Primary Teeth Chart: When Does Each Baby Tooth Arrive and Fall Out?

14/10/2026 · Children's Dentistry in Dubai

Primary teeth number twenty, ten upper and ten lower, and they arrive between roughly 6 months and 33 months. The first is usually a lower central incisor at 6 to 10 months, and the last a second molar at 23 to 33 months. Shedding runs from about age 6 to age 12, and not in the order they arrived.

The twenty primary teeth are charted below one by one, with the letter and number a dentist writes in the notes, the age each breaks through and the age it is shed. A healthy child can sit months either side.

Primary teeth vs milk teeth

Mother and child learning about primary teeth

Parents, dentists and health visitors each tend to use a different word for the same twenty teeth, which makes searching for information harder than it should be. All three names mean one thing.

Three names, one set

Primary teeth, deciduous teeth and milk teeth all name the same twenty teeth. Deciduous borrows the botanical word for a plant that sheds, and milk describes their pale colour. Each of the four quadrants of the mouth holds five primary teeth: central incisor, lateral incisor, canine, first molar and second molar.

Primary teeth numbering systems

A dental chart will not call a tooth by the name you use at home. Two shorthand systems do the job instead, and recognising either one makes your child’s notes readable.

Letters A to T

The universal system letters the set A to T in one loop. A is the upper right second molar, J the upper left second molar, K the lower left second molar, and T the lower right second molar.

FDI numbers 51 to 85

FDI, used across the UAE, gives each tooth two digits. The first is the quadrant, 5 for upper right through to 8 for lower right. The second counts outward from the midline, 1 for the central incisor to 5 for the second molar.

Quadrant	Letters	FDI
Upper right	A to E	51 to 55
Upper left	F to J	61 to 65
Lower left	K to O	71 to 75
Lower right	P to T	81 to 85

Primary teeth eruption chart

This is the part worth bookmarking: every one of the twenty teeth, with the month it usually arrives and the year it usually goes. Read it as a pattern, not a deadline.

The full eruption chart

All twenty primary teeth appear here by quadrant, with the age each erupts and the age it is lost.

Tooth	Letter	FDI	Erupts (months)	Falls out (years)
Upper right central incisor	E	51	8 to 12	6 to 7
Upper right lateral incisor	D	52	9 to 13	7 to 8
Upper right canine	C	53	16 to 22	10 to 12
Upper right first molar	B	54	13 to 19	9 to 11
Upper right second molar	A	55	25 to 33	10 to 12
Upper left central incisor	F	61	8 to 12	6 to 7
Upper left lateral incisor	G	62	9 to 13	7 to 8
Upper left canine	H	63	16 to 22	10 to 12
Upper left first molar	I	64	13 to 19	9 to 11
Upper left second molar	J	65	25 to 33	10 to 12
Lower left central incisor	O	71	6 to 10	6 to 7
Lower left lateral incisor	N	72	10 to 16	7 to 8
Lower left canine	M	73	17 to 23	9 to 12
Lower left first molar	L	74	14 to 18	9 to 11
Lower left second molar	K	75	23 to 31	10 to 12
Lower right central incisor	P	81	6 to 10	6 to 7
Lower right lateral incisor	Q	82	10 to 16	7 to 8
Lower right canine	R	83	17 to 23	9 to 12
Lower right first molar	S	84	14 to 18	9 to 11
Lower right second molar	T	85	23 to 31	10 to 12

How wide the normal range is

A first tooth at 4 months and one at 13 months both sit inside normal variation. Girls erupt slightly ahead of boys, and family pattern counts: a late parent often means a late child. Six months either side of a band is not a problem in itself.

When each baby tooth falls out

Losing teeth follows roughly the same sequence as gaining them, which is why the first gap usually appears at the front. The years below are averages across healthy children.

Order of tooth loss

Age (years)	Teeth usually lost
6 to 7	Four central incisors, lower pair first
7 to 8	Four lateral incisors
9 to 11	Four first molars
9 to 12	Four canines, lower pair usually first
10 to 12	Four second molars

Why the order changes

Primary teeth are shed when the permanent tooth beneath pushes up and the root above dissolves, so loss follows the successor, not the arrival order. Lower canines often go before upper first molars although they came in later. A child of eleven with four baby molars left is on schedule.

From twenty teeth to thirty-two

Not every new tooth in a six year old replaces something. One arrives behind the whole set and catches almost every parent by surprise.

The six year molar

Each baby tooth has one successor, and twelve adult teeth have no predecessor, which is how twenty becomes thirty-two. The first of the twelve, the six year molar, erupts behind the second baby molar at about 6 years with nothing falling out, so parents often mistake it for another baby tooth. It has to last a lifetime, and cavities in baby teeth beside it are often the first warning.

