| It’s important to note that eruption times vary form child to child just as the individual growth rates between children vary. Normally, no teeth are visible in the mouth at birth. Occasionally, however, some babies are born with an erupted incisor (neonatal tooth), but these are not true teeth and are lost soon after birth.The first baby teeth to erupt are usually the lower two front incisors (the two lower front teeth) at about 6 months of age. They are followed by the 4 upper front teeth. The remainder of your child’s teeth will appear periodically, usually in pairs on each side of the jaw, until all 20 baby teeth have come in at about 2 and half years of age. The last teeth to emerge are the top two molars (second molars at 30 months). The complete set of baby teeth are in the mouth from 2 years to 5/ 6 years of age (when no permanent teeth are present). Shortly after your child’s 4th birthday, their jaw and facial bones will begin to grow creating spaces between their teeth. This is frequently a concern to parents, but it’s a perfectly natural process of providing the necessary space for the larger permanent teeth to emerge. A good rule of thumb concerning baby teeth is that for every 6 months, approximately 4 teeth will erupt. So, if your child is 12 months, you should expect 8 teeth.Though baby teeth are only in the mouth for a short time, they play a vital role in reserving space for their permanent counterparts. The primary teeth are crucial to your child’s normal facial appearance and the formulation of clear speech. Missing or decayed baby teeth often cause children to reject foods that are difficult to chew. Decay and infection in baby teeth can cause dark spots on the permanent tooth developing beneath it. The following diagrams below show approximately when each baby tooth should erupt and then the permanent ones. Many variations occur, but the usual order of appearance is as follows. I have printed some of these information sheets for any of our mums and dads that are interested. It is vital to your child’s development and well being that you bring your child every six months to us for regular examinations. Register them with us as soon as they have any teeth at all. We aim to make their experience visiting us a fun and pleasant one. If a child is not seen and monitored from an early age they can sometimes build up a phobia because many of these children will undoubtedly need treatment on their first experience seeing us.
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