A book can help with
For the wobbling, the worrying, and whatever your family does with the tooth afterwards.
A first wobbly tooth is a genuine milestone, and children take it in wildly different ways. Some wiggle it proudly for weeks and announce it to strangers. Others are quietly appalled that a part of them is coming loose, and would very much like it to stop.
Books help both sorts. For the excited child they build the anticipation, and for the anxious one they show that it doesn’t hurt much, that a new tooth grows in behind, and that this happens to everybody. They’re also a nice way to mark the occasion.
Here’s what I’d reach for. Find your child’s age and start there.
The wobble
This is the age it happens. These cover the excitement, the worry and the waiting.
Bear has a wobbly tooth and is rather worried about it, and his friends gather round to help and reassure him. The rhyme is lovely to read aloud and the anxiety is taken seriously before being settled. Ideal for the child who doesn’t want the tooth to come out at all.
or on Bookshop.org
Lola is absolutely determined that her tooth will stay exactly where it is, and Charlie has to talk her round. Lauren Child is perfect on a small child digging her heels in about something inevitable. Very funny, and exactly right for a reluctant wobbler.
or on Bookshop.org
Teeth around the world
Older children enjoy the wider picture, and often start asking whether the tooth fairy is real.
What children actually do with a lost tooth in dozens of countries, from throwing it on the roof to feeding it to a mouse. It’s fascinating, and it gently widens a child’s sense that their family’s custom is one of many. Lovely for a class or a family with roots in more than one place.
or on Bookshop.org
A rollicking rhyming survey of who has teeth and who hasn’t and what they’re for, in classic Seuss style. It’s pure fun rather than reassurance, and it makes teeth a subject worth being cheerful about. Good for a newly confident reader to tackle themselves.
or on Bookshop.org
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Something to do together
A page for recording which tooth went when, and a little envelope to make for whatever your family does with it. I’m making it now, and it will live here soon.
Families around the world mark this differently, and there’s no right way to do it. Whatever your household does, the point is that a slightly unsettling thing becomes an occasion.
So take the worry seriously rather than laughing it off, mention that a new tooth is already on its way up behind, and let them wobble it themselves rather than pulling it. If a tooth is very painful, or an adult tooth is coming through beside a baby one, it’s worth having a dentist take a look.
These pages are written for the grown-ups looking after a child: parents, teachers and carers. A good book can sit beside a worried child, though it never stands in for a real conversation, or for proper support when something feels too big to carry alone.