Permanent Teeth?

my boy will be 12 next month & he still has 4 more teeth to go....I know this only because I took him to the dentist for a cleaning & to possibly get braces. The dentist said they won't do braces until all of the permanent teeth come in, which will be about this time next yr....

Hi L.,

My 11 year old has been losing his baby molars like crazy this year, so I think you're fine. Teeth are really on their own agenda; they fall out when they're ready and there's no rushing them.

If you're really concerned that something's amiss, a round of dental xrays will show if everything's ok. As my son's dentist said, "they just don't want to come out!" When they did there was absolutely no roots left.

I'd cross this one off the worry list...

Take care,
S. F.

Some kids are getting molars by 8, and some are barely losing their first tooth. Don't worry, it's all normal.

A small heads up - when losing teeth happens "late," puberty also tends to be "late." That's also perfectly normal.

sounds about right... I think that's where my 8 yo step-son is.

Between now and age 12. If he was late getting his teeth in as a baby, he will probably be late getting them in now.

My son will be 8 in July and he has the same perm teeth as your child. He just saw the dentist and he said everything in his mouth is age appropriate.

I have four kids and trying to remember when everyone's teeth were supposed to come in was challenging (and sometimes frustrating when I didn't know they were 'teething' even at an older age!). My childrens' dentist had this great "bookmark" looking chart (even was made of plastic) called a "Tooth Arrival Chart". It shows the 'typical' growth (and therefore loss) of baby to adult teeth. It was separated by ages with a full mouth view (upper and lower) graphic for each age range. Sure helped me. Maybe you can request something like this from your dentist?

As for your son, your dentist will be able to tell where he is on his particular growth.

Best wishes.

Not to worry ;-) I asked our dentist the same thing as my son is 7 1/2 and has only lost 3 teeth, and only has 2 new ones that have come in (central incisors). He JUST lost his 3rd tooth 2 days ago and still has one of his upper central incisors (though it's loose). Most of his friends have lost 6-8 teeth already. We've had 2 dentists tell us it's not an issue to be concerned about at all. In fact, the upside is that the later they come in, the longer they will probably last! I hope this helps.

I remember that I didn't have any permanent teeth when I was 9! I started seeing an orthodontist around age 11, and they had to pull almost all of my baby teeth so that my permanent teeth would come in. I was also very late entering puberty. I turned out ok, and so will your son!

Hi L.,

My son will be 8 next week and he is just now working on losing his 3rd tooth! He lost the 2 front lower teeth first about 6-8 months ago and nothing since til now. His dentist took x-rays and said all looks normal and no need to worry so we just let nature take its course.

I ama dentist so here is some of what i'd tell patients. First of all, He probably also has his molars that came in in the back behind his baby teeth arpund age 6. Don't worry, kids vary on when they get their teeth but every year more and more will come in until he is 13-14. Rarely some kids may be missing some adult teeth but if you are taking him to the dentist regularly in the xrays they can check that the adult teeth are there and ready to come in. If you take him in for a checkup ask them and share your concerns.

Is your son small? We were told either by our dentist or our pediatrician (can't remember which at this point) that small kids (like our daughter) lag a bit because their skull isn't big enough to accommodate the big teeth. Our peds dentist at UCLA (Dr. Law) is fabulous if you want a second opinion.

Not necessarily. Just like every child is different when the baby teeth come in... same with the adult teeth.