things have changed though - in those days, the tooth fairy left a nickel under the pillow.

A nickel back then instantly put you in the big league. I’d have gladly traded the Oranges, apples, walnuts or occasional lump of coal in my Christmas stocking for a nickel.

[nelsonted1]

There is a YouTube video with the brother sitting on the carpet complaining and wiggling his tooth. All of a sudden his little sister jumps on him, reaches in and pulls it out. Then, sits up and throws the tooth at him and tells him to shut up. He's sitting there poking in his mouth with his fingertip. By far the coolest, funniest video I've ever seen on youtube. Ive lost track of it which makes me sad.

[bedbugbilly]

Bmi48219 - LOL . . . . right you are about the nickel . . . only problem was that there was no place for a kid to spend it on the farm. It went into a bank on the dresser. I don't remember how old I was when my mother took the bank and me into town to the local bank to set up a savings account to teach us the importance of "saving money for a rainy day". An account was opened and a passbook was made up for the account - I do remember that the amount that was in the bank on my dresser that was deposited was between $2 and $3. Those were the days when the local banks encouraged parents to do such things. I had that account for all the time I was growing up - I mowed lawns for some of the neighbors and friends - IIRC I git 50 to 75 cents a lawn - all with a push mower and I paid for the gas. A lot of folks don't do that with their kids anymore, but it gave me a sense of pride every time I would go in and deposit my hard earned money, even though the deposits were not large, it was satisfying to see the balance grow, even if slowly. By the time I graduated from high school and went off to college, I had saved enough to pay for my books for the fist two years - which even in those days were not cheap.

Funny how life cycles around and now that I'm on the opposite end of the life cycle, I have lost a few teeth but each time I have, I never find anything under the pillow! Must be that the tooth fairy got old too and died? LOL

[farmbif]

its just about apple season now, they work pretty darn good

[Idaho45guy]

My Dad did this to me, probably thought it was funny at the time. Years later following some prostate surgery he needed to remove a urinary catheter but it was stuck.

You can guess what I suggested.....

288844

[Bmi48219]

Bmi48219 - LOL . . . . right you are about the nickel . . . only problem was that there was no place for a kid to spend it on the farm. It went into a bank on the dresser. I don't remember how old I was when my mother took the bank and me into town to the local bank to set up a savings account to teach us the importance of "saving money for a rainy day". An account was opened and a passbook was made up for the account - I do remember that the amount that was in the bank on my dresser that was deposited was between $2 and $3.LOL

That’s funny. My bank was a replica red plastic fireplug. Tooth fair ‘buy back’ funds were my sole deposits until my First Communion. I think I netted another $7 or $8 then. Same trip with mom to the neighborhood bank. Shoveling snow and mowing neighborhood lawns augmented my rainy day fund.
At 9 yrs old my need of transportation nearly bankrupted me. As he had for my older brothers Dad withdrew 90% of my net worth to buy me a bicycle. My dreams of a sporty English Racer evaporated as he unloaded a red Evans Heavy Duty paper boy special from his pickup. It did have a spring loaded front paper carrier with a durable chrome finish. Sadly the chrome on the wheel rims wasn’t of the same quality and exuded rust almost daily. I’ve never been easily embarrassed but despite weekly cleaning and polishing my bike soon was nicknamed Vic’s Red Rims by friend and foe alike. Old Red was capable of blinding speed when you stood up and pedaled. Not so much while seated because the (white ��) seat height adjustment topped out about 24 inches above the ground. Ole Red quickly set me apart from the Macho black Schwinn Wasps of my fellow Night Free Press paperboys as we waited at the paper drop for delivery of our quota of supplies. Between earnings from snow, lawn work, paper route and 3% compound interest my savings account grew to the point I was able to supplement my wardrobe with Levi jeans ($3 / pair), Arrow shirts ($3 each) and ties for school. Cars and tuition came later.
It all started with those nickels from the tooth fairy, and my parent’s’ commitment to see their kids become self-reliant, and I appreciate both to this day.

[myg30]

BMI48219, it’s pouring rain outside and after reading your post I got to thinking how much I hated delivering papers in the pouring rain especially on days I had to collect money for the weeks delivery. I’d rather it be snowing out.
Boy how bad memories stick.

Back on topic, I think most of my baby teeth were swallowed with food cause they fell out on their own mostly. My dad helped loosen some of them but if they weren’t ready yet he left them alone.

Oh no, another bad memory, his fingers were always full of nicotine ( Kent cigarettes )and stunk so bad that I never gave him much of a chance to pull any !!

Mike