The emergence of permanent teeth is often heralded by a third set of molars that appear between your child’s sixth and seventh birthdays. These molars are permanent adult teeth that do not replace any baby teeth.
Shortly thereafter, your child will develop the gap-tooth smile of the typical first grader and the baby-teeth-to-permanent-teeth replacement process begins. Based on genetics, your child will usually sprout pairs of adult teeth in the same order as the baby teeth erupted.
• First lower and upper molars put in their first permanent appearance (age 6-7)
• Lower central incisors (age 6-7)
• Upper central incisors (age 7-8)
• Lower lateral incisors (age 7-8)
• Upper lateral incisors (age 8-9)
• Lower canine/cuspids (age 9-10)
• Upper canine/cuspids (age 11-12)
• First upper baby molars are replaced with bicuspids (age 10-11)
• First lower baby molars are replaced with bicuspids (age 10-12)
• Second upper baby molars are replaced with bicuspids (age 10-12)
• Second lower baby molars are replaced with bicuspids (age 11-12)
• Second lower molars (age 11-13)
• Second upper molars (age 12-13)
Wisdom teeth will make their presence known—either by erupting, by causing tenderness to gums, or by putting pressure on the surrounding teeth—between the ages of 17 and 21. Schedule a consultation with Hughes & Hughes Family Dentistry to determine if your child’s mouth has enough room to accommodate this extra set of molars or, if not, to plan for their extraction.