Most children get their first permanent teeth around age 6, starting with the lower front teeth or the first molars in the back. From there, adult teeth continue arriving in a fairly predictable sequence that stretches all the way to age 13 for most teeth, with wisdom teeth potentially showing up into the mid-twenties. The entire process is gradual, and every child’s timeline varies by a year or two in either direction.
Which Teeth Come In First
The very first permanent teeth to appear are usually the first molars, often called “six-year molars.” These emerge behind the last baby teeth, so they don’t replace anything and are easy to miss. Lower first molars tend to arrive slightly earlier than upper ones, typically between ages 5 and 7. Around the same time, the lower central incisors (the two bottom front teeth) start pushing through. In some children, the bottom front teeth actually beat the molars by a few weeks.
Girls generally lose baby teeth and gain permanent ones a bit earlier than boys, though the difference is usually only a few months.
Full Eruption Timeline by Tooth
Here’s what to expect, listed roughly in the order teeth appear. Keep in mind that lower teeth tend to come in slightly before their upper counterparts.
- First molars: 5 to 7 years (upper and lower)
- Central incisors (front teeth): 6 to 7 years (lower), 7 to 8 years (upper)
- Lateral incisors (next to front teeth): 7 to 8 years (lower), 8 to 9 years (upper)
- Lower canines (pointed teeth): 9 to 10 years
- First premolars: 10 to 12 years
- Second premolars: 11 to 12 years
- Upper canines: 11 to 12 years
- Second molars: 11 to 13 years
- Wisdom teeth (third molars): 17 to 25 years
By around age 13, most children have all 28 of their permanent teeth in place, not counting wisdom teeth. The full adult set, if wisdom teeth come in, is 32.
How Baby Teeth Fall Out
Baby teeth don’t just loosen on their own. As a permanent tooth develops underneath, it pushes upward and triggers the body to send specialized cells to the roots of the baby tooth above it. These cells gradually dissolve the root from below. That’s why a baby tooth feels increasingly wobbly over days or weeks: its root is literally disappearing. Once enough root is gone, the tooth has nothing anchoring it and falls out.
It’s perfectly normal for a child to lose their first baby tooth anywhere from age 4 to age 8. That two-year window on either side of the “average” age of 6 is wide, and on its own it’s not a reason for concern.
When Permanent Teeth Grow Behind Baby Teeth
Sometimes a permanent tooth starts coming in before the baby tooth has fallen out, creating a second row that looks a bit like shark teeth. This is common with the lower front teeth and is rarely a serious problem. If the baby tooth is already loose, encourage your child to wiggle it until it falls out naturally. Once it does, the tongue tends to push the new permanent tooth forward into the correct position over time.
If the baby tooth isn’t loose at all and the permanent tooth is already as tall as the baby tooth beside it, a dentist may recommend removing the baby tooth to give the adult tooth room to shift forward. In the meantime, keep brushing and flossing around both teeth so the gums stay healthy.
When a Baby Tooth Falls Out Too Early
Parents often worry that losing a baby tooth early, whether from a fall or a cavity, will cause the permanent teeth to crowd together. Research following children for nearly seven years after early loss of a baby molar found that in most cases the permanent teeth came in without significant crowding. The neighboring teeth shifted only about a millimeter, and the jaw continued growing enough to accommodate the incoming adult teeth. Space-maintaining devices aren’t always necessary, particularly for front baby molars lost early, but your dentist can evaluate the specific situation.
Boys Versus Girls
Girls tend to be a few months ahead of boys at nearly every stage of permanent tooth eruption. One study found that lower first molars arrived around age 5.8 in girls compared to 5.8 in boys (nearly identical for that tooth), while upper first molars showed a slight edge for girls at 6.2 years versus 6.3 years. The gap becomes more noticeable with canines and premolars. In girls, the upper canine often arrives before the second premolar, while in boys that order is reversed. These differences are minor and don’t require any different approach to dental care.
Delayed Teeth: What’s Normal
A delay of up to 12 months beyond the expected range is generally not a concern in an otherwise healthy child. Some kids simply run on a slower schedule, just as some walk or hit growth spurts later than their peers.
When teeth are delayed beyond that window, the most common causes are local rather than body-wide: another tooth blocking the path, not enough space in the jaw, or a lingering infection around a baby tooth. The teeth most likely to get stuck or come in at odd angles are wisdom teeth, second premolars, and upper canines, since they’re the last to erupt and have the least room. More widespread delays affecting many teeth at once are rare and usually linked to broader health conditions a pediatrician would already be monitoring.
Wisdom Teeth
Wisdom teeth are the final set of molars, and their timeline is the most unpredictable. They can emerge anytime between ages 17 and 25, though some people never develop them at all. Because they arrive after the jaw has largely stopped growing, there’s often not enough room for them. When a wisdom tooth is trapped beneath the gum or angled against the tooth in front of it, it’s considered impacted. Impacted wisdom teeth can cause pain, swelling, or damage to neighboring teeth, which is why dentists monitor them with X-rays during the teen years.