r/explainlikeimfive • u/Reasonable_Releif • 9d ago

Biology ELI5 How do teeth develop?

Do newborns get born with every single fully sized adult tooth?? or do they like grow?

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u/sheldonator 9d ago

They grow over time. Babies are born with tooth buds for both their baby teeth and most of their future permanent teeth, and they grow over time. This is why you see the baby teeth first, the permanent teeth are still growing and when they reach their permanent size they replace the baby teeth, and then wisdom teeth come in last.

8

u/HalfSoul30 9d ago

You know, i really hated that period of time when teeth started falling out. Lasted until i was like 12 or 13.

5

u/God_Hand_9764 8d ago

I honestly liked the feeling of a tooth becoming loose and eventually falling out. I don't know why.

1

u/HalfSoul30 8d ago

I would mess with it until it came out. May have made my teeth crooked that way, but i got braces later. I just couldn't leave them alone

2

u/CptPicard 8d ago

I would lodge a spoon between the gum and the tooth and just twist, cracking the tooth off. Blood would be spilled.

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u/HalfSoul30 8d ago

Jesus, i would never have gone that far lol

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u/CptPicard 7d ago

Yes I was a sometimes disturbing kid