Most children lose their first baby tooth around age 6 and their last by age 13. After that, your permanent teeth are meant to last a lifetime, but adult tooth loss becomes increasingly common with age, affecting about 1 in 4 adults over 75.
When Children Lose Baby Teeth
Baby teeth, also called primary teeth, start loosening and falling out around age 6 to make room for permanent teeth. The process follows a fairly predictable pattern: the lower front teeth usually go first, followed by the upper front teeth, then the teeth farther back in the mouth over the next several years. By age 13, most children have a full set of adult teeth in place.
Some kids lose their first tooth as early as 4 or as late as 7. Girls tend to lose teeth slightly earlier than boys. The timing is largely genetic, so if you lost teeth early or late as a child, your kids may follow the same pattern.
When Baby Teeth Fall Out Too Early
Losing a baby tooth well before the permanent tooth is ready to come in can cause real problems. Baby teeth act as placeholders. When one disappears prematurely from injury, decay, or extraction, the neighboring teeth can drift into the gap. This narrows the space available for the adult tooth, which may then come in crooked, rotated, or crowded.
The consequences go beyond alignment. The jawbone underneath a missing tooth can start to thin out, which may complicate dental work later in life. The tooth directly above or below the gap can also drift into the empty space, throwing off how the upper and lower teeth meet. In some cases, early tooth loss affects speech development (particularly the front teeth) and makes chewing harder, which can limit what a child is willing to eat. If your child loses a tooth early, a dentist can place a space maintainer, a small device that holds the gap open until the permanent tooth is ready.
Adult Tooth Loss by Age
Permanent teeth don’t have an expiration date. Losing them as an adult is not a normal part of aging. It happens because of disease, injury, or neglect. Still, it’s common: CDC data from 2017 shows that complete tooth loss (losing every natural tooth) affects a growing share of adults as they get older.
- Ages 18 to 44: 2.3% have lost all their teeth
- Ages 45 to 64: 6.5%
- Ages 65 to 74: 14.2%
- Ages 75 and older: 24.9%
A separate CDC survey from 2015 to 2018 found that 12.9% of adults 65 and older had lost all their teeth. The rate climbed steadily with age: 8.9% for those 65 to 69, 10.6% for 70 to 74, and 17.8% for 75 and older. These numbers have actually improved over time as dental care has become more widespread, but they still show that tooth loss remains a significant issue for older adults.
What Causes Adults to Lose Teeth
Gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. It starts as gingivitis, mild inflammation that makes gums bleed when you brush. Left untreated, it progresses to periodontitis, where the infection destroys the bone and tissue anchoring teeth in place. Teeth loosen gradually and can eventually fall out or need extraction. The tricky part is that gum disease is often painless in its early stages, so people don’t realize it’s happening until significant damage is done.
Tooth decay is the other major driver. Cavities that go untreated can reach the inner pulp of the tooth, causing infection and sometimes making the tooth unsalvageable. Trauma from accidents or sports injuries accounts for a smaller but meaningful share of tooth loss, particularly in younger adults.
Health Conditions Linked to Tooth Loss
Tooth loss doesn’t happen in isolation. A growing body of research ties it to broader health conditions. CDC data shows that complete or severe tooth loss is at least 50% higher among adults who report having heart disease, diabetes, emphysema, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, liver conditions, or a history of stroke. Adults over 50 with chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease lose teeth more frequently than those without.
Some of these connections are direct. Diabetes, for instance, impairs blood flow to the gums and makes it harder for the body to fight infection, accelerating gum disease. Others are indirect, reflecting shared risk factors like smoking, poor nutrition, or limited access to dental care.
Who Is Most at Risk
Several factors beyond age and chronic disease predict tooth loss. Smoking is one of the strongest: it restricts blood flow to the gums and weakens the immune response in the mouth. Income and education also play a surprisingly large role. Complete tooth loss is about three times more common among older adults with less than a high school education (32%) compared to those with more education (10%). This gap likely reflects differences in access to preventive care, dental insurance, and health literacy over a lifetime.
Racial disparities exist as well. Among older adults surveyed between 2015 and 2018, complete tooth loss was most prevalent among non-Hispanic Black adults (25%), compared to Hispanic adults (15%) and non-Hispanic White adults (11%). These differences point to systemic inequities in healthcare access rather than biological differences.
Keeping Your Permanent Teeth
The single most effective thing you can do is prevent gum disease before it starts. That means brushing twice a day, flossing daily, and getting professional cleanings on a regular schedule. Gum disease is reversible in its early stages but not once it has destroyed bone.
If you smoke, quitting reduces your risk of gum disease and tooth loss substantially. Managing chronic conditions like diabetes also helps protect your teeth indirectly by keeping your body’s inflammatory and immune responses functioning well. Wearing a mouthguard during contact sports prevents the kind of trauma that leads to sudden tooth loss in younger adults.
Losing a tooth as an adult isn’t inevitable at any age. The people who keep all their teeth into their 80s and beyond aren’t lucky. They’ve simply managed to keep gum disease and decay under control for decades.