Adult (permanent) teeth start coming through at around age 6. They are larger than milk teeth. As the jaw grows, there is more room for the new adult teeth to come through (erupt). There are 32 adult teeth altogether but sometimes the wisdom teeth have trouble coming through if the jaw isn't big enough. Keep reading to find out more about adult teeth. Click on the teens section to find out about wisdom teeth.

Permanent incisors: These are the front teeth, and there are 8 of them altogether (four at the top and four at the bottom). They are usually the first permanent teeth to come through, and are good for cutting into food (for example biting into an apple). You can tell which are the incisors by the flat biting edge and because they only have one root.

Permanent canines: These front teeth are also known as ‘eye teeth’, and are more pointed in shape than the incisors, but like the incisors they each have a single root. There are 4 altogether, and in animals such as dogs and cats the canines are much longer, and are used for tearing off chunks of food. In humans they are smaller in size, and are good for cutting into food similar to incisors.

Premolars: These are the new, adult back teeth which replace the first and second deciduous molars. There are eight premolars altogether. The four first premolars erupt first followed by the four second premolars. The milk (deciduous) teeth don't have premolars as back teeth, just molars.

Permanent molars: These are the larger back teeth, which are good for crushing food into smaller pieces before being swallowed. This is known as chewing. Molars usually have more than one root each, and have irregular, or ‘bumpy’ surfaces with grooves called ‘fissures’. There are first, second and third permanent molars, which come through in that order.

First permanent molars: The four first permanent molars are similar in size to the second molars and come through at around age 6 to 8 years.

Second permanent molars: The four second permanent molars are similar in size to the first permanent molars and come through at around age 12 years.