Some of the most common questions we get from parents here at Sweet Tooth Pediatric Dentistry are about their child’s teeth and the timing of them  coming into the mouth (aka erupting) and falling out.

When will they grow the next tooth? When will their baby teeth fall out? Is what is happening for my child’s teeth normal?  Our answers vary from child to child as each one will grow at their own pace. What may happen for one child growing in new teeth or losing baby teeth will not occur exactly same for another child. Some babies will get their first tooth as early as 4 months, and others not until after their first birthday!

There are, however, some generalities that are similar for kids as they begin to grow their baby teeth and again when erupting their permanent teeth. Most toddlers have completed teething by 2 1/2 years old with their full set of 20 baby teeth. Typically, around 12 years of age they have lost all those baby teeth and have finished erupting their 28 permanent ones (not counting the wisdom teeth). Below are charts for the timing of when the primary and permanent teeth are expected to erupt, and when the baby teeth are lost.

PRIMARY TEETH

 

PERMANENT TEETH

Some interesting facts to take note about teething are that girls tend to grow their teeth more quickly than boys and most children will erupt teeth and then lose teeth in pairs. Bottom baby teeth will usually erupt first before the top ones and children will then follow that pattern and exfoliate baby teeth first on the lower before the upper.

If your child is having a tough time with teething, we recommend massaging your child’s gums with a cold, wet washcloth, providing chilled teething rings (not dipped in sugar!), or giving your child an appropriate dose of ibuprofen before bed. We DO NOT recommend the use of gels or creams with local anesthetics (like Anbesol, Orajel, Baby Orajel, Orabase, etc.) for babies.

Whatever the pattern may be for your child’s growth, be assured that we will monitor their progress here at Sweet Tooth Pediatric Dentistry and always be available for any of your teething-related questions.

Beth Corona, RDH

Sweet Tooth Pediatric Dentistry
583 Saybrook Road
Middletown, CT 06457
(860) 347-4681
www.sweettoothkids.com