Dental Eruption

By: J. Shahangian, DDS, MS- San Diego Board Certified Pediatric Dentist

Permanent Teeth
Around the age of 6, the first permanent molars (which are not preceded by primary teeth), begin to erupt.  Special care should be given to the structure and position of the first set of molars because it has a significant impact on the structure and position of the future erupting teeth.  The future teeth can have an effect on the structure of child’s lower face. [1]

During the child’s developmental years (ages 1-21) there is constant growth and development of bones and muscles. One of the most important developments is the child’s jaw expansion.   Over a period of time, your child’s jaw expands to make room for an additional 12 teeth.  Around the age of 14, your child will develop the full set of permanent teeth: 28 permanent teeth plus 4 wisdom teeth which grow in late during adolescence. [2]

Primary Teeth
Teeth are a wonderfully complex part of our human body, are an essential part of our overall health. We often overlook the many ways in which our teeth have an impact on our daily lives from infancy to old age.  Teeth have an impact on the appearance of your child’s face and the ability to enjoy food.  That is why it is important to visit me to prevent future health problems that can even affect other parts of the body, including the heart.  [3]

Your baby is born with a full and complete set of teeth.  These baby teeth are small, and are deeply hidden in the recesses of the jawbone.

You will observe the gradual eruption of 20 primary teeth (“baby teeth”) from birth to age 3.  It is vital to take care of the health of your child’s primary teeth because this primary development will affect the eventual development of the permanent adult teeth.  The full 32 set of adult teeth includes 16 teeth on top and the 16 on the bottom, as well as the 4 wisdom teeth that erupt in adolescence.

Furthermore, primary teeth are very important because they serve as place holders for the permanent teeth that will later erupt.  Also, the primary teeth influence the speech development, as well as aesthetics of your child. Take good care of your child`s primary teeth. For this reason, it is important to take good care of your child’s primary teeth.  Child prevention is essential.  Though children only have their primary teeth for a few years, if preventive matters are not taken, your child may require expensive treatments due to decay, cavities, and infection.

By the age of 3, your child will have all primary teeth.  By age 5 or 6, your child’s teeth will have fallen or loosen.  Usually, the first teeth to fall out are the front teeth.  This process of loosing teeth to make room for the new ones will continue until your child is 12 or 13 years of age.  It is also common for children to keep some molar and canine teeth until the age of 12 or 13.

It is very important that you provide proper care for your child primary teeth because of the effect it has on the development of permanent teeth.  These are the many purposes primary teeth serve:

• Eating and chewing
• Molding the gums for the permanent teeth
• Jaw bone and muscle development
• Appearance and speech

There may be problems as a result of your child loosing teeth too soon (because of injury or disease).  If this happens, the permanent tooth may be unable to grow in properly.  As a result, the neighboring teeth may take over the space left after the primary tooth. “Malocclusion” is a misalignment of the teeth and may be the result of loosing primary teeth too soon because primary teeth erupt out of the proper position. Please, consult our office if you believe your child looses primary teeth too soon.  The main preventive measure is putting space maintainers, appliances that keep the surrounding teeth in place, and prevent the surrounding teeth from taking over.  The appliance may be removed once the permanent tooth is ready to erupt

Wisdom Teeth
Wisdom teeth, also know known as third molars, usually develop in early adolescence, and may erupt around ages 17 to 20

Wisdom teeth sometimes are extracted after the roots are partially developed, or are developed at least three-fourths of the way.  Usually, this occurs during adolescence.  There are many reasons why wisdom teeth do not grow in the proper way, develop the proper bite relationship, or have health gum tissue development.  Often, wisdom teeth become impacted because the tooth erupts improperly.  This requires the wisdom teeth to be extracted or pulled. Even after wisdom teeth are extracted, people continue having well functioning teeth and normal bites.