The germination of baby teeth in infants is one of the important stages of life and development. This process usually occurs between 4 and 7 months of age, but delays often occur. Many parents begin to worry whether this is actually how the genetic factor manifests itself. Cases often occur when teething occurs at three months and subsequently the teeth grow brittle.
- 2 Sequence of teething
2.1 Parental assistance to the baby
- 3.1 Pain relief with medications
How teeth grow in children and adults: anatomical features
The child is born toothless. The first teeth begin to erupt during the period when roughage food that requires chewing appears in the baby’s diet - at about six months. However, they are formed much earlier - during pregnancy. That is why obstetricians and gynecologists advise expectant mothers to eat foods rich in calcium, phosphorus and vitamins.
Milk teeth erupt in pairs, first on the lower jaw, and then on the upper. That is, if parents find a child with one lower central incisor, it means that a second one will soon appear. And after him - the upper brothers of the same name. According to this principle, the growth of all baby teeth in children occurs, except for the lateral incisors and canines. They start climbing from above.
The sequence of location of baby teeth in children
Only 20 teeth can fit on a child's jaw. By the age of 5–7 years, its size increases, which can be seen by the growth of interdental spaces. At this age, temporary incisors, molars and canines begin to fall out, and permanent ones appear in their place. The jaw continues to grow, and by adulthood a person can boast 32 teeth. Although 28 are not considered a pathology, since the third molars, or, as they are popularly called, “wisdom teeth,” may not come out in some people. And this is the norm.
Sequence of teething
The sequence of growth of baby teeth is established by nature itself. During this difficult period, it is worth protecting the health of your child so that colds do not appear. And parents also need to know that all baby teeth will erupt by the age of 3 .
It also happens that babies’ teeth do not grow in the accepted sequence, but nevertheless, teething in most cases occurs in the following order:
- Lower central incisors by 6–10 months.
- Upper central incisors by 7–12 months.
- Lower lateral incisors to existing 7–16 months.
- Upper lateral incisors at the important 9–12 months.
- Lower canines by 16–23 months.
- Upper canines by 16–22 months.
- Primary molars – lower for the available 12–18 months, upper for the responsible 13–19 months.
- Secondary molars - lower at 20–31 months, upper at 25–33 months.
Parents need to be informed not only about the growth time of their baby's baby teeth, but also know when a specific type of tooth will fall out of the gums. For example, central incisors fall out at 6–8 years, lateral incisors at 7–8 years, and canines at 9–12 years. Molars of the first type fall out by the age of 9–11 years, and of the second type by the age of 10–12 years.
By the time a child is 3 years old, his small mouth should have 20 milk teeth . But there are known cases in which all 20 required teeth sprout by 2 years and 5 months. Speaking about an insufficient or excessive number of teeth, we can affirmatively say that this happens in very rare cases due to the intrauterine formation of the rudiments of future teeth.
There is such a pathology as polyodontonia , caused by a mutation (change) in the baby’s body, when the baby develops and erupts additional pairs of teeth or they settle in the rudiments of the jaw.
In medicine, it has been recorded that, under the influence of a mutation, a person grew 232 teeth over the course of his long life. But you should not get hung up on the likelihood of such a pathology occurring, because the disease is rare and cases of its manifestation are rare.
Parental assistance to the baby
The period of teething is not sweet for a child. For this reason, mothers and fathers of their children need to be much more attentive and caring towards their children, do not skimp on affection and warmth, trying to distract him from pain .
If the baby takes food through the mother's breast, then in this case it is worth offering him the breast more often, breaking away from the usual regimen, and even more so you should not plan complete weaning at this time. As a rule, such difficult periods last 2–3 days.
When a baby's teeth begin to grow, he often feels the need to chew something or even gnaw on it. Because it eases his discomfort. You can offer your child a specially made rubber ring or a children's toy made of elastic material .
It is recommended to cool the ring in the freezer before use, but, unfortunately, not all children are happy with cold objects. Or it may happen that the child will not like any purchased device at all. In this case, the baby will independently choose an object to massage the gums.
The only thing that parents should do with the object chosen by their child is to inspect for the presence of sharp edges that can injure him or small particles of the toy that can break off and enter the child’s mouth, which can cause the baby to choke.
Many children stop their attention on a bagel, a piece of bread or a crust of bread. One of the best methods of dealing with pain during teething is to distract the child from the pain. To do this, you can play with him and go for a walk , focusing his attention on the things around him.
You shouldn’t compare your condition when an adult is sick, he wants to lie down, but in children, when their teeth grow, everything is different. This process is explained by the fact that the baby in this state easily changes his mood. If he just cried at the top of his voice, then the next minute the child may smile and laugh.
When to expect your baby's first tooth to appear?
According to statistics, the eruption of baby teeth begins between the fifth and eighth month of life. However, in those children who drink mother's milk, the first incisor appears several weeks earlier than in "artificial" children. Frequent breastfeeding stimulates thinning of the gum tissue , making it easier for the top of the tooth to break through.
