Baby teeth generally fall out in the same order they came in. The two bottom front teeth go first, usually around age 6 or 7, followed by the two top front teeth. From there, the process moves outward and backward through the mouth over the next six or seven years, finishing with the back molars around age 12 or 13.
The Full Sequence, Tooth by Tooth
The pattern is predictable for most kids. Lower teeth in each pair tend to fall out before their upper counterparts, sometimes by a full year. Here’s the typical order and age range, based on guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry:
- Bottom front teeth (lower central incisors): 6 to 7 years
- Top front teeth (upper central incisors): 7 to 8 years
- Upper lateral incisors (next to the top front teeth): 8 to 9 years
- Lower lateral incisors (next to the bottom front teeth): 7 to 8 years
- Lower canines (the pointed teeth): 9 to 11 years
- Upper canines: 11 to 12 years
- Lower first molars: 10 to 12 years
- Upper first molars: 9 to 11 years
- Lower second molars: 11 to 13 years
- Upper second molars: 9 to 12 years
In simpler terms: front teeth go first (ages 6 to 8), then the first molars and canines fall out in a mixed order (ages 9 to 12), and the second molars bring up the rear (ages 10 to 13). Most children have lost all 20 baby teeth by age 13.
Why Lower Teeth Usually Fall Out First
Baby teeth fall out because the permanent tooth growing underneath gradually dissolves the root of the baby tooth above it. Cells in the tissue surrounding the developing permanent tooth release signaling molecules that trigger this dissolving process, which works in a way similar to how the body naturally remodels bone. As the root gets shorter and shorter, the baby tooth loosens until it finally lets go.
Lower teeth tend to lead because permanent teeth in the lower jaw typically develop and push through slightly earlier than their upper-jaw counterparts. This is why your child will probably lose those bottom front teeth first and why, at nearly every position in the mouth, the lower tooth beats the upper one by several months to a year.
What’s Normal Variation
The AAPD notes that many otherwise normal children don’t follow the standard schedule exactly. Some kids lose their first tooth at 5, others not until closer to 8. Both can be perfectly fine. Research has found no meaningful difference between boys and girls in how quickly the process unfolds.
Genetics plays the biggest role in timing. If you lost your baby teeth early, your child likely will too. Nutrition and overall health can also shift the timeline. The sequence itself is more consistent than the timing. Nearly all children lose front teeth before molars, even if they start a year or two earlier or later than average.
One thing parents sometimes notice is a gap that seems to last a long time after a baby tooth falls out. For lateral incisors and canines, the toothless period can sometimes stretch beyond a year, particularly if there’s crowding in the jaw. This is usually not a problem on its own, but it’s worth mentioning at a dental visit if the gap persists.
When a Baby Tooth Falls Out Too Early
Losing a baby tooth ahead of schedule, whether from decay, injury, or infection, can cause real problems with alignment. Baby teeth do more than chew food. They hold space in the jaw for the permanent teeth developing underneath. When one is lost too early, neighboring teeth can drift into the gap, leaving less room for the adult tooth to come in straight.
The consequences tend to be worse when the tooth lost is a second molar rather than a front tooth, when the loss happens at a younger age, and when the child’s mouth is already crowded. The amount of space that closes increases the longer the gap sits empty, with the most movement happening in the first six months. Space in the upper jaw closes faster than in the lower jaw.
If your child loses a baby tooth well before the expected age range listed above, a dentist may recommend a space maintainer, a small device that holds the gap open until the permanent tooth is ready to come through. This is a simple, preventive step that can spare a child from more involved orthodontic work later.
When a Baby Tooth Won’t Fall Out
On the other end of the spectrum, sometimes a baby tooth hangs on past its expected window. This is called a retained primary tooth, and it happens when the permanent tooth underneath is slow to develop, is missing entirely, or is growing in at an angle that doesn’t push against the baby tooth’s root in the usual way.
There’s no single age cutoff that defines “too late,” but dental experts generally recommend that retained baby incisors be evaluated for extraction before age 9, and retained canines or molars before age 13. Waiting too long can make it harder for the permanent tooth to erupt on its own and may eventually require a more involved procedure to guide it into place. If a baby tooth still feels rock-solid with no wiggle well past the ages listed above, it’s worth getting an X-ray to see what’s happening underneath.