You lose all 20 of your baby teeth. Every single one eventually falls out and is replaced by a permanent tooth. Children have 8 incisors, 4 canines, and 8 molars, and the process of losing them starts around age 6 and typically wraps up by age 12 or 13.
The 20 Baby Teeth You Lose
Children grow 20 baby teeth total, split evenly between the upper and lower jaw. Each jaw has 4 incisors (the flat front teeth used for biting), 2 canines (the pointed teeth next to the incisors), and 4 molars (the wider teeth in the back used for chewing). Every one of these teeth will loosen and fall out during childhood to make room for 32 permanent adult teeth.
The 12 extra permanent teeth come from a few places. Eight of them are premolars, which replace the baby molars but are slightly different in shape. The other four are the permanent molars that grow in behind the baby teeth, in empty space at the back of the jaw where no baby tooth existed before. This is why your child’s mouth can go from 20 teeth to 32 without anything feeling too crowded.
What Order They Fall Out
Baby teeth generally fall out in the same order they came in. Here’s the typical sequence:
- Lower central incisors (ages 6 to 7): The two bottom front teeth are almost always the first to go.
- Upper central incisors (ages 6 to 7): The two top front teeth follow shortly after, giving kids that classic gap-toothed smile.
- Lateral incisors (ages 7 to 8): The teeth on either side of the front teeth fall out next, upper and lower.
- First molars (ages 9 to 11): The first set of back baby teeth loosen and are replaced by premolars.
- Canines (ages 10 to 12): The pointed teeth are among the last to go.
- Second molars (ages 10 to 12): The very back baby teeth are typically the final ones lost.
These ages are averages. Some children lose their first tooth at 5, others not until 7, and both timelines are normal. Girls tend to lose teeth slightly earlier than boys. The important thing is the pattern: front teeth first, back teeth last.
How Baby Teeth Actually Fall Out
Baby teeth don’t just randomly loosen. The process is driven by the permanent tooth growing underneath. As a permanent tooth pushes upward through the jawbone, specialized cells break down the root of the baby tooth above it. These cells dissolve the hard tissue of the root gradually, over weeks or months, until there’s almost no root left holding the baby tooth in place. That’s when it starts to feel wiggly.
By the time a baby tooth is truly ready to come out, the root has been almost entirely reabsorbed by the body. This is why pulling out a loose baby tooth usually involves very little bleeding or pain, and why the tooth looks so small and rootless compared to what you might expect.
Teeth That Don’t Replace a Baby Tooth
Not every permanent tooth replaces a baby tooth. The first permanent molars, often called “6-year molars,” erupt around age 6 behind the last baby teeth. They don’t push out any baby tooth because they grow into space that was previously empty. The same is true for second permanent molars (around age 12) and wisdom teeth (late teens to early twenties). These 12 molars are entirely new additions to the mouth.
This catches some parents off guard. If your child complains about soreness at the very back of their mouth around age 6, it’s likely a new molar coming in, not a baby tooth about to fall out.
What Happens to Baby Molars
One detail that surprises many people: baby molars are not replaced by permanent molars. They’re replaced by premolars, a type of tooth that doesn’t exist in the baby set at all. Premolars are smaller and have a different shape than molars, with two pointed cusps instead of a broad chewing surface. The upper first premolars typically come in around ages 10 to 11, and the lower premolars and upper second premolars follow between ages 10 and 12.
Because baby molars are wider than the premolars that replace them, their loss actually frees up a bit of extra space in the jaw. This space helps accommodate the rest of the permanent teeth as they settle into position.
When a Baby Tooth Doesn’t Fall Out
Sometimes a baby tooth stays put well past its expected timeline. The most common reason is that there’s no permanent tooth underneath to trigger the root-dissolving process. This condition, called hypodontia, means one to five permanent teeth simply never developed. It’s more common than you might think and often runs in families.
Other reasons a baby tooth might be retained include ankylosis, where the tooth fuses directly to the jawbone and can’t be pushed out, or crowding from extra teeth (hyperdontia) that blocks the permanent tooth’s path. Trauma or infection to the area can also delay or prevent normal tooth loss.
A retained baby tooth can sometimes last for decades in an adult mouth if the root stays intact and the tooth remains healthy. In other cases, it may gradually wear down or develop problems that require dental treatment.
When a Baby Tooth Falls Out Too Early
Losing a baby tooth too early, whether from decay, injury, or infection, can cause problems for the teeth that haven’t come in yet. Baby teeth act as placeholders, keeping the right amount of space open for permanent teeth. When one is lost prematurely, the neighboring teeth can drift into the gap, leaving the permanent tooth with nowhere to go when it’s finally ready to erupt. This is one of the more common reasons children end up needing orthodontic work later.
If a baby molar is lost early, a dentist may place a space maintainer, a small device that holds the gap open until the permanent tooth is ready to come through. This is most often recommended when the loss happens during the mixed-dentition years, roughly ages 6 to 12, when both baby and permanent teeth are present and the jaw is actively changing. Losing a front baby tooth early is less of a concern for spacing, since the permanent incisors tend to come in relatively quickly afterward.