Natal and neonatal teeth

A small number of babies arrive with a tooth already through, or grow one within weeks. It is uncommon enough to alarm parents and usually far less serious than it looks.

Natal teeth at birth

Natal teeth are present at birth, in roughly one birth in 2,000 to 3,000, and neonatal teeth appear within thirty days. Eight in ten are genuine primary teeth that erupted very early, almost always lower central incisors. With little root they are often loose, so the edge is smoothed and the tooth kept if stable, or removed under local anaesthetic if it could be inhaled.

Teeth arriving out of order

With primary teeth, sequence matters more than timing. A tooth that comes early is rarely a concern, while one that arrives badly out of turn is worth mentioning at the next visit.

When the order looks wrong

A molar arriving before the canines is common, because the canine has a longer path, and upper ahead of lower is normal. What matters is a gap of more than six months between a tooth and its pair on the other side, which can mean a missing tooth, an obstruction or a cyst.

Delayed tooth eruption in children

Every parent eventually wonders whether a missing tooth is late or a problem. There are reasonably clear thresholds, and most children on the slow side are simply on the slow side.

How late counts as delayed

No tooth at all by 18 months is the usual point at which a child is seen, and so is one tooth more than six to twelve months past its band. Delay in one tooth is a local question, delay across the whole mouth a general one.

Causes of delayed tooth development

Delayed tooth development causes include prematurity, low birth weight, nutritional deficiency, an underactive thyroid or pituitary, and conditions such as Down syndrome or ectodermal dysplasia. Local causes are a thick band of gum over the crown, an eruption cyst, or a tooth that never formed.

Cost of a late tooth check

A general dentist consultation is AED 200 and a specialist consultation AED 300. A periapical x-ray is AED 150, and a panoramic x-ray at AED 250 is the film that shows whether an unerupted tooth exists. Children’s cleaning is quoted at consultation, and our dental service prices are published.

Using the chart at home

A chart is only useful if you can match it to the mouth in front of you. Counting the primary teeth takes about a minute and tells you most of what you need.

Counting primary teeth at home

Lift the lip in daylight and count one arch at a time. At eighteen months expect eight to twelve teeth, at two years twelve to sixteen, and a full twenty by about three. Note the date each tooth appears, and keep that note with whatever you do for baby teeth care.

Teething, daily care and first visits

Dentist teaching a toddler how to brush teeth

Two subjects sit alongside the chart without belonging to it, so they are covered properly elsewhere and summarised here.

Teething signs and first visit

Arrival brings drooling, sore gums, chewing and broken sleep, covered separately in our guide to baby teething. Cleaning starts the day the first tooth shows. A child’s first dental visit belongs at age one, and our children dentistry service covers checks, fluoride and treatment for the baby set.

Primary teeth follow the chart above in most children and sit months off it in others, and the order can scramble without anything being wrong. What is worth acting on is narrow: no teeth at all by 18 months, a tooth six months behind its pair on the other side, a gap that stays empty, or a tooth that arrives already decayed.

Frequently asked questions

Questions about primary teeth cluster around numbers and timing: how many there should be, when each is due, and how late is too late. Those are answered here.

How many primary teeth are there, and what is each one called?

There are twenty primary teeth, ten upper and ten lower. Each half of each jaw holds five: a central incisor, a lateral incisor, a canine, a first molar and a second molar. All twenty are usually in place by age three.

How are primary teeth numbered in the FDI system?

FDI gives each tooth two digits. The first is the quadrant, 5 for upper right, 6 for upper left, 7 for lower left and 8 for lower right. The second counts outward from the midline, 1 to 5, so the set runs from 51 to 85.

What are natal teeth?

Natal teeth are already present when a baby is born, seen in roughly one birth in 2,000 to 3,000. They are usually lower central incisors that erupted very early rather than extra teeth, and with little root they can be loose. They are kept if stable.

How late is too late for a primary tooth to arrive?

No teeth at all by 18 months warrants an appointment, as does a single tooth more than six to twelve months past its usual band. A few months either side of the chart is ordinary variation. More concerning is one tooth missing while its pair is through.

Do primary teeth fall out in the same order they came in?

Not reliably. Shedding follows the permanent tooth growing underneath, not the order of arrival, so lower canines often go before upper first molars although they arrived later. The front teeth go first, at six to seven years, and the second molars and upper canines last.

What is the difference between deciduous teeth and primary teeth?

There is none. Deciduous, primary and milk are three names for the same twenty teeth. Deciduous borrows the botanical word for a plant that sheds, primary is the clinical term used in records, and milk teeth is the everyday phrase.

Does a child need an x-ray if a tooth has not arrived?

Not always. A dentist looks first, feels the ridge for a bulge and checks the matching tooth on the other side. A film is taken when that is inconclusive, when one side is well ahead of the other, or when a tooth may be missing.