Exfoliation is the dental word for when a baby tooth loosens and lets go, right on schedule.

In kid words

"Exfoliation is just a big word for a wiggly tooth finally letting go, so your grown-up tooth has room to grow in." That is the whole idea in one line. A tooth doing this is not a tooth going wrong, it is a tooth finishing its job right on time.

The parent version

Exfoliation is the mainstream dental term for a primary tooth loosening and coming out on its own, clearing the way for the permanent tooth waiting underneath. Outside a dental office the same root word shows up in skin care and even in geology, describing anything that naturally sheds a layer as part of an expected cycle.

While a baby tooth is loosening, its root is gradually broken down and absorbed by the body, which is why so little root is left by the time the tooth comes out on its own. That is part of what sets it apart from a tooth being pulled. The pace of it varies a fair amount from child to child, and even tooth to tooth, so ask your pediatric dentist if the timing for your own child ever seems off from what you expected.

Where you might hear it at our office

A routine checkup is usually when a change like this gets noticed first. Comprehensive exams and professional cleanings both include a look at which teeth have loosened since the last visit and which permanent teeth are already waiting underneath, all part of the same appointment on our cleanings and exams page.

If a wiggly tooth is the big topic at your house this week, one of the free picture books at Storybook Reef is about exactly that. And if another word from a visit is still a mystery, the rest of the Kids' Dental Dictionary is right here.

Related words

Words that often come up alongside exfoliation: eruption, deciduous teeth, dentition.