In the Know for You to Know

It’s an exciting time, your baby is getting their teeth. Their first pearly white teeth are so adorable.

You’re noticing that teeth are coming in, but how many teeth is a child supposed to have?

Is the number of baby teeth the same as the number of adult teeth? How many teeth is that?

Today we’re breaking down the basics on exactly how many baby teeth and how many adult teeth a child is supposed to have.

How Many Sets Of Teeth Do Children Have?

Children have 2 sets of teeth.

First Set Of Teeth

Their first set of teeth are their baby teeth. Baby teeth are also called primary or deciduous teeth.

Baby teeth begin developing in your baby’s jaws during your pregnancy and continue until just after they are born.

Second Set Of Teeth

A child’s second set of teeth is their adult teeth. Adult teeth are also called permanent teeth.

Adult teeth begin developing around birth. Wisdom teeth (aka third molars) are the last teeth to develop, which is around 8 to 12 years of age.

Baby Teeth

Baby teeth come into a child’s mouth when they are between 4 and 9 months of age, with the average being when a baby is 6 months old.

The timing and order of baby teeth coming into a child’s mouth (aka tooth eruption) is variable.

Most children by the time they are 3 years old have all of their 20 baby teeth.

20 baby teeth means that they have 10 top teeth and 10 bottom teeth.

What Are The Different Types Of Baby Teeth?

• The front teeth are the incisors. These teeth help with biting into food and with speech. There are 4 top and 4 bottom incisors.
• Next to the incisors are the canines. These are the pointy teeth. There are 2 top canines and 2 bottom canines.
• The teeth behind the canines are the molars. Molars help with chewing. There are 4 top and 4 bottom molars.

So 8 incisors, 4 canines, and 8 molars make up the 20 baby teeth.

Adult Teeth

Around the time a child is 4 1/2 to 7 years old their baby incisors begin to get loose and they also have new teeth coming in behind their baby molars.

When their baby incisors are lost (aka exfoliate), they are replaced with their adult incisors.

Losing baby teeth and having new teeth come in typically continues until a child is 12 to 14 years old.

During this time the adult teeth are gradually replacing the baby canines and baby molars with adult canines and premolars.

School age children as well as tweens and teens also have adult teeth coming in behind their baby molars which are their new adult molars. These new molars do not replace baby teeth. The 6 year old molars come in first, and then the 12 year old molars.

So 8 incisors, 4 canines, 8 premolars, and 8 molars make up their 28 teeth.

What Are The Different Types Of Adult Teeth?

• Incisors Like with baby teeth, the front adult teeth are the incisors. There are the 4 top and 4 bottom incisors. These teeth are to help with biting into food and with speech.
• Canines Behind the incisors are the canines. They are more pointy than baby canines. There are 2 top and 2 bottom canines. They also help with biting into food.
• Premolars Premolars come into the mouth behind the canines and replace the baby molars. They are also called bicuspids. There are 4 top and 4 bottom premolars. These teeth help in chewing food.
• Molars Molars are the teeth behind the premolars. Adult molars do not replace any baby teeth. They are the teeth that come in all the way in the back behind all the other teeth. Molars have flat and broad biting surfaces which help in grinding food while chewing.

What About Wisdom Teeth?

Wisdom teeth (aka third molars) usually develop when a child is between 8 and 12 years old.

Typically you think about having 4 wisdom teeth. But that isn’t always the case. While lots of children develop 4 wisdom teeth, sometimes 1, 2, 3 or even all 4 teeth don’t develop.

How Many Teeth Does?

The number of teeth depends on the child. Each child’s tooth pattern is different. Every child loses teeth and gets teeth at their own rate.

A 1 year old can have? Most 1 year olds should have between 2 and 6 teeth. Some can have 8 teeth, while other babies have none.

A 4 year old can have? Most 4 years olds should have all 20 of their 20 baby teeth.

An 8 year old can have? Most 8 year olds should have about 16 to 20 teeth, a combination of baby teeth and adult teeth.

A 15 year old can have? Most 15 year olds should have about 24 to 28 teeth. Some may have all adult teeth, while other’s can have a mix of baby teeth and adult teeth.

Tooth Count

Baby teeth total is 20

Adult teeth total is 28

Wisdom teeth—
All 4 wisdom teeth develop, tooth total is 32 teeth
3 wisdom teeth develop, tooth total is 31 teeth
2 wisdom teeth develop, tooth total is 30 teeth
1 wisdom tooth develops, tooth total is 29 teeth
0 wisdom teeth develop, tooth total is 28 teeth

What To Remember

When your toddler has all their baby teeth they’ll have 20 teeth. 10 teeth on the top and 10 teeth on the bottom. The front teeth are their incisors, next are the pointy teeth called the canines, and behind those are the large squarish-rectangular teeth called the molars. So in all they’ll have 8 incisors, 4 canines, and 8 molars.

When your tween and teen has their adult teeth (not counting wisdom teeth) they’ll have 28 teeth. The adult teeth count of 8 incisors, 4 canines, 8 premolars, and 8 molars make up their 28 teeth. Including wisdom teeth the tooth count is up to 32.

How many teeth does your child have? How many teeth do you have? Did you know that the number of teeth your child has changes as they grow? Which tooth do you think is the most important? Tell us, we’d really like to know! Email us at kidstoothhotline@proton.me Like Us and Chat with us on Facebook

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