When children turn six, they typically begin losing their baby teeth.
Usually, they’ll lose their front teeth first – resulting in those characteristically cute gappy smiles – before the fangs drop out and then, much later, those back teeth start wobbling about, too.
The last baby tooth is usually lost around 12 years of age, according to the NHS.
It’s important to bear in mind that every kid is different and we know that girls might start to lose their teeth earlier than boys.
Those gaps that are left will soon be filled with a bigger, stronger set of gnashers that has to last them the rest of their lives.
But what is actually going on in the body when we lose our baby teeth?
We have baby teeth because our jaws are tiny when we’re little – and it would look very weird (not to mention, be extremely uncomfortable) if we simply started out with adult teeth.
Our baby teeth act as placeholders for our larger, adult teeth to come through.
When the adult tooth has reached a certain size under the gum, it starts putting pressure on the roots of the baby tooth above it, according to Colgate.
This prompts the body to release special cells which cause the tooth’s root to simply dissolve – yep, you heard correctly.
At this point, the tooth starts wobbling and it won’t be long until you’ve got a gift for the Tooth Fairy.
Shortly after, the adult tooth will push through and take its rightful place.
While kids typically have around 20 baby teeth, by the time their adult teeth come through their mouth will be housing a whopping 32 of them.
Looking after adult teeth
Once your child’s ‘big’ teeth are all through, it’s really important to chat to them about how they can keep them nice and strong.
This is especially important as an oral health survey of five year olds in 2019 showed that just under a quarter had tooth decay.
It might also be helpful to reinforce the importance of brushing twice a day, as well as flossing once a day.
MayoClinic also recommends limiting snacks and foods high in sugar to mealtimes, and offering drinks that are healthier for teeth, like water or milk.
And if your child hasn’t seen a dentist yet, now’s a good time to book them in.