Tooth Eruption
Tooth Eruption
The first baby teeth come into the mouth are the two bottom front teeth. You will notice this when your baby is about six to eight months old. Next to follow will be the four upper front teeth and the remainder of your baby’s teeth will appear periodically. They will usually appear in pairs along the sides of the jaw until the child is about 2-1/2 years old.
At around 2-1/2 years old, your child should have all 20 teeth. Between the ages of five and six, the first permanent teeth will begin to erupt. Some of the permanent teeth replace baby teeth and some don’t. Don’t worry if some teeth are a few months early or late as all children are different. Also, at around age of 6-8 years old the front adult incisors along with the six year old adult molars start erupting. Between the ages of 9-12 years old, the back adult pre-molars, canines and the twelve year old molars start to erupt. For some who have them, the third molars (wisdom teeth) show up in late teen years or early twenties in age.
Baby teeth are important as they not only hold space for permanent teeth, but they are important to chewing, biting, speech, and appearance just like permanent teeth are.
For this reason it is important to maintain a healthy diet and daily hygiene.
