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Dental AnatomyBasic

Successional and non-successional teeth

The permanent molars don't replace any baby tooth: that's why they're called non-successional, and there are 12 of them.
A child's skull with the bone cut away (Gray's Anatomy). Above and below the baby teeth you can see the permanent teeth waiting their turn.
A child's skull with the bone cut away (Gray's Anatomy). Above and below the baby teeth you can see the permanent teeth waiting their turn.Photo: Henry Vandyke Carter, Gray's Anatomy · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

What you need to know

  • There are 20 primary teeth: 8 incisors, 4 canines and 8 molars.
  • The permanent incisors and canines replace the primary incisors and canines.
  • The premolars come in where the primary molars were.
  • The permanent molars (1st, 2nd and 3rd) come in at the back, in new space: 3 per quadrant × 4 = 12.

Terms in plain words

Successional toothA permanent tooth that takes the place of a primary one.
Non-successional toothA permanent tooth that had no primary tooth before it: the permanent molars.

For the exam

Is the molar that comes in at age 6 a baby tooth?

Show answerHide answer

No. It's the first permanent molar, the first non-successional tooth to come in. If it's lost, no new one comes in.

Sources

  1. Nelson SJ. Wheeler's Dental Anatomy, Physiology and Occlusion. 11th ed. Elsevier (textbook).
  2. Effect of Chronic Apical Periodontitis in Primary Molars on Succedaneous Permanent Teeth (the premolars succeed the primary molars). View source
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