However, do not forget that the timing of teething in children is relative and depends on many factors:
- on how quickly parents introduce complementary foods;
- on the composition of baby food;
- on climatic conditions;
- from the presence of chronic diseases;
- from heredity.
Therefore, do not worry if the first tooth does not appear at the indicated time. Take your baby to the pediatric dentist. Most often, the worry is unfounded.
This is interesting! A baby may be born with several front teeth. Such cases are rare, but should not alarm, since they are not deviations from the norm.
Correct order of appearance of baby teeth: diagram
If the timing of dentition development is individual for each child, then the sequence is always the same . In the first year of life, the baby should grow 8 incisors, which are intended for biting off food and are located in the middle of the jaw. These teeth come out in pairs, the order of appearance is as follows:
- central lower;
- central top;
- side top;
- lateral lower.
If the child is 12 months old and the incisors have not appeared, you need to consult a doctor to exclude the possibility of developing endocrine diseases and other pathologies that are accompanied by metabolic disorders. The complete absence of teeth in a one-year-old baby can be a symptom of rickets or adentia, but medicine knows situations where children remained toothless up to 15 months, but were completely healthy.
Diagram of baby teeth eruption in children
When a newborn turns 1 year old, he will begin to grow paired chewing teeth: first and second molars. As well as fangs, which are designed for tearing solid food into small pieces. During the growth of fangs, the baby is more capricious than usual, since their sharp tip injures the soft tissues. The process may be accompanied by a rise in temperature up to 39 °C , swelling of the gums, and profuse salivation.
The order of eruption of baby teeth in children in the second year of life:
- upper first molars;
- lower first molars;
- upper canines;
- lower canines;
- lower second molars;
- upper second molars.
At two years old, a child should smile with at least 16 teeth. And at three - at 20. If the time series has not been formed by this age, you need to consult a specialist.
Scheme: baby teeth
Out of my head…
If a permanent tooth has hatched in place of a temporary tooth, and the baby tooth is not yet going to fall out, the doctor will advise you to remove it.
It is undesirable to remove baby teeth ahead of schedule - this will lead to malocclusion. Therefore, if there is caries in primary teeth, the doctor resorts to conservative treatment. If a child has pain in a permanent molar, the dentist will try to save it.
Indications for removal of a molar permanent tooth are:
- cyst or granuloma;
- complete destruction of the dental crown;
- inflammation of the tooth root and mandibular nerve.
Read also: When children lose their teeth
In order for an adult’s molars to be healthy for the rest of their lives, they need to be properly cared for from the very beginning. To prevent primary teeth from falling out prematurely and their crowns from being destroyed, it is necessary to limit the amount of sugar in the child’s diet.
You should not give your child a bottle of sweet water before bed, as sugar turns into lactic acid, which destroys the dental crown.
From childhood, you need to teach your baby to brush his teeth in the morning and evening. It is very important to clean them before going to bed, because it is at night that the
intensive reproduction and growth of pathogenic microflora.
It is better, of course, for the child to clean them after the next meal or rinse the mouth. Be sure to visit the dentist once every 6 months for a medical examination and professional cleaning.
To strengthen tooth enamel, it is advisable to use pastes with calcium and fluoride. In some cases, it may be necessary to apply special fluoride-containing products.
Timing of eruption of primary teeth: table
| Pair name | Location (B – upper, H – lower) | Child's age (in months) |
| Central incisors | H | 5–8 |
| B | 8–12 | |
| Lateral incisors | B | 9–13 |
| H | 10–16 | |
| First molars | B | 13–19 |
| H | 14–18 | |
| Fangs | B and H | 15–24 |
| Second molars | B and H | 23–31 |
How babies cut teeth: symptoms and photos
During the eruption of baby teeth, the child experiences terrible discomfort, so his behavior may differ from what his parents are accustomed to. This is a bad mood, the desire to chew something, refusal to eat, moodiness. Signs of something wrong can be noticed long before the first incisor begins to peck - 1-2 months. Therefore, in order not to worry about the baby’s health, you need to know the symptoms of tooth growth. What will happen:
- salivation will increase;
- appetite will decrease;
- the gums will become swollen and red;
- the child will often cry and be capricious;
- body temperature will increase;
- a wet, infrequent cough and runny nose will appear;
- possible constipation or diarrhea;
- the area of the baby's mouth will become covered with a rash.
Photo: what the gums look like when the first tooth erupts
All children experience these symptoms. The fever and cough will go away on their own within a few days. But if this does not happen, consult a doctor immediately.
The process of teething in babies
The rudiments of future milk teeth begin to form while the fetus is still in the mother’s womb. Due to pain during teething, the child becomes irritable, whiny and capricious .
Signs, as well as the duration of eruption, occur on an individual basis. And also in the same baby, a separate group of teeth will grow under different conditions of his well-being. There are cases when a child grows a tooth asymptomatically and parents notice only the end result - the tooth.
