Baby teeth
A child’s mouth has 20 initial teeth, also called primary teeth, baby teeth or baby teeth:
- Four second molars
- Four first molars
- Four canines (also called canines or eye teeth)
- Four lateral incisors
- Four central incisors
For each set of four teeth, two teeth are in the upper arch (one on each side of the mouth) and two in the lower arch (one on each side of the mouth).
Permanent Teeth
The adult mouth has 32 permanent teeth:
- Four third molars (also called wisdom teeth)
- Four second molars (also called 12-year molars)
- First four molars (also called 6-year molars)
- Four second molars (also called second premolars)
- Four first molars (also called first premolars)
- Four canines (also called canines or eye teeth)
- Four lateral incisors Four central incisors
Dental functions
Your teeth are used to:
Biting and tearing.
Central incisors and lateral incisors are mainly used for biting and cutting, and canine teeth are mainly used for tearing food.
Grinding and crushing.
Premolars, molars and wisdom teeth are mainly used for chewing and grinding food.
How teeth are structured
Each tooth has three main parts: crown, neck and root.
- The crown is the visible part of the tooth. A protective layer called enamel covers the crown.
- The neck is the area of the tooth between the crown and the root.
- The root is the part of the tooth that extends through the gums and into the jawbone.
The first teeth begin to break through the gums at about 6 months of age. Usually, the first two teeth to emerge are the two lower central incisors (the two lower front teeth). Next, the four upper front teeth emerge. After that, other teeth slowly begin to fill in, usually in pairs — one on each side of the upper or lower jaw — until all 20 teeth are in (10 in the upper and 10 in the lower jaw) the child is 2 ½ up to 3 years old. The full set of primary teeth are in the mouth from the age of 2 ½ to 3 years to 6 to 7 years.
