# We can get 3 sets of teeth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531 "2018-11-14T23:44:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/1 "2018-11-14T23:44:32Z")
I came across a local newspaper article from 1922 in which it told of a resident who was cutting his third set of teeth. He was 92 years old and the new teeth were through the gum and getting larger. How common is this? Dennis ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/2 "2018-11-15T00:42:25Z")
Dentist here. Never heard of it. More likely was a previous unerupted tooth cutting through. Had a patient with a denture for over 30 years. the wisdom tooth wasn’t extracted since it wasn’t erupted, for some reason after over 30 years it erupted and had to be extracted. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/3 "2018-11-15T00:51:12Z")
According to Wiki: It is possible to have extra, or “supernumerary,” teeth. This phenomenon is called hyperdontia and is often erroneously referred to as “a third set of teeth.” These teeth may erupt into the mouth or remain impacted in the bone. Hyperdontia is often associated with syndromes such as cleft lip and palate, trichorhinophalangeal syndrome, cleidocranial dysplasia, and Gardner’s syndrome. > **[Permanent teeth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_teeth)** > > Permanent teeth or adult teeth are the second set of teeth formed in diphyodont mammals. In humans and old world simians, there are thirty-two permanent teeth, consisting of six maxillary and six mandibular molars, four maxillary and four mandibular premolars, two maxillary and two mandibular canines, four maxillary and four mandibular incisors. > The first permanent tooth usually appears in the mouth at around six years of age, and the mouth will then be in a transition time with both primary (or... ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/4 "2018-11-15T03:01:37Z")
true, the most I personally have seen on one of my patients is a full set of fourth molars behind the wisdom teeth along with two mandibular fifth molars. A supernumary between the upper central incisors is quit common. One extra wisdom tooth (fourth molar) is also common, see them several times a year. Pathology books often have good pictures of odontomas causing multiple teeth. None of these is my opinion is a third set of teeth and while I haven’t seen the 1922 article I don’t think a third set of teeth replacing the permanent set the way it replaced the primary teeth happens. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/5 "2018-11-15T04:11:43Z")
I had a third “front” tooth that came in behind the two normal front teeth, kind of the roof of my mouth. I think I was about 10 when it starting showing, dentist removed it. He told me that sometimes the tooth “buds” can have pieces break off during development that then become an extra tooth. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/6 "2018-11-15T04:22:22Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#): > > true, the most I personally have seen on one of my patients is a full set of fourth molars behind the wisdom teeth along with two mandibular fifth molars. A supernumary between the upper central incisors is quit common. One extra wisdom tooth (fourth molar) is also common, see them several times a year. Pathology books often have good pictures of odontomas causing multiple teeth. None of these is my opinion is a third set of teeth and while I haven’t seen the 1922 article I don’t think a third set of teeth replacing the permanent set the way it replaced the primary teeth happens. When I was a kid, I used to see people all the time who had what looked like an extra tooth high up in the canine region, and rarely see this any more. Is that what it is? (Conversely, I had two lower premolars whose permanent teeth never formed. They were pulled and the surrounding permanent teeth brought together. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/7 "2018-11-15T04:29:26Z")
Here’s a journal article about a young man who had a rudimentary extra set of wisdom teeth. Warning for the squeamish: It does include color photographs of the extraction. > **[Four impacted fourth molars in a young patient: a case report](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3671819/)** > > The occurrence of supernumerary teeth is a relatively uncommon dental anomaly and it’s rare for patients to have impacted fourth molars in all quadrant.Aim of this work is to describe the presence of bilateral fourth molars in the maxilla and ... ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/8 "2018-11-15T06:09:16Z")
The lil’wrekker is 19 and still has 2 baby teeth. Front lower bicuspids ( I think what you call them). There are no adult teeth in there. The dentist said if she ever loses them she will have to get implants. For the moment they are healthy. Teeths is strange! ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/9 "2018-11-15T21:43:47Z")
