as they grow
5–6 YEARS
The Whole Tooth
When your kid’s baby teeth start wiggling,
don’t lose your cool. Brush up on the latest
advice from dentists. By Tamekia Reece
If you ask my friend’s 5-year-old son, Cory, about losing his first baby tooth, you may as well take a seat because he’ll give you an earful. He’ll tell you about where it happened,
what it felt like, how long he cried about it, what his friends
said, and even what he was wearing at the time.
Cory was also proud to be one of the first kids in
his class to get a visit from the Tooth Fairy. “Most
children start to lose their baby teeth at age 6,”
says William C. Berlocher, D. D. S., president
of the American Academy of Pediatric
Dentistry. “Three or four of their teeth
fall out each year, until all 20 baby
teeth are gone by age 12.” This
guide will help both of you get
through it with a big smile.
Big mouths: Kids
love to talk about
how many teeth
they’ve lost.
SHANNON GREER. STYLING BY KIM FIELD. GROOMING BY NOELLE MARINELLI FOR ARTISTS BY NEXT.
198 August 2010 Parents
