Primary teeth begin forming in the womb. Generally, the first primary (or baby) teeth to erupt through the gums are the lower central incisors around the age of 6 months. Some children are born with primary teeth or have their first teeth by 3-4 months, and some do not gain teeth until after the age of one. Although all 20 primary teeth usually appear by age 3, the pace and order of their eruption varies.
When do my child's permanent teeth start appearing?
Permanent teeth begin appearing around age 6, starting with the first permanent molars and lower central incisors. At the age of 8, you can generally anticipate that the bottom 4 primary teeth (lower central and lateral incisors) and the top 4 primary teeth (upper central and lateral incisors) will be replaced by their succedaneous permanent teeth. Thereafter, one can anticipate about a one to two year break from ages 8-10 before the rest of the permanent teeth will erupt. With that said, there is a spectrum of jaw and teeth development for each individual person. Some children will have all of their permanent teeth as early as the age of 9 and some as late as the age of 15. Adults have 28 permanent teeth, or up to 32 including the third molars (or wisdom teeth).
