Why do we lose our baby teeth?

We need teeth to bite, chomp and chew so that we can enjoy a healthy diet with lots of different types of food. Teeth also help us speak and pronounce tricky words. And lastly teeth, of course, help us smile 🙂

Because of how much we need them, teeth start to grow even before we are born. We can’t see them at the start because they are growing inside our jaws, under our gums. But by the time we are around six months old, we can start to see the first few teeth coming through.

Most people will eventually get 20 baby teeth. They are our first set of teeth. They will be replaced by adult teeth as we grow up. The last baby tooth usually falls out at about 12 years of age.

Getting rid of baby teeth is not funny at all. But, in the long run, the baby teeth must go. We all know that shortly after babies are born, they begin to acquire baby teeth. However, baby teeth can’t sustain them in adulthood. As the baby grows, the jawbones grow demanding a set of larger teeth. The baby teeth pave the way for the permanent teeth.

At around ages five and six, the permanent teeth start pushing at the roots of the baby teeth, making them loose. The loose teeth will fall after a certain period. The little blood you see when the baby teeth fall is caused by the bleeding of the gums that were holding the teeth. Humans lose all the first 20 teeth, also called ‘milk teeth,’ and gain a total of 32 permanent teeth. However, some people retain their baby teeth for life and never get permanent teeth. This condition is known as a “congenital” issue.

Sometimes unfortunately adult teeth are lost, and this can be due to a variety of reasons like trauma or gum disease. If you lose bone around that tooth or experience decay, it can become loose and fall out or may need to be removed.

If we lose a permanent tooth, there is no replacement for it other than something that a dentist can provide, such as an implant.

People get two sets of teeth because this is what works best for the way we eat and grow.

Animals are just the same – they have teeth that match the way they eat and grow. Rats like to use their front teeth to nibble and gnaw at food and so have front teeth that keep growing. Alligators can make new teeth whenever they need and sharks have rows of teeth that they replace all the time. They get a lot more sets of teeth than us.