How do we know?
↻ One of the pages with a moving picture
George Washington lost almost all his adult teeth.
- Babies are born with all 20 baby teeth already hidden in their jaws.
- Around 6 months old, the first teeth break through the gums, usually in the lower front.
- Later, a permanent tooth grows behind each baby tooth and pushes it out of the way. Wiggle, wiggle, pop!
- By about age 12 or 13, most kids have lost all their baby teeth. A full adult set has 32 teeth, 12 more than before.
Washington lost almost all his teeth. A dentist made him false teeth from hippopotamus ivory with gold wire springs, and left a hole for his one last real tooth!
None of his false teeth were made of wood. A set of them is kept today at Mount Vernon, Virginia, his home.
Baby teeth are different. Babies are born with all 20 already hidden in their jaws.
Wow number
20 You had 20 baby teeth in all, and they were already in your jaws on the day you were born!
Myth or fact?
George Washington had wooden false teeth. Myth. None of his false teeth were made of wood.
Babies have teeth hidden inside their jaws. Fact. All 20 are there, waiting.
Think about it
Why do you think kids need a bigger set of teeth when they grow up?
Where in the world?
Mount Vernon, Virginia, USA the home of George Washington, where a set of his false teeth is kept today — 38.7076° N, 77.0861° W.
Where these facts come from
Every number on page 79, and who measured it
This page tells us about baby teeth and grown-up teeth.
Mouth & Teeth — KidsHealth, a health site for kids from Nemours Children's Health
kidshealth.org/en/kids/teeth.html
We checked it on 31 October 2026
This page tells us that babies are born with 20 teeth hiding in their jaws.
Baby Teeth — MouthHealthy, from the American Dental Association
mouthhealthy.org/all-topics-a-z/baby-teeth
We checked it on 31 October 2026
This page tells us what George Washington's false teeth were really made of.
False Teeth — George Washington's Mount Vernon, the museum at his home
mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/false-teeth
We checked it on 31 October 2026
Has this changed?
Why baby teeth fall out is not going to change.
Your own count will change over the next years, as your adult teeth come in.
Words from this page
- gums
- The soft pink skin around the base of your teeth.
- permanent tooth
- An adult tooth, which has to last the rest of your life.
- ivory
- The hard, white material from an animal’s tusk or tooth.
Try it!
Count your teeth.
1. Look in a mirror and count your top teeth, then your bottom teeth. 2. Write the numbers down. Is there a gap where a tooth fell out? 3. Count again in a few months. What changed?
What happens: your number may change as baby teeth fall out and adult teeth grow in. Everyone’s mouth is different!
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