‘I used a drone to pull out a wobbly tooth… and crashed my drone’

People tell us the weirdest ways they’ve pulled out or lost a tooth

When it comes to pulling out a wobbly tooth, people still resort to weird and wacky ways to get the job done – from the tried-and-tested string on a doorknob to the cutting edge of remote-controlled drones.

A national stem celling banking company has listed the strangest ways people have used to pull teeth, as well as the most bizarre accidents that have resulted in tooth loss.

UK-based StemProtect.co.uk has found that kids, in particular, can’t leave a wobbly tooth alone, and the lure of a pound from the tooth fairy means that they’ll go to any lengths to get it out.

But there’s a serious side to this too, says spokesperson Mark Hall – a child’s milk teeth can be used for stem cell banking, as long as you keep them out of the hands of the tooth fairy and get it straight to our experts.

Door handle vs drone: tooth extraction methods analysed

StemProtect.co.uk asked people how they had managed to extract a wobbly tooth – either one of their own or their children. They did not disappoint.

• Dave, Richmond: “You can’t beat the good old thread tied around the tooth and then round a door handle. It worked for me as a kid, and it worked on my young lad. Never fails, and it’s not a fun game for the whole family.”

• Steve, London: “My daughter got a pound for the tooth we pulled out with my remote controlled drone. I, on the other hand, lost a four hundred pound drone because I was laughing so much it crashed and got run over by a car.”

• Jan, Bristol: “My husband tied a string to a football, the other end to our six-year-old’s wobbly tooth. Kick the football. Score a goal. Tooth comes out. Simple, you’d think. But they did it indoors, and wiped out two vases and an ornament on the sideboard. Well done, everybody.”

• Hannah, Norfolk: “We went the whole Mary Poppins ‘Let’s go fly a kite’ and pulled a tooth that way. We never found that tooth, it’s somewhere in a field near Cromer.”

• Imran, Birmingham: “Reach in child’s mouth, and pull with one sharp tug. Then distract your crying child with a large reward for their bravery. Sorry if that’s a bit sensible, but my top tip is to make absolutely sure you have hold of the right tooth.”

Pulling teeth is not just restricted to kids and their milk teeth, it seems. Plenty of grown-ups have had their fair share of drama.

• Sheila, Hampshire: “I have a couple of dental implants. I also like wine gums. Dental implants need wine gum-proof glue, that’s all I’m saying”

• Tom, Glasgow: “Head-butted in the face by my dog leaving me with a big gappy smile. I still love him.”

• Simon, Bath: “I play rugby, and loads of my mates have lost a tooth or teeth on the pitch. Mine is a bit different – I fell down the stairs in the clubhouse after the match, and I hadn’t even been drinking!”

• Beth, London: “I bent over to do up a shoelace in the middle of the street and immediately got whacked in the face by a handbag. The owner was so, so apologetic, but seriously – that bag must have been full of bricks.”

Ouch, we say. Ouch.

Why your kids’ milk teeth can still be important

Even after all the drama, the crying, and the bloody tissues, and the ritual of the tooth fairy, your child’s milk teeth can still fulfil an important function.

As StemProtect.co.uk’s Mark Hall points out, extracted milk teeth are a source of dental pulp that can be used for stem cell banking.

With many parents opting to bank stem cells from their children, which could be used in future therapies for illnesses, it’s not too late if they have missed the chance to bank these cells from the umbilical cord at birth.

“Milk teeth contain unique dental pulp cells that can be harvested and processed for storage,” he says. “Apart from the inevitable drama of a little one losing their milk teeth, it’s entirely safe and non-invasive process.”

Stem cell therapies are already in use for a number of conditions and illnesses, but promising research being carried out into several others.

“That’s why savvy parents are opting for stem cell storage,” says Hall, “And it’s building up a bank of peace of mind for the future health of their family.

“All you need is to get those milk teeth, and get them to us – let our experts do the rest.”