My brother has enormous restraint and self control. Because of this, he has 7 gold teeth that came in as permanent teeth, because he was able restrain himself from sticking his tongue in the gum area where the baby teeth fell out. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/10 "2018-11-16T00:44:04Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > The lil’wrekker is 19 and still has 2 baby teeth. Front lower bicuspids ( I think what you call them). There are no adult teeth in there. The dentist said if she ever loses them she will have to get implants. For the moment they are healthy. Teeths is strange! I had a baby tooth until I was 56 when it finally broke. They can last a long time. Lower second premolar. Fairly common to have that one missing. Don’t think a week goes by that I don’t see one. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/11 "2018-11-16T00:55:56Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > When I was a kid, I used to see people all the time who had what looked like an extra tooth high up in the canine region, and rarely see this any more. Is that what it is? . . . My eldest son had his adult canines erupt above his baby ones, rather than pushing the baby teeth out. The dentist pulled the baby teeth and the adult teeth shifted into their proper place unaided. If the people you saw didn’t have a dentist pull their baby teeth, the adult canines would have just hung out in the gums above them. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/12 "2018-11-16T04:53:33Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#): > > I had a baby tooth until I was 56 when it finally broke. They can last a long time. Lower second premolar. Fairly common to have that one missing. Don’t think a week goes by that I don’t see one. Glad to hear that. She’ll be old enough to get her own implants. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/13 "2018-11-16T04:56:17Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > My brother has enormous restraint and self control. Because of this, he has 7 gold teeth that came in as permanent teeth, because he was able restrain himself from sticking his tongue in the gum area where the baby teeth fell out. WTH? Am I reading this right? Gold? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/14 "2018-11-16T15:56:13Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > WTH? Am I reading this right? Gold? Never heard that story as a kid? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/15 "2018-11-16T16:01:03Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > My brother has enormous restraint and self control. Because of this, he has 7 gold teeth that came in as permanent teeth, because he was able restrain himself from sticking his tongue in the gum area where the baby teeth fell out. He also had hairless palms as a teenager, owing to that same self-restraint. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/16 "2018-11-16T17:39:38Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Never heard that story as a kid? I hadn’t, but I did [find it on the Internet](https://patch.com/california/lagunaniguel-danapoint/bp--a-gold-tooth-really), so it wasn’t just a local family thing for you (unless this woman is related to you somehow . . .) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/17 "2018-11-17T00:30:49Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Never heard that story as a kid? No, I was told that if you pick a guinea pig up by its tail its eyes will fall out. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/18 "2018-11-17T14:06:02Z")
Oh, that’s true about guinea pigs. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/19 "2018-11-17T14:23:19Z")
Don’t Coneheads have three sets of teeth? Simultaneously? [Beldar](https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-coneheads-1993-dan-aykroyd-29168369.html?pv=1&stamp=2&imageid=3DA4E433-F244-4E4D-91CD-CDD3E399046B&p=87718&n=0&orientation=0&pn=1&searchtype=0&IsFromSearch=1&srch=foo%3dbar%26st%3d0%26pn%3d1%26ps%3d100%26sortby%3d2%26resultview%3dsortbyPopular%26npgs%3d0%26qt%3dconeheads%26qt_raw%3dconeheads%26lic%3d3%26mr%3d0%26pr%3d0%26ot%3d0%26creative%3d%26ag%3d0%26hc%3d0%26pc%3d%26blackwhite%3d%26cutout%3d%26tbar%3d1%26et%3d0x000000000000000000000%26vp%3d0%26loc%3d0%26imgt%3d0%26dtfr%3d%26dtto%3d%26size%3d0xFF%26archive%3d1%26groupid%3d%26pseudoid%3d%26a%3d%26cdid%3d%26cdsrt%3d%26name%3d%26qn%3d%26apalib%3d%26apalic%3d%26lightbox%3d%26gname%3d%26gtype%3d%26xstx%3d0%26simid%3d%26saveQry%3d%26editorial%3d1%26nu%3d%26t%3d%26edoptin%3d%26customgeoip%3d%26cap%3d1%26cbstore%3d1%26vd%3d0%26lb%3d%26fi%3d2%26edrf%3d%26ispremium%3d1%26flip%3d0) did. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-can-get-3-sets-of-teeth/824531/20 "2018-11-17T17:54:08Z")
Can’t speak for humans (or Coneheads), but one of our cats had two sets of adult teeth.