The time it takes for a tooth to come in varies depending on the type of tooth and the stage of development:
- For a baby's first tooth, teething usually starts around 6 months of age, with the bottom front teeth typically coming in first. The entire set of baby teeth usually completes by around 2 to 3 years old.
- When baby teeth fall out and permanent teeth start to come in, the process usually begins around age 6 and can continue until the early teens. Once a baby tooth falls out, the permanent tooth replacing it can take anywhere from 2 weeks to up to 6 months to fully emerge, with an average of 1 to 2 months depending on the tooth. For example, incisors and canines (which have single roots) come in faster (2 to 4 weeks), while molars (multi-rooted) can take 1 to 2 months or more.
- Wisdom teeth (third molars) typically come in between ages 17 and 25 and can take weeks to several months to fully erupt once they start coming in. If impacted, they may require dental intervention to emerge.
- The teething process for each tooth usually lasts about a week around the time it breaks through the gums, but the entire eruption timeline spans many months to years for the full set of teeth.
In summary, a single tooth can take from a few weeks up to several months to come in fully after initial signs of emerging, with baby teeth erupting mostly in the first 2 to 3 years of life and permanent teeth replacing them typically between ages 6 and 13, followed by wisdom teeth in late adolescence or early adulthood.
