Is your child a Kindergartener or first grader? You may well be thinking it's just about time for them to start losing their milk teeth. When do children get lose their first baby teeth and get their adult teeth? And what do you need to know about it?
It's often said that boys take a while longer than girls to develop. I've heard this said about learning to walk, potty train, read and write, and even about puberty (mostly nonsense, but still, those are the rumors!). Getting rid of those baby teeth is no exception, and while children will generally start losing baby teeth by age 6, boys may start a little later than girls. The process of changing teeth goes on for a while; the last permanent tooth will come in at age 12 or 13.
Milk teeth, like baby teeth, tend to have a specific order in which they erupt. The first teeth that your child ever got (the front teeth), are also the first ones to fall out to be replaced by adult teeth in the vast majority of cases. Teeth will start falling out (and coming in) in the middle, and work their way up to the sides to the incisors and molars.If your child suffered from early childhood caries and lost one of more baby teeth early, the adult tooth underneath may also come in early. Even if it comes in "on schedule", the risk of the teeth being crooked or not having enough space is real. Talk to your dentist about this before you face this situation.
Do you remember what it was like when your baby teeth came out? Some kids are really scared by the whole thing, while others look forward to being "all grown up" or even to a visit from the tooth fairy. My husband remembers his mom taunting him because he couldn't pronounce words correctly with his missing middle teeth, while I just remember being scared that I would choke on a loose tooth. Keep your own stories in mind and make sure to make your child feel supported while they are losing those milk teeth.
Your thoughts on this
Loading...