A great looking smile is often the first thing that people will notice about you and it is an easy thing to maintain if you take proper care of your teeth.

Tooth Growth & Development

What's the difference between "baby" teeth and permanent teeth?

At between six and ten months of age, most infants begin to get their "baby" teeth. The central Incisors (front middle teeth) usually come in first, and then teeth begin appearing on both side and work their way back to the second molars. By the time a child has reached three years old, most of the "baby" teeth should be present. The process begins to repeat itself when the child is about seven years old.

The central Incisors fall out first and are replaced by permanent teeth. By the age of 21, most people have all of their permanent teeth. "Baby" teeth are important because they hold the place for permanent teeth and help guide them into correct position. "Baby" teeth play an important role in the development of speech and chewing. Are there different types of teeth? What do they do? Your teeth look different from one another because they are designed to do different things. The Incisors are the teeth in the very front. They're the sharpest teeth, built to cut food and shaped to shovel the food inward.

The Canine teeth are in the corners of your mouth. Because they're meant for grasping and tearing food, they have very long roots. Premolars are located just behind your Canine teeth. Premolars have a more flat chewing surface because they're meant for crushing food.

The Molars are the last teeth towards the back of your mouth. Molars are much bigger than the Premolars and have bigger, flatter chewing surfaces because their job is to chew and grind the food into smaller pieces.