Which teeth appear first during teething?

There is an order in which the milk teeth appear during teething. This usually starts with the incisors and then the canines to be followed by the molars. The molars are the last set of teeth to appear and are the most painful of the lot!

What age do these appear? Teething varies between babies but you can expect the first tooth –an incisor – to appear at around the age of 6 months.

If your baby is what is known as a 'late developer' then they may not get their first tooth until 12 months old.

Your baby will get two incisors which emerge in the middle of the bottom jaw. These are followed by four teeth in the top jaw (at the front). The remaining teeth will emerge in pairs.

The milk teeth appear in the lower jaw before the upper jaw. Your baby will have 10 teeth in the upper jaw and 10 teeth in the lower jaw which equals 20 in total.

Interestingly enough, girls start teething earlier than boys.

The difference between the milk teeth and permanent teeth is that the milk teeth are smaller and lighter. They remain until your child reaches the age of 6 and then start to fall out.

Your child should have all of their permanent teeth by their twelfth birthday.

The symptoms of teething usually precede the emergence of a tooth. They appear before the tooth breaks through and then disappear once this has emerged. This pattern is repeated with every tooth.

Your baby will get two sets of molars: there is a third set called 'wisdom teeth' which only appear later on in puberty and often cause problems. This includes overcrowding. These teeth are usually removed as a result of this but this is something you don't have to worry about yet.

These are discussed further in our teething of incisors article.