Question

A baby boy aged two years is admitted to play school and passes through a dental check-up. The dentist observed that the boy had twenty teeth. Which teeth were absent?

• A. Incisors
• B. Canines
• C. Pre-molars
• D. Molars

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

To answer this question, we must understand the dental development in young children. Human dentition occurs in two phases: primary (deciduous) dentition and permanent dentition.

A two-year-old child would have primary teeth, also known as milk teeth. In total, a child will have 20 primary teeth by the age of 2 to 3 years. These include:

• 8 Incisors (4 upper and 4 lower)
• 4 Canines (2 upper and 2 lower)
• 8 Molars (4 upper and 4 lower)

Primary teeth do not include pre-molars. Pre-molars are part of the permanent dentition and develop later, usually appearing around the age of 10 to 12 years.

Given this, the boy, having 20 teeth at the age of two, is expected to have only primary teeth (incisors, canines, and molars). Therefore, the teeth absent at this stage are the pre-molars.

To reiterate, the correct option for the teeth that are absent in a baby boy aged two years is: Pre-molars.