Guidelines for When Should Baby Teeth Appear
Knowing the exact answer to “When should baby teeth appear?” is as unexpected as the timing of baby’s first steps. In general, expect the first sharp nubbin around six months; some babies teethe earlier, some later. Heredity plays a part. If you check your own baby book, if grandmother was a tooth-record keeper, your baby’s teething schedule may resemble yours.
Facts About Baby Teeth
Actually, babies are born with a full set of twenty primary teeth. They are just buried in the gums, waiting in line for their time to sprout. While every child is different, there are some general patterns we see with emerging teeth:
- Teeth push through in upper and lower pairs, usually the lower appear before their upper gum mates, and girls teethe slightly earlier than boys.
- The “rule of fours” is how teeth usually appear. Beginning around six months, expect four new teeth every four months until complete, usually by two-and-a-half years.
- Baby teeth come through gums at unusual angles. Some come out straight, others first appear crooked but straighten as they twist their way through.
- Don’t fret about spaces. It’s easier to clean between spaced teeth, and the spacing of baby teeth does not necessarily reflect how the permanent teeth will appear.
And that’s the “tooth”!
Dr. Sears, or Dr. Bill as his “little patients” call him, has been advising busy parents on how to raise healthier families for over 40 years. He received his medical training at Harvard Medical School’s Children’s Hospital in Boston and The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the world’s largest children’s hospital, where he was associate ward chief of the newborn intensive care unit before serving as the chief of pediatrics at Toronto Western Hospital, a teaching hospital of the University of Toronto. He has served as a professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto, University of South Carolina, University of Southern California School of Medicine, and University of California: Irvine. As a father of 8 children, he coached Little League sports for 20 years, and together with his wife Martha has written more than 40 best-selling books and countless articles on nutrition, parenting, and healthy aging. He serves as a health consultant for magazines, TV, radio and other media, and his AskDrSears.com website is one of the most popular health and parenting sites. Dr. Sears has appeared on over 100 television programs, including 20/20, Good Morning America, Oprah, Today, The View, and Dr. Phil, and was featured on the cover of TIME Magazine in May 2012. He is noted for his science-made-simple-and-fun approach to family health.