What to Expect When Your Child’s Permanent Teeth Appear

It takes a relatively short time for children to acquire their baby teeth – and with the night-time waking and general upset this causes, that is something most parents should be grateful for.

When it comes to losing those baby teeth, it is a slightly different story, with teeth taking years to come through. This is an important time for your child’s oral health, and their future smile could rely on parents and dentists being attentive during this time.

In this guide, we’ll explore what to expect as your children get older and start to lose their baby teeth. We’ll also share our advice for helping them to take care of their new adult teeth.

Losing baby teeth

Most children start to lose their baby teeth from the ages of four to six. As a general rule, these are lost in the same order that they arrived – usually the bottom two front teeth (incisors) are the first to go.

From here, the top two front teeth usually work their way out. As well as replacing baby teeth, children will also grow permanent teeth that have not had a predecessor. The first of these to appear are the ‘six-year molars’, which usually appear after the loss of the bottom two front teeth.

From here, the teeth continue to develop with most children expected to have 28 permanent teeth by the age of 13, with wisdom teeth expected between the ages of 17 and 21 years old. Some people never get their wisdom teeth, because they don’t emerge, or they might emerge partially and cause issues.

Among these permanent teeth will be another set of new molars, known as the ’12-year molars’.

Caring for baby teeth

A common misconception among parents is that the baby teeth are the practice teeth, and it doesn’t matter much if they have tooth decay. This is a dangerous approach that could set your child up for dental problems throughout their life.

The issue with this approach is that the adult teeth don’t emerge all at once. There will be a time where your child has baby teeth and adult teeth together, so ignoring oral health until their adult teeth arrive could put your child at risk of developing painful tooth decay.

Baby teeth are also softer than adult teeth, so dental issues will progress much more quickly. As such, it’s essential for children to visit the dentist every 6 months so that dental decay can be caught before it becomes painful or damaging to the surrounding teeth.

The arrival of the adult teeth

While it is important to take care of baby teeth to ensure good wellbeing and to avoid unnecessary pain and dental treatment, there are no second chances with adult teeth and it is imperative that children develop and maintain good dental hygiene habits.

One of the best things you can do for your child as a parent is to help them to develop good oral hygiene habits. These habits will last a lifetime and help them to take care of their permanent teeth.

In particular, when new molars arrive, make sure that your child becomes used to brushing further back in their mouth. This will allow them to properly brush the new tooth, which of course is in an area they would not be used to brushing.

They might need assistance adapting to their new brushing routine. A great way to teach them about brushing all of their teeth is with the help of plaque disclosing tablets. These will reveal spots in the mouth where plaque remains, which will show children where they need to brush more attentively.

Preparing for the tooth fairy

It’s common for children to save their teeth and place them under their pillow at night. Parents then exchange these teeth for money. How much you decide to give is a personal choice, but it’s worth checking with your child’s friends and their parents to ensure it isn’t too much or not enough.

Most parents will give a larger sum for the first tooth, usually around £5. Subsequent teeth can then fetch around £1 to £2 each. Parents can buy elaborate pouches for the tooth, or create a small paper envelope to keep the tooth safe.

If your child loses their tooth, they might be concerned that they won’t be able to exchange this for money with the tooth fairy. In this case, you can simply tell them that the tooth fairy will retrieve the tooth for them and then leave money under their pillow anyway.

Do adult teeth cause pain?

Thankfully, the pain associated with the arrival of baby teeth is not usually seen with the emergence of permanent teeth, however, teeth erupting can still cause discomfort.

Molars in particular can cause headaches in some patients. Treat general pain with paracetamol but should you have any concerns, or if the pain is prolonged or serious, then get in touch with your dentist.

If the teeth are impacted, this can lead to painful infections. There is also a chance that the baby teeth could be retained due to fusing with the bone. In this case, the teeth behind might struggle to emerge. This is something that your dentist can assist with.

Teeth that appear to be growing behind baby teeth should find their way out naturally. These will eventually drop out, leaving the permanent tooth that has grown behind. However, if there are any issues, it’s important to visit the dentist to make sure this process happens as expected.

Will my child need braces?

Parents may also be concerned about how straight their child’s permanent teeth appear to be growing. While many new teeth may appear to be growing at an angle these do generally settle down and straighten out as the remaining teeth come through.

Your dentist will be monitoring the emerging teeth for alignment issues and they will recommend orthodontics if this is required. While parents can explore this option privately, only your dentist can refer your child for NHS orthodontics based on clinical requirement.

Braces can be considered as young as 7 if it is clear that the adult teeth are not going to emerge correctly. Your dentist might recommend orthodontics as a way to keep space for the adult teeth to emerge. There may also be issues with your child’s bite that can be addressed with orthodontics.

Teaching good oral health habits

By teaching your child good oral health habits from a young age, you’ll be setting them up for a lifetime of good oral health. Regular dental checkups will also teach them that the dentist is not a scary place that they need to be anxious about.

It’s often children that have to have lots of work due to tooth decay that develop a negative view of the dentist as they get older. When these children are responsible for making their own dental appointments, they might avoid the dentist out of fear.

You can set your child up for a lifetime of good oral health by helping them to care for their baby teeth and their adult teeth. You can also show them that the dentist is not someone they need to fear.

Closing thoughts

Teething is a difficult topic for parents, but thankfully the arrival of adult teeth doesn’t have to result in the same drama and difficulties. Adult teeth typically arrive without issue, with misalignment being the main concern for parents. Provided your child is attending regular checkups, all potential issues should be caught by your dentist before they become more problematic.

Should you have any concerns about your child’s teeth please contact Bhandal Dental Surgery.