Tooth Number 29: Lower Right Second Premolar

If tooth 29 is missing: keeping the baby molar

If this premolar never forms, the baby molar it should replace (tooth T) often stays.

Keeping the baby molar. It can be kept, or removed and the space closed with braces, filled with a replacement tooth, or filled with a tooth moved from elsewhere in the mouth (autotransplantation). Keeping a sunken (fused) baby molar for years can leave a dip in the bone that makes a later implant harder.

A wider tooth. The baby molar is wider than a premolar, so keeping it can affect the bite. Dentists sometimes slim it down, though that can make its roots dissolve and the tooth fall out.

The same tooth on the left side, tooth 20, has its own section on a premolar that never formed.

Where is tooth 29?

Tooth 29 is in your lower jaw on your right side. It is the fifth tooth from the middle: start at the gap between the two bottom front teeth and count 5 teeth toward the back on your right side.

In a mirror, tooth 29 shows on the right side of your reflection. Someone looking into your mouth sees it on their left.

In front of it (toward the middle) is tooth 28, the lower right first premolar. Behind it is tooth 30, the lower right first molar.

Its mirror twin on the left side is tooth 20. The tooth in the same spot in the upper jaw is tooth 4, the upper right second premolar.

Dental charts show the patient's right side on the left, so tooth 29 sits on the left half of the bottom row. Lower right teeth finish the circle, from 25 (the front tooth) to 32 (the wisdom tooth).

What does the lower second premolar do?

Premolars (also called bicuspids) sit between the canines and the molars and help crush and grind food. They have features of both their neighbors. The lower second premolar is larger than the first premolar and often has two tongue-side cusps, so it can look like a small molar.

It is also called the "second bicuspid".

Adult premolars replace the baby molars. There are no premolars among the 20 baby teeth.

How many roots does tooth 29 have?

1 root.

When does tooth 29 come in?

The lower second premolars usually come in at 11–12 years according to the ADA chart. The AAPD chart gives 11–13 years.

Tooth 29 replaces the lower right baby second molar (tooth T), which usually falls out at 10–12 years (ADA).

In the ADA chart, they come in at the same time as the upper canines, after the lower first premolars (10–12 years) and before the lower second molars (11–13 years). In the AAPD's 13-step order, from the first molars (step 1) to the wisdom teeth (step 13), they are step 10.

Under the gum, according to the AAPD chart, it starts to harden (calcify) at about 24–30 months, has a finished crown by 6–7 years and has a finished root by about 12–14 years, a few years after it comes into the mouth.

Common problems with lower second premolars

• Cavities. Small cavities are fixed with a filling. If decay or an injury reaches the nerve, root canal treatment can save the tooth, often followed by a crown.

If tooth 29 hurts, feels loose, or the gum around it swells, the Dental Emergency Checker can help you decide how soon to see a dentist. Swelling that spreads to the eye or neck, or makes it hard to breathe or swallow, is an emergency: call 911. These are typical problems for this kind of tooth, not a diagnosis.

Tooth 29 in FDI and Palmer notation

There is no FDI tooth 29. In FDI the second digit only runs from 1 to 8, so 29 can only be a Universal number.

"45" can only be FDI. Universal numbers stop at 32, so a tooth 45 on any chart is this tooth.

Palmer needs the bracket. Every quarter of the mouth has a