6 min read • By Dr. Kevin Baharvand, DMD, MS • Updated August 2026
The short answer
Shark teeth means a permanent tooth has come in behind a baby tooth that has not fallen out yet, so for a while your kid has two rows. It is common, it is usually not an emergency, and most of the time it sorts itself out once the baby tooth comes loose and the tongue pushes the new tooth forward. Call the dentist if the baby tooth is not loose after a couple of months, if there is pain, or if the permanent tooth is most of the way in and the baby tooth is still solid.
A parent notices it while their kid is laughing. There is a second row of teeth behind the front bottom ones, and it looks alarming in a way that nothing about a six year old is supposed to look.
The dental term is ectopic eruption. Everybody calls it shark teeth because that is exactly what it looks like. It usually shows up with the two bottom front teeth somewhere around age five to seven, and with the upper front teeth a year or so later.
Here is the thing worth knowing up front. In most kids it resolves on its own, and the panic is worse than the problem.
On this page
Why it happens
A baby tooth does not just fall out. Its root dissolves over months as the permanent tooth pushes up underneath it, and by the time it drops, most of the root is gone.
Shark teeth happen when the permanent tooth comes up slightly behind that path instead of directly beneath it. The root of the baby tooth never gets the pressure it needs to dissolve, so it stays put while the permanent tooth erupts behind it.
That is the whole mechanism. It is not a sign of a crowded mouth, it is not caused by anything you did or did not do, and it does not mean your kid will need braces. It is a matter of angle.
What normally happens next
Left alone, the baby tooth usually loosens within a few weeks to a couple of months. Once it is out, the tongue does the rest. It applies constant light pressure to the back of that new tooth and walks it forward into position, often faster than parents expect.
This is one of the few situations where the standard advice is to let your kid wiggle the tooth. Encourage it. Clean fingers, no pliers, no string on a doorknob. If it is loose enough to be annoying, it is loose enough to come out.
The ADA publishes eruption charts showing when each tooth typically arrives and sheds, which is useful for putting your kid on the map. But every kid runs on their own schedule, and being a year off either direction is normal.
When to actually call
Most shark teeth do not need treatment. These are the situations that do.
| What you are seeing | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Baby tooth is loose, new tooth behind it | Textbook shark teeth | Let them wiggle it. Mention it at the next checkup. |
| Baby tooth still solid after two to three months | The root is not dissolving on its own | Get it looked at. A simple extraction lets the permanent tooth move forward. |
| Permanent tooth is most of the way in, baby tooth has not budged | The new tooth is running out of room to correct itself | Call sooner rather than later. The longer the baby tooth stays, the further off track the new one can settle. |
| Pain, swelling, or bleeding gums around the area | Possible infection or an impacted tooth | Call the same week. |
| Two rows across several teeth at once | Worth an evaluation for spacing | Not an emergency, but this is the version that sometimes points toward an orthodontic consult later. |
Pulling a stubborn baby tooth is one of the quickest visits in pediatric dentistry. It is not the ordeal parents brace themselves for, and it is far easier at seven than the alternative later.
Does this mean braces?
I get asked this constantly, and I understand why. Two rows of teeth looks like the beginning of a crowding problem.
Usually it is not. Shark teeth are about the direction a tooth erupted, and crowding is about whether the jaw has room for all of them. Those are different questions. A kid can have textbook shark teeth and end up with plenty of space, and a kid whose teeth all erupted perfectly can still run out of room at eleven.
That said, the age this shows up, roughly six to seven, is the same age the American Association of Orthodontists suggests a first orthodontic evaluation. Not to start treatment. Just so somebody has looked at how the adult teeth are lining up while there is still growth left to work with.
Shark teeth are an eruption pattern, not a diagnosis. The tooth behind the tooth is almost never the thing that decides whether your kid needs braces.
What to do at home in the meantime
Keep brushing the area, including behind the new tooth, which is the spot that gets missed. Food packs into that gap between the two rows easily and the gums back there get puffy fast.
Let them eat normally. Apples and corn on the cob are on your side here.
And do not try to force the baby tooth out. If it is going to come, wiggling will do it. If it is not going, that is information worth bringing to a dentist who sees kids rather than something to solve at the kitchen table.
Common questions
Are shark teeth an emergency?
No. It is a common eruption pattern, not an injury or an infection. It becomes worth a same week call only if there is pain, swelling, or bleeding around the area.
How long should I wait before calling the dentist?
If the baby tooth is loose, let it run its course and mention it at the next checkup. If it is still solid after two to three months, or the permanent tooth is nearly all the way in behind it, get it looked at.
Will the new tooth straighten out on its own?
Usually yes, once the baby tooth is out of the way. The tongue applies steady pressure to the back of the new tooth and moves it forward. That correction happens over weeks to months, not days.
Does the baby tooth have to be pulled?
Often not. Most fall out on their own. It gets pulled when the root has not dissolved and it is blocking the permanent tooth from moving into position, which is a quick and straightforward visit.
At what age do shark teeth usually happen?
Most often between five and seven with the lower front teeth, and around seven to eight with the upper front teeth. It can also show up later with the back teeth around ten to twelve.
Does this mean my child will need braces?
Not by itself. Shark teeth are about the angle a tooth erupted from. Crowding is about whether the jaw has room. They are separate issues, though this is around the age a first orthodontic evaluation makes sense anyway.
Not sure whether to wait it out?
Bring them in. A two minute look tells us whether the baby tooth is on its way out on its own or whether it is holding the new one hostage. Most of the time the answer is to go home and let them wiggle it.
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About Tribute Family Dentistry
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Tribute is a family owned, independent practice on FM 423 in Frisco. I own it with my wife, Dr. Julia Kang, DMD, MS. We both trained at Boston University and we are both members of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon national honor society. I am a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. Day to day, most patients and their kids see Dr. Christina Pham, DMD, our general and family dentist, and oral surgery is handled by Dr. David Roberts, DDS, who has been doing it for more than 35 years. D Magazine named me a Best Dentist for 2026, and Living Magazine readers voted us Best Family Dentist in Frisco and Plano the same year.
We handle the whole family in one place: cleanings and preventive care, fillings, crowns, bridges, implants, root canals, extractions and wisdom teeth, whitening, night guards, and emergency visits. We are open Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, we speak Spanish, we work with most major insurance plans, and we run an in house savings plan for families without dental benefits.
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About the author: Dr. Kevin Baharvand, DMD, MS is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics and a national speaker on clear aligner treatment. His clinical work was selected for the cover of the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. He and his wife, Dr. Julia Kang, own Tribute Family Dentistry and Elate Orthodontics in Frisco, Texas.
