Six months is the most common age at which babies start to teeth, but not all babies teeth at the same rate – some babies are born with teeth, while some remain toothless until after their first birthday. This is totally normal. Every baby is different. There is, however, some evidence to suggest that gender plays a role – with girls’ teeth appearing sooner than boys’ teeth.

Early or late, one thing that usually remains the same is the order in which baby teeth erupt. You’ll see from the drawing it’s usually the two centre bottom incisors that come through first, followed by the top two, then two more, one on either side of the first two. Then it’s the first molars and the canines and eye teeth, top and then bottom, and finally the second molars – the teeth right at the back – appear.

By the time your baby is two and a half years old he or she should have a full set of twenty teeth – ten on the top and ten on the bottom – which they’ll keep until they are about six years old.

If you think your child might be teething and would like to know more, view our teething symptoms page.