Symptoms of teething include:
- increase in body temperature;
- swollen gums;
- intense salivation;
- the desire to scratch your gums on your fists, toys and other objects;
- decreased appetite;
- cough;
- diarrhea.
All this happens due to the production of a large number of substances of biological properties. This process leads to an increase in temperature. A high temperature cannot be ignored and must be brought down with paracetamol .
Diarrhea occurs due to increased salivation; accordingly, a considerable amount of saliva enters the body, disrupting the established rhythm of the intestines.
In addition, as teeth grow, a runny nose may occur . The reason for this is an increase in the intensity of secretion production from the nasal glands. Therefore, during this period it is important to regularly clean the nasal passages of mucous mass.
And also quite often there is a wet cough , which occurs due to increased salivation, at which point mucus accumulates on the surface of the throat.
How to help a child
When a baby's baby teeth grow, he experiences pain and discomfort. But every parent has the power to alleviate his condition. First of all, you can buy special cooling teethers . They will reduce the swelling of the gums, and at the same time its pain. Pharmacies sell a lot of baby gels that will help relieve itching. Among the most common:
- Kalgel.
- Baby Doctor.
- Karmolis.
You can give your child the well-known syrup Ibufen. It performs 2 functions at once - antipyretic and analgesic, which makes it possible not to use a separate medicine to bring down the temperature.
Carefully! Any procedures and medications must be agreed with your pediatrician, as they may have contraindications and restrictions. In addition, parents do not know how to select the correct dosage.
When does permanent teeth begin to grow and how long does it take?
The eruption of permanent teeth occurs in a strict order. This process lasts a long time - from 7 to 9 years. First, the first molars appear - approximately six months before the “young teeth” begin to fall out. They grow in empty spaces that form due to age-related enlargement of the jaw. When the baby turns five, the change of the central incisors, which are located below, will begin. And then those on top. At six years the side ones will be renewed. At 7–10 – first and second primary molars. And only at 11 – fangs.
Diagram of molars
The timing of the appearance of permanent teeth in children is very broad and approximate , but if the child does not fit into them, you will have to consult a doctor. Until the age of four, primary incisors, molars and canines do not fall out or become loose. A loose tooth is a sign of a lack of vitamins, caries or other pathology. In case of premature loss, an implant can be installed to protect the integrity of the dentition.
Another reason to go to the dentist is the long-term absence of molars. If the milk ones have fallen out, but the permanent ones have not grown, you need to take an x-ray. This procedure will help identify possible anomalies, for example, when the root grows in the wrong direction.
Lack of tooth growth and stimulation
The onset of teething should occur before the baby is one year old. At the same time, each child has a designated time of growth, but the situation can be complicated by the lack of growth of the incisors. This happens for some reasons:
- Hereditary factor.
- Ecological situation.
- Edentia. This pathology implies the absence of the rudiments of baby teeth in the jaw. As a rule, this is associated with a violation of intrauterine development of the fetus. According to the observations of doctors, adentia is almost always accompanied by disruptions in the formation of hair and nails.
- Deficiency of vitamins and microelements. Teeth growth may be delayed due to insufficient intake of vitamins D, B, A, E, as well as fluoride and calcium.
Often infants' teeth do not erupt due to the presence of diseases such as adentia or rickets. The dangerous pathology rickets is formed as a result of an acute lack of vitamin D in the child's body. The disease is characterized by changes in the skeletal system for this reason and teeth do not grow.
Rickets has the following symptoms: baldness of the head in the occipital area, increased nervous excitability, as well as disturbances in appetite and sleep .
Adentia is characterized by the absence of tooth germs. This process begins from the time of development in the womb. But only a specialist can diagnose this disease through hardware examination - x-ray and radiophysiograph.
The first step to accelerating tooth growth is diagnosis, which allows you to determine the cause of inhibited growth. And in the conditions of its elimination, provide the necessary methods of stimulation. To achieve this goal, it is important to undergo a medical examination to identify abnormalities in metabolism, the skeletal system, as well as vitamin deficiency.
If no pathologies are found, then it is possible to ensure that the teeth begin to grow using the following methods:
- feed the child food enriched with calcium and mineral supplements;
- give vitamin complexes prescribed by your doctor;
- perform the lightest possible massage to activate the eruption of teeth from the swollen gums;
- take measures to strengthen the immune system.
At the same time, you should realize that when teeth begin to grow early, this does not mean that everything is fine. Likewise, late teeth pecking does not indicate retardation.
In what order should the molars come out: diagram
The process of eruption of molars occurs in the following sequence:
- First upper and lower molars. They are the biggest.
- Permanent central incisors.
- Lateral incisors.
- Lower canines.
- First and then second premolars.
- Upper canines and second molars.
- Wisdom teeth or third molars.
Pattern of appearance of permanent teeth
