Things To Expect When Your Child's Permanent Teeth Are Coming In

Every human will go through the process of tooth eruption twice in their lives. The primary teeth or the milk teeth start erupting at the age of six months while the permanent teeth start to erupt at six years old.

The eruption of permanent teeth is an important part of the child’s development as it will have a large impact on the appearance of the face, and the function and well-being of the oral cavity. It's natural for parents to worry if the eruption is going according to plan.

Here are some of the things that you can expect to see during the process of permanent tooth eruption.

The Age At Which The Teeth Erupt Is Variable

In the age of the internet, it is quite easy to see what the ideal ages of tooth eruption are. For example, the first permanent molars should start erupting at the age of 6 years, however, this does not mean that every child’s teeth will follow that schedule precisely.

These ages of eruption are just a guide and can vary quite widely from child to child. In case, as a parent, you are worried that your child’s teeth are not erupting at the right time, you can visit the doctor for consultation.

The correct procedure would be to take an X –ray of the jaws to ensure that all the tooth buds are present and in the process of erupting. A variation of six months is not uncommon and even a year’s delay is not something that should overly concern the parents.

The Teeth Appear Bigger Than They should be

Parents are often horrified to see the size of the teeth replacing the perfect little primary teeth. This is because the permanent teeth are bigger, wider, taller and thus stick out in between other primary teeth.

There is nothing to be concerned about here, and as the children grow their jaws will grow to better suit the size of the teeth. One of the first teeth to erupt are the front permanent teeth of the upper and lower jaw. The contrast between these teeth and the surrounding primary ones is stark and often a source of many palpitations for parents.

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The Teeth Will Appear Crooked And Malaligned

This stage of development, where children have a mixed dentition, that is both primary and permanent teeth, is often referred to as the "ugly duckling stage". As the teeth erupt into the oral cavity, they often take a route that is not what we would imagine.

They may start out erupting a bit crooked and then slowly get into their correct position as more teeth around them erupt. Once again, no treatment is indicated here if all the primary teeth are falling on schedule.

This is not to say that all teeth will correct their position on their own if just wait long enough. The time span referred to here is specifically during the time of eruption. Even if some teeth are clearly not in the right position, it is better to wait until all the teeth have erupted to start orthodontic treatment.

Interventional orthodontics is a newer approach to treatment that advocates early intervention during the phase of eruption, however, there is still quite a bit of controversy over the rationale behind that line of treatment.

What To Expect When Your Child Is Getting Permanent Teeth

Some Primary Teeth Will Need To Be Removed

There is a tendency in some people to retain their primary teeth for much longer than they are needed in the oral cavity. The job of the milk teeth is to guide the successive permanent teeth into their correct position and then fall out.

In some cases, the permanent teeth may not follow the correct path of eruption and thus do not apply the required amount of pressure on the milk teeth to fall out. In other cases, the primary teeth may overstay their welcome and actually prevent the permanent teeth from erupting at all.

In both the situations, the over-retained deciduous teeth will need to be removed to allow the necessary space that the permanent tooth needs to erupt.

Some Permanent Teeth Will Not Erupt At All

There could be several reasons for this. The most common one is where the permanent tooth in question is not able to erupt out of the bone at all or only partially erupts out of the bone. A smaller jaw than is normal, an altered path of eruption or no obvious cause at all could cause this to occur.

Another reason could be the that the permanent tooth is simply absent and did not exist at all. This is is again quite common and seems to affect the front lateral incisor most often.

Irrespective of the cause that is behind it, one or multiple teeth not erupting into the oral cavity is a major problem that will have to be tackled meticulously.

READ Pros and Cons of Wisdom Teeth Removal

The Wisdom Teeth Will Almost Always Need To Be extracted

These are the last teeth to erupt and are considered to be remnants of our prehistoric selves. Human ancestors had much larger jaws that could accommodate the wisdom teeth or the third molars as they are called without any trouble.

As our diet evolved to a softer, cooked diet, our jaws grew smaller in size and in most cases can no longer find adequate space for these teeth. Thus, they cause pain and discomfort during eruption or cause injury to the cheeks after eruption.

Depending upon the space available in your jaw, your dentist may choose to extract the wisdom teeth or leave them as they are.

Conclusion

The process of permanent tooth eruption is a long one. It lasts for almost six years from the time the first teeth start erupting till the time all of them find their way into the mouth. It is actually much longer if we take the wisdom teeth into consideration as well since they generally erupt around the age of 17 or 18 years.

It is important to have patience and let nature take its course for a lot many ‘problems’ will sort themselves out without any intervention. For everything else, you have your dentist!