The way to make an adult tooth loose enough to pull the same as loosening a baby tooth. You pull on it, push on it, and repeat until it is finally loose enough to remove. We will explain in greater detail for the process.
How to loosen an adult tooth to pull:
However, there is a high likelihood that this method may not work for an adult tooth because there are many factors working against it. There are fundamental differences between an exfoliating primary tooth vs a fully erupted permanent adult tooth!
Step 1: Pull on the tooth
The first step to make an adult tooth looser for removal is to pull on it with your finger and hold it for time.
How to do it: You literally take your finger and place it over the tooth in question. Then you pull it towards your cheeks or lips and simply hold it there for a couple of seconds.
What pulling on it does: Pulling on the tooth and holding it for time is how you luxate the tooth towards the buccal/facial or towards your cheeks/lips. Essentially what happens is that the periodontal ligaments holding the tooth in place gets widened and loosened towards that direction.
Step 2: Push on the tooth
The second step to make an adult tooth looser for removal is to push on it with your finger and hold it for time.
How to do it: You literally take your finger and place it over the tooth you wish to loosen. Then you push on it towards your tongue or palate and simply hold it there for a couple of seconds.
What pulling on it does: Pushing on the tooth and holding it for time is how you luxate the tooth towards the lingual or towards your tongue/palate. Essentially what happens is that the periodontal ligaments holding the tooth in place gets widened and loosened towards the direction that you're pushing in.
Step 3: Repeat until it's loose enough
The third step to make an adult tooth loose enough for removal is by repeating steps 1 and 2. Basically you want to pull on said tooth and hold it for a few seconds and then push on it while holding for a few seconds. Then you just keep repeating that until it gets loose enough.
What to keep in mind: It won't be loose enough just by doing this after a single day. If you remember how you got your baby teeth loose, this entire process had to be repeated over multiple days and sometimes even weeks before the tooth got loose enough to fall out!
Why it may not work for adults
The process for loosening an adult tooth is the same as how you would loosen a baby tooth but it may not work as well for adult teeth.
There are two major obstacles which make pulling/pulling on a permanent adult tooth not as effective, they've longer roots and the roots aren't resorbing.
Adult teeth have longer roots
A major difference between adult teeth and children teeth are that the adult ones have much longer roots. Just like how adults are taller than children, their teeth are also much bigger/longer!
Below is an x-ray of an adult molar next to a baby molar.
As you can clearly see in the image above, the root length of adult molars are nearly twice as long as the roots of a baby molar.
What it means to have longer roots: Teeth with long roots will be much more difficult to loosen and to remove because the tooth is more deeply embedded into the jaw bone.
A great analogy would be comparing a fence that has been planted 3 feet deep vs 1 foot deep.
The fence that has been planted deeper will be much more difficult to budge and remove!
Adult tooth roots aren't resorbing
The second difference between baby teeth and adult teeth are that the baby teeth typically have resorbed roots. That means the tooth itself is shortening since the roots are being degraded/broken down by your body.
The x-ray below shows a baby tooth whose roots has been resorbing.
As you can see in the radiograph above, the baby tooth barely has any roots left holding it into the jaw bone. It is due to this reason that they start getting loose all on their own!
What it means: Essentially baby teeth can be loosened much more easily because their roots are usually being resorbed.
This expedites the loosening process which helps them fall out on their own.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said about adult teeth which are "permanent" they definitely do not have resorbing roots because they're meant to stay in your mouth forever.
Ultimately it means that it'll be much more difficult for you to try to loosen your adult molar to pull it!
Takeaway
If you want to loosen an adult tooth to pull it, you should pull on it, push on it, and keep repeating the process until it gets loose enough. The whole process is the exact same as when you were trying to loosen your baby teeth.
However, due to adult teeth having longer roots and being permanent aka not resorbing, the teeth may not get loose enough with the push/pull technique. You will most likely need to seek professional help to get that tooth removed.
Luckily for you, our dentists in Long Island City do provide tooth extractions as a service. Don't be shy and come on by to book your appointment to have that bad molar extracted... that is if you're nearby in New York.
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