Deciduous Teeth

Deciduous is the formal name for baby teeth, or primary teeth, and describe the first set of teeth to develop and erupt in a child’s mouth. Despite the fact that baby teeth are meant to fall out and make way for permanent adult teeth, their health and integrity are vital to the state of a child’s permanent smile. Pediatric dentistry focuses mainly on ensuring that deciduous teeth remain strong, healthy, and properly aligned to set the stage for excellent dental health later in life.

Unlike permanent teeth, a child only develops a total of 20 deciduous teeth, ten on each of the upper and lower arches. Though a child’s first teeth don’t erupt until the age of six months, they begin developing before the child is even born. Usually, all of a child’s deciduous teeth will have appeared by 2-3 years of age.