Children have two sets of teeth, primary (milk or baby) teeth and permanent teeth. Both sets are important for children's speech, chewing, and for appearance. Additionally, milk teeth help in the proper development of muscles for chewing, and they also maintain the space so that permanent teeth can erupt in their correct positions.
From birth to the age of 6 months there are no teeth in the mouth. It is necessary for parents to clean the gum-pads with a soft cloth.
The first tooth appears in your child's mouth at the age of 6 months. Parents are required to begin brushing these teeth to prevent them from decaying. All the milk teeth erupt in the mouth by the age of 2 years. There are 20 milk teeth. Parents must brush their child's teeth, as the child will be unable to do so. The child can gradually be taught to brush his/her own teeth as soon as they have learned to spit out the toothpaste.
These teeth are shed between the age of 7 and 12 years, and are replaced by permanent teeth. But we have 32 permanent teeth, and the additional 12 permanent teeth erupt behind the milk teeth. The first one of these erupts at the age of 6 years, and is called the first permanent molar. This is a very important tooth.
All permanent teeth erupt by the age of 14 years, except the wisdom teeth, which usually erupts between the age of 17 and 25 years.
Between the age of 6 and 12 years, a child has both milk and permanent teeth. This is called the mixed dentition stage. Parents of these children often mistakenly think that the teeth, though decayed, do not require treatment and will fall off, as they will be replaced with new teeth.