Just like some children develop faster or slower physically, tooth eruption can be early, late, or some where in the middle. Generally speaking, you lose your front four teeth top & bottom around age 7 -8 and then nothing happens for a few years. The remaining twelve baby teeth fall out around age 9-13 and you get a molar in the back called the “twelve year molar”.
If your child was late to get their teeth as a baby, they’ll likely be late to lose & get the adult teeth as an adolescent. Don’t worry! We’re most interested in whether the teeth are consistent within the child’s mouth – not if they’re following a specific timeline.
If a tooth fell out and the new one hasn’t grown in, there can be several reasons for that. Most likely, there isn’t enough space for the bigger adult tooth to fit into the mouth. Sometimes, the adult tooth is in a funny position or angle, it can be missing, or sometimes they’re just slow. A panoramic x-ray can give us lots of information on these slow-poke teeth.
General dentists are great at checking your teeth to make sure everything is clean & healthy – but many times they forget to pay attention to the eruption pattern of the teeth. And that’s where we come in! We check in with all our patients every six months to make sure all the teeth are progressing as they should and we’ll follow up with them if not.
Give us a call at (707) 938 – 5255 and let us count your teeth today!