Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Stages

This is when kids start and stop losing baby teeth

NewFolks
By

Becoming a parent is one of the greatest joys of life. All of a sudden the responsibility of parenting kicks in, and your mind starts racing about all the things you need to do and remember. One of the milestones that every parent looks forward to is when the tooth fairy visits for the very first time. This article reviews the general timelines for both the eruption and loss of baby teeth, common concerns you may have, and what you need to know to soothe your kids during this process.

toddler teeth
Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

Baby teeth chart

Kids begin to grow their baby teeth around 6 months old, which continues until about age 3. Starting around the age of 6, your child will begin losing his or her baby teeth. This continues until all the teeth are lost by the time they are 12. After that, your kid starts to grow 32 permanent adult teeth.

Recommended Videos

The table below gives the eruption as well as loss timeline for baby teeth.

Related
Tooth name and position Eruption timeline Loss timeline
Lower central incisors 6 to 10 months old 6 to 7 years old
Upper central incisors 8 to 12 months old 6 to 7 years old
Upper lateral incisors 9 to 13 months old 7 to 8 years old
Lower lateral incisors 10 to 16 months old 7 to 8 years old
Upper first molars 13 to 19 months old 9 to 11 years old
Lower first molars 14 to 18 months old 9 to 11 years old
Upper canines 16 to 22 months old 10 to 12 years old
Lower canines 17 to 23 months old 9 to 12 years old
Lower second molars 23 to 31 months old 10 to 12 years old
Upper second molars 25 to 33 months old 10 to 12 years old

Children lose their baby teeth because they only act as placeholders, creating space in the jaw for future, permanent teeth. When a permanent tooth is ready to erupt, the root of a baby tooth begins to dissolve until it’s completely gone. At that point, the tooth is “loose” and only held in place by the surrounding gum tissue.

First out: Central incisors

You might be surprised to learn that most people lose their baby teeth in the order that they erupted. The lower central incisors are the first teeth to appear around 6 months of age, and they’re also the first to come loose and make room for your child’s permanent teeth when they’re around 6 or 7 years old.

toddler teeth
marina shin / Shutterstock

After the lower central incisors, the upper central incisors come out, making way for the bigger upper central incisors we all expect to see in adults. Losing teeth can be an exciting time for some children, especially if you introduce fun concepts like the tooth fairy. But sometimes children experience a little pain or discomfort when they lose a tooth. Here’s how you can help:

After the tooth is removed, have your child rinse their mouth with a simple saltwater solution to help clean their gums. Use a bit of gauze to help cover the area, which is known as a socket, and encourage them not to spit, as this can cause bleeding. Apply a cold, wet cloth after any bleeding has stopped if there’s still pain or discomfort.

Next up: Lateral incisors

After the central incisors have been shed, the next baby teeth to go will be your child’s lateral incisors. Usually, the upper lateral incisors loosen first, which often occurs between ages 7 and 8.

At this point, your child should be more familiar with the experience of losing a tooth. Ideally, it should no longer be a scary experience since they’ll have already lost four teeth prior to the lateral incisors.

toddler teeth
alekso94/Shutterstock

Let’s see those choppers: Primary first molars

As your child loses more and more teeth, it becomes a significantly easier process for parents. While teething may be uncomfortable in general, incoming molars might be especially painful for babies and toddlers.

In contrast, the primary molars (also known as first molars) usually aren’t painful when they fall out or are replaced by permanent molars. These primary first molars are usually shed between the ages of 9 and 11 years old.

Final act: Primary second molars and canines

The last sets of baby teeth to go are the canines and primary second molars. The canines are usually lost between the ages of 9 and 12 years old, while the primary second molars are the last baby teeth your child will lose. These final sets of teeth are usually shed between the ages of 10 and 12.

As your child grows, their jaws also grow to accommodate the larger permanent teeth. By the age of 13, they should have a full set of permanent teeth.

Editors' Recommendations

NewFolks
NewFolks
What it means if you lose weight during pregnancy – and when to worry
What causes a pregnant woman to lose weight?
A pregnant woman holding her belly in a bathroom

Weight gain is a very real, very normal, and very expected part of pregnancy. Most people are prepared to see the scale going up as their pregnancy progresses, but sometimes they may notice it going down, which can cause some anxiety. Pregnancy requires extra calories and extra nutrition to feed a growing baby, which is why it can be very concerning when a pregnant person notices they are losing weight.

Weight loss during pregnancy may be more common than you think. It isn't necessarily cause for alarm unless it's a consistent pattern throughout the pregnancy and not just a short-lived dip on the scale. Many factors can cause a pregnant person to lose weight, but that doesn't mean it can't be concerning when it happens. You should always consult your doctor if you're concerned about your weight gain or loss during pregnancy, but if you've found yourself asking, "Why am I losing weight while pregnant?" here are a few possible explanations.
It's not uncommon

Read more
When do babies sleep through the night (and what the answer means for your child)?
This is the first question new parents want to know
A mother watching her baby sleep in their crib.

Every parent of a newborn has the same question after their first night with their precious new bundle of joy. When do babies sleep through the night? All it takes is those first sleepless 24 hours to wonder if you are ever going to sleep again. After a few days, you don't even remember when the last time you slept more than a few hours in one stretch was. We get it. Here's when babies sleep through the night, so you know when you will be done stumbling around in a zombie-like sleepless fog.
A baby's sleep schedule
Every baby is different, so if your babe isn't getting the exact amount of sleep by a certain age, it's not something to worry about. But there is a little guide to refer to.

Newborns up to 2 months old
Newborns do spend a decent amount of time sleeping. Unfortunately for the parents, it's not all at night. While babies less than 2 months old snooze up to 18 hours a day, with up to 10 of those hours being prime nighttime sleep hours, it isn't all at once.

Read more
The top cowboy and Western baby names that are riding high
Here’s some inspiration when naming baby if you’re a fan of all things Western
Baby boy wearing a blue knitted cap

There's so much to be excited about when it comes to having a baby, but parents-to-be often spend quite a bit of time agonizing over the perfect name. There is a lot of pressure to choose the ideal name for your little one, which may be why Western baby names are riding back to the forefront.

Namerology creator Lauren Wattenberg is all about names and predicts cowboy baby names will definitely be something to climb in the saddle for in the coming years. Wattenberg feels shows like the popular Western drama Yellowstone have brought cowboy names in from the range. Of course, Western baby names have never really ridden into the sunset. Dakota is a gender-neutral Western baby name that became prevalent in the 90s.

Read more