The article was professionally consulted by Doctor Dang Tien Dat at Vinmec Ha Long International General Hospital.
The phenomenon of replacing deciduous teeth is completely natural to make room for permanent teeth. This is extremely simple, but sometimes adult interventions cause complications with remaining roots. If not checked carefully, the remaining roots can cause inflammation, pain, and damage to permanent teeth in the same position.
1. What is it like to extract deciduous teeth with remaining roots?
Normally, deciduous teeth will automatically fall out and make places for permanent teeth to grow. However, there are many cases where deciduous teeth, when they are old enough to be replaced, still do not loosen and fall out while permanent teeth have begun to appear, requiring outside help. If not intervened early, the prolonged presence of baby teeth will cause permanent teeth to grow crookedly, making it difficult for the child's teeth to be even and nice later on. External influences are sometimes very simple; parents can do it for their children at home. However, if not done properly or not completely, adults will accidentally cause injury to their children. Among them, the complication of remaining tooth roots is one of the common complications in children who have their teeth extracted at home.
The way to recognize this complication is when observing that the tooth falls out without seeing the tooth root. At the same time, when the bleeding has stopped, observing the gums, there is still a piece of opaque white tooth remaining at the position just extracted. This is the remaining root of the baby tooth.
2. Dangers of extracting baby teeth with remaining tooth roots
If parents pull out their child's baby teeth at home but see that there are still roots left, there is no need to worry too much. According to the natural physiological process, when the permanent teeth emerge, the body's reactions will destroy the roots and will not affect the newly grown teeth. Therefore, according to the concept of dentists, scraping the roots of baby teeth is not necessary. Moreover, intentional intervention sometimes causes damage to the permanent tooth buds later.
However, the remaining roots of baby teeth are a potential risk leading to periodontitis, especially when the interventions are not hygienic. There are inherently many bacteria in the oral cavity. The cut tooth root, along with the open blood flow, is a favorable environment for bacteria to grow and invade. The consequences of infection are sometimes localized or turn into an abscess spreading to a large area of the maxillofacial region and even lead to sepsis, septic shock, multiple organ failure, and life-threatening. This condition is common in children with immunodeficiency, congenital heart disease, type 1 diabetes, etc. Therefore, it is not allowed for these people to pull out their teeth at home. Parents must take their children to a dentist's office to ensure their safety.
On the other hand, pulling out baby teeth at the dentist's also helps ensure that there are no complications with remaining baby tooth roots. The doctor will re-examine the child after the bleeding stops. Not only that, if it is difficult to observe, the risk of broken baby tooth roots can also be eliminated by X-rays and give quick results.
3. Solutions to treat deciduous tooth roots left behind
The solution when removing a baby tooth with a remaining root depends on its impact. In the case that the remaining root does not cause any impact, the doctor will only monitor it without any intervention. Over time, when the permanent tooth grows, it will promote the self-resorption of the baby tooth faster.
On the contrary, if the remaining root causes an inflammatory complication, this is a condition that requires active intervention to avoid the spread of infection. The doctor will prescribe antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and pain relievers for the child, and fever reducers if the child has a fever. In addition, parents will also be instructed on how to care for and monitor their child at home. Pay attention to ensuring adequate water and nutrition for the child. Because the child has a toothache, they should eat soft, thick, liquid foods or drink milk instead. Every day, parents need to observe the position of the child's gums. If the pain and swelling are severe and spread to the jaw and face, or the child has a prolonged fever, high temperature, and cries more, they should go back for a check-up. If the assessment shows that medical treatment is not effective and the condition is not progressing well, the dentist will consider local intervention with minor surgery, removing the old tooth root and cleaning the inflammation.
Therefore, in general, the consequence of a broken tooth root when extracting a baby tooth is always a worrying complication when extracting teeth for children at home. Therefore, parents need to have knowledge about this issue, know how to evaluate the results of tooth extraction for children, and detect early periodontal inflammation caused by remaining tooth roots to take their children to see a doctor early. However, to ensure absolute safety for their children, instead of extracting baby teeth at home, parents should take their children to reputable dental clinics for support, preparing their children for healthy, beautiful teeth in the future.
To protect children's oral health, parents can take their children to regular dental check-ups at Vinmec Ha Long International General Hospital. At Vinmec, the Department of Dentistry is classified into many different specialties, such as: Prosthetic Dentistry, Maxillofacial Orthopedics, General Dentistry, Cosmetic Dentistry, Endodontics, etc.
To arrange an appointment, please call HOTLINE or make your reservation directly HERE. You may also download the MyVinmec app to schedule appointments faster and manage your reservations more conveniently.
