Baby teething chart: when each tooth arrives

Teething gets blamed for a great deal it does not do, which is a problem in both directions: parents worry about symptoms that are ordinary, and occasionally miss an illness because “it must be his teeth”. The useful version of this topic is a clear chart, a short list of what teething genuinely causes, and a shorter list of what it does not.

When the first tooth arrives

Usually between four and ten months, most commonly around six. The spread either side of that is wide and mostly unremarkable — teeth are one of the strongest family-pattern traits going, so if you or your partner were late, your baby probably will be.

Teeth form under the gum long before they appear. Swollen, firm gums with a white edge visible under the surface can precede the tooth breaking through by weeks, which is why there is often a stretch of clear teething signs with nothing to show for it.

Teething chart by age

Ages are typical ranges. Teeth almost always arrive in symmetrical pairs, and the lower one of a pair usually beats the upper.

Twenty teeth in total, normally all present by around age three. The first permanent teeth arrive at about six — and the first of those, the six-year molars, come in behind the baby teeth rather than replacing one, so nothing falls out to announce them.

The order is more reliable than the dates

If you are going to worry about anything, worry about sequence rather than timing. A baby who gets molars before incisors is unusual; a baby who gets everything three months later than the chart is common.

The two stretches parents find hardest are not the first tooth at all. They are the first molars around 13–19 months and the canines around 16–23 months — bigger teeth, broader surfaces to break through, and they land in the same window as the two-to-one nap transition and the start of real toddler opinions. Nights in that period often get worse for several reasons at once.

What teething actually feels like

Reasonably attributed to teeth:

• Sore, red, swollen gum where a tooth is due
• Heavy drooling, and a rash on the chin or chest from the drool
• Chewing and gnawing on anything within reach
• More irritable than usual, particularly late in the day
• Flushed cheek on the side the tooth is coming through
• Broken sleep for a few nights around the eruption itself
• Rubbing the ear on the same side — referred pain along the jaw
• Slightly reduced appetite for a day or two

The pattern is short. Teething discomfort tends to cluster in the few days either side of a tooth breaking the surface, not run for months. A baby who has been miserable for three straight weeks is telling you about something else.

What teething does not cause

The reason the myth persists is timing. Teething runs from roughly six months to three years, which is exactly the window in which maternal antibodies fade and a baby starts meeting every virus in circulation. The teeth and the illnesses overlap constantly without one causing the other.

What helps

• Something firm and cold. A teething ring chilled in the fridge, not the freezer — frozen is hard enough to bruise a gum.
• Counter-pressure. A clean finger rubbed firmly on the gum often helps more than anything you can buy.
• A cold, clean flannel to chew on. Free, washable, and easier to grip than most rings.
• Chilled hard food, supervised, for babies already on solids — a cucumber stick or a chilled carrot, with you watching for pieces breaking off.
• Infant paracetamol or ibuprofen at the ages they are licensed for, dosed by the packaging. Worth it for a bad night; not a nightly plan.
• Barrier cream on the chin for drool rash, and a dry bib changed often.

What to avoid

• Amber or beaded necklaces and bracelets. Strangulation and choking risk, no evidence of benefit. Health bodies advise against them outright.
• Benzocaine or lidocaine gels in infants, which carry specific warnings for young children.
• Unregulated homeopathic teething tablets and powders, which have been recalled in the past for inconsistent contents.
• Frozen solid teethers, hard enough to damage gum tissue.
• Rusks and sweetened teething biscuits, which are usually sugar arriving at exactly the moment teeth do.
• A bottle of milk or juice to settle at night once teeth are through — this is the main cause of early decay.

Looking after teeth once they arrive

• Start brushing as soon as the first tooth appears, twice a day
• A smear of fluoride toothpaste for under-threes, a pea-sized amount after
• Spit, do not rinse — rinsing washes the fluoride away
• Brush for the child until they are about seven; they cannot do it properly before then
• First dental visit by the first birthday, or within six months of the first tooth
• No bottle in the cot, and move to a cup from around twelve months

Baby teeth matter even though they fall out. They hold the space for the permanent set, which is why early decay causes problems long after the tooth itself is gone.

When to ask a dentist or doctor

Speak to someone if there are no teeth at all by around 18 months, if teeth arrive in a clearly unusual order, if a tooth comes through discoloured or misshapen, if the gums bleed readily or look infected, if you see a white or brown spot on a tooth, or if your baby has a genuine fever or seems unwell. Being seen for a temperature that turns out to be teeth is a good outcome; assuming a fever is teeth is the one to avoid.