Disclosure :: This post is sponsored by Lafayette Pediatric Dentistry.
Teeth Eruption :: Is My Fourteen Year Old Teething?
Yes, Your Fourteen Year Old Could Be Teething..
Most people know when you start losing your front baby teeth and get the new permanent
incisors—around the age of 6 or 7, which is mostly correct. After that big moment passes, we tend to forget about what is going on in the back of our mouths, with our molars, and the fact that you are still getting new teeth in your tweens! I also get a lot of questions about infant teething. Here’s a breakdown of what is “typical” as far as when your child’s primary and permanent teeth should start to show:
Let’s start at the beginning. Many parents come to my office in a panic when their 7 month old infant still doesn’t have any teeth. This is actually normal! While the average age for the eruption of the first tooth is around the age of 7.5 months, timing is variable, give or take a few months. You can get your first tooth well after your first birthday! This is what happened with my daughter—and yes even though I knew it was normal I still worried.
Once your child gets their first teeth, usually the central incisors, the next set of teeth (lateral incisors) typically come in four months later. The next set of teeth, the first baby molars, come four months after that, and so on in four month increments until all are present. Again there is a range here. For example, second baby molars are called 2 year molars, but can come in as late as 3 years!
Similarly, with permanent teeth, there can actually be a two year range as far as when baby teeth fall out and the new ones come in. You lose your lower front central incisors first, with the average age being 5.5 years, but I see plenty of children as old as 7 or 8 who have yet to lose a tooth. In general, we see that infants who get teeth during the later end of the range are often late to get their permanent teeth as well. Similarly, children can be on the earlier end of things, with first tooth loss around age 4! Both situations are completely normal.
After all of the permanent incisors are present in the front of the mouth, there is a second phase of change that occurs from age 8-12 in the back of the mouth, where the baby molars fall out and the permanent bicuspids replace them.
Finally, people often don’t realize that you have two sets of permanent molars! Molars are the very last and largest teeth in our mouths. Your first permanent molars come in around age 6 on average, and your second ones come in around age 12. Many people mistakenly think these teeth are their wisdom teeth—but those typically come in much later, from age 16 to 21. (Often they are impacted, never come in, or sometimes never even form!) So, if your child is getting molars in the pre-teen/early teen years, most likely they are the “12 year molars.” Given the two year age range on getting teeth, it is quite
possible that, yes, your 14 year old could be teething!
For more information on Lafayette Pediatric Dentistry or Dr. Anita Gouri visit the links below OR call the office at (337) 443-9944 and set up your first consultation for FREE.
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Other Dental Related Topics that May Be of Interest ::
- Why Does My Child Have White Spots on Their Teeth?
- What if My Kid Freaks Out at the Dentist?
- Tips on Weaning Your Little One From Thumb & Finger Sucking
- Sleep Disordered Breathing: More Common Than You Think!
- Why Take X-Rays Routinely at the Dentist?
- Teething Toddler Woes: Tips and Tricks For Relief
- The Most Common Causes of Cavities
- Four Reasons Moms Should Reconsider Fruit Snacks
- The Truth About Tongue and Lip-Ties
About the Author
Dr. Anita Gouri, a pediatric dentist, has been practicing in Lafayette for 10 years and is the owner of Lafayette Pediatric Dentistry. She graduated from LSU School of Dentistry in 2006, receiving honors including Outstanding Achievement in Pediatric Dentistry, Honors in Research, and the Carl A. Baldridge Academic Scholarship. She completed her residency in pediatric dentistry at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC in 2008 and became a board certified diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry in 2009. In 2010, her research on dental pain assessment was published in Pediatric Dentistry. She also has specialized training in treating babies and children who have tongue and lip ties. She is a member of the Academy of Laser Dentistry, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the Louisiana Dental Association, the Southwestern Society of Pediatric Dentistry, American Dental Association, as well as the C. Edmund Kells and Omicron Kappa Upsilon Dental Honor Societies. Dr. Gouri, her husband, and their two children enjoy travel, Saints football, good food and good friends.
