Explore MySmileEd
Emergency!
Where to look first when a tooth gets hurt or something urgent happens.
Ask Cozy
What would you like to learn?
TRY ASKING
Browse by topic
Growing Smiles
Gaps between a child’s teeth. This page explains what spacing is and what a dentist watches for. It does not tell you whether your child’s gaps matter — that is assessed over time, not from a photograph.
Gaps between baby teeth are a familiar sight and often a good sign rather than a worry: permanent teeth are larger than the primary teeth they replace, so room in the primary dentition is room the bigger teeth will need.
The AAPD approaches this through arch length — how much space there is along the arch compared with how much the teeth require. It describes space analysis as used to evaluate arch length at the time the incisors erupt, which places the meaningful assessment in the mixed dentition rather than earlier.
Gaps between your baby teeth are usually a good thing. Your grown-up teeth are bigger, so they need the extra room. Your dentist keeps an eye on it as you grow.
Spacing and crowding are the same question asked from opposite ends, and neither is settled by looking once. The AAPD frames evaluation of the developing dentition as ongoing at all stages, which is why a dentist who has seen your child several times can say something a single photograph cannot.
Held deliberately general, because the assessment is comparative and longitudinal:
Because a gap can mean plenty of room or can mean something absent, the useful response is to have it looked at rather than to interpret it.
Three things worth knowing.
Space in the primary dentition is space the larger permanent teeth will need. Parents frequently worry about exactly the thing a dentist is pleased to see.
A single gap in an otherwise even arch raises a different question from spacing throughout. Worth describing which you are seeing.
The AAPD states it is prudent to consider space maintenance when primary teeth are lost prematurely. An unplanned gap is a different thing from a developmental one. See Space maintainers.
Measure, record and compare over time. The AAPD describes evaluation as ongoing throughout the developing dentition rather than a single judgement.
Raise it at a routine checkup. Spacing is the kind of thing best assessed by someone with a record of your child’s previous visits, which is an argument for regular attendance rather than for a special appointment.
Ring sooner if a gap appeared suddenly, if a tooth was lost early or knocked, or if there is pain or swelling. Those are different questions.
There is a noticeable gap between the front teeth. Common, frequently temporary during the mixed dentition, and occasionally a sign of something worth investigating. That range is precisely why this page will not interpret it. Mention it at the next visit and let someone who can see the whole arch — and the X-ray — tell you.
They are common and often useful, since permanent teeth are larger than the primary teeth they replace. Whether your child’s spacing is what a dentist would expect is still an examination question.
Often during the mixed dentition, as larger permanent teeth arrive. But this page cannot predict your child’s case, and the AAPD assesses arch length by measurement over time rather than by expectation.
It can. The AAPD lists identification of anomalies of tooth number among the objectives of evaluation, with radiographs where indicated. That is the way to find out.
Different question, and a more time-sensitive one. See Space maintainers and raise it with your dentist rather than waiting.
The AAPD associates long-term non-nutritive sucking with anterior open bite and posterior crossbite, and describes the relationship as associational rather than cause and effect. See Thumb sucking.
Every clinical statement on this page comes from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry documents below.
This website is for education only and does not replace care from your dentist, physician, or emergency services.