My son is 22 months old. He has his 4 teeth on top and bottom and he has his first 4 molars but he does not have his canines yet. Is that normal? He has had his molars for about 4 months now and he hasn't gotten anymore teeth in. Do I need to take him to the dentist to have them checked to make sure they are really there?? do I need to worry? Thanks for any advice.
Thanks to everyone who sent responses. I'm not too worried but he hasn't shown any signs of them coming in yet and my 4 year old got all of his pretty early I guess because he has them so early. I have to try to find a dentist in our area that accepts our insurance. That hasn't been easy yet. Thanks for your input.
ADA says canines should come in around 16-22 months, so he should be getting them soon!
Here is their tooth eruption chart:
http://www.ada.org/public/topics/tooth_eruption.asp
Just remember that it's just a guideline and each child is different!
Comparing my son's teeth growth to the many other kids in our playgroups, we've seen it all. There's a 21mo who's had all of her teeth (even 2yr molars) since 16mos. There's a 20mo with only 4 teeth. There's a 22mo with 2 teeth! I would wait until 2yr checkup - its only 2mos away. My son's incisors have been wacky - they all broke skin on Thanksgiving day - the top ones took about 2wks to completely grow out - the bottom ones are stilllllll sitting there.
My son is almost 22 months old and he is just now getting his canines in. I thought he had the slowest teeth in the world because like your son, he had his molars for a while and then nothing! But just within the past few weeks I started to see the canines pushing through (3 of the 4 anyways!) If your Mom remembers, ask her how your teeth came in. I heard the pattern can be hereditary. My Mom told me I was slow to get my teeth in as well. So don't worry, you are not alone in the slow teeth department!
take him to go see his dentist
My son's teeth appeared in an unusual order (molars first!) and his canines were among the last to go in. If you are worried, the dentist can do an x-ray to make sure all of his teeth are there. We did that because my son did not have any teeth at 18 months.
It has been a long road, but all of his teeth are in (last molars are just finishing up now). Your son is most likely fine - some kids just teeth differently. If it makes you feel better to check - I recommend doing it. I know I was relieved to see the x-ray of my son's teeth that were taking their sweet time in appearing.
Good luck.
All babies teeth do not come in at the same rate. My oldest (now 8 yrs) came in "normal" as noted in the charts. My baby (now 4yrs), her 4 upper anteriors broke through at the same time in all in one day when she was 6 mos old! One of my nieces came in like your son on the upper and lower. To ease your mind you could bring him to the dentist for an X-ray but I'm sure he's fine.
It's just like how all babies start to walk at different rates. :)
My 4 children's teeth all came in at various times. At least one of them got some molars before canines. I would not worry, but just ask about it at his 2 year well check.
I just took my 1yr old in on monday for her first dental vist(recommended by the ADA for babies). They gave me a handout on when teeth should come in and fall out ....canine tops should erupt from 16-22months and bottoms 17-23 months. I know that some kids get those around their second birthday. I would not even worry about the teeth issue but I do recommend taking the him to the dentist since he has teeth. They did x-rays on my daughter and ensured me that everything was developing normally.
Good Luck!
Jenn
I'm not a professional, but I would have to agree with the other moms here that this is not unusual. And if I remember correctly, from what my dentist says they are coming in in the correct order. My daughter is 6 and is in the process of loosing her teeth. Her dentist told me her canines will be among the last to go since they were the last to come in. I know that some people don't think that kids need to go to the dentist before 4 years old, but I had mine there just after their first birthdays. And believe it or not, they have some interesting things in their x-rays that we are already planning on dealing with in the future.
