At what age do children change baby teeth? Tooth replacement process in children

Changing baby teeth is a natural stage that every child goes through. So at this stage, what do parents need to pay attention to so that children's teeth can develop most completely? All questions will be answered below by doctors at The East Rose Dental Clinic.

At what age do children start losing baby teeth?

Baby teeth are the first teeth to appear when a child is about 6 months old, and by age 3, children usually have a full set of 20 baby teeth. This set of milk teeth plays an important role in helping children chew effectively and develop speech.

When children enter the period of 5 to 6 years old, baby teeth begin to loosen and fall out, making room for permanent teeth to grow. This stage is called tooth replacement. However, the time for tooth replacement can last longer in some children, usually occurring around 7 to 8 years old, depending on each child's constitution. Normally, girls tend to change their teeth earlier than boys.

Permanent teeth, as the name suggests, are the final set of teeth that will stay with us throughout our lives. If lost for any reason, these teeth cannot grow back on their own.

How many baby teeth do children replace?

Children will grow a full set of 20 baby teeth, including 10 in the upper jaw and 10 in the lower jaw. When it comes to tooth replacement, all 20 baby teeth will fall out one by one and be replaced by permanent teeth. The permanent set of teeth will have a total of about 32 teeth, including 4 wisdom teeth. However, in many cases, the number of permanent teeth may be less because wisdom teeth do not grow or only grow less than 4 teeth.

There are many cases where permanent teeth grow before baby teeth fall out, causing crowded, crooked growth and seriously affecting the bite. Therefore, during the tooth replacement process, parents need to carefully monitor and pay attention to their child's changes so that they can intervene promptly to ensure that permanent teeth grow in the correct and favorable position on the jaw.

Tooth replacement process in children

The process of replacing baby teeth in children follows the rule that the teeth that grow first will fall out first and the permanent teeth will grow right after. Below is the detailed tooth replacement procedure:

• 6 - 7 years old: Replace 4 central incisors. First are the 2 lower middle incisors, then the 2 upper central incisors.
• 7 - 8 years old: Replace 4 lateral incisors. Usually, the two front teeth on the upper jaw will be replaced sooner than the two front teeth on the lower jaw.
• 9 - 11 years old: Replace the first 4 baby molars with the first 4 premolars (also known as tooth number 4 in the permanent tooth system). The upper teeth will replace before the lower teeth.
• 9 - 12 years old: Replace 4 baby canines with 4 permanent canines. Upper canine teeth replace later than lower canine teeth.
• 10 - 12 years old: Replace the 4 second molars with 4 second premolars (also known as tooth number 5 in the permanent tooth system). At this point, 20 baby teeth have been completely replaced by 20 permanent teeth.

Along with this tooth replacement process, 8 large molars in the permanent tooth system also begin to grow. Among them, the first molar (tooth number 6) is the first permanent tooth to grow (about 6 - 7 years old). This is an important tooth, playing a key role in chewing and creating the foundation for healthy development of the jaw.

From 17 to 21 years old, wisdom teeth begin to grow. In theory, each person will have 4 wisdom teeth in the innermost corner of each quadrant of the jaw, but many people only grow 1-3 or even have no wisdom teeth at all.

Hopefully the above article has provided useful information for readers about the process of replacing baby teeth in children. The smallest notes during the tooth replacement process will help children grow up to have more beautiful and healthier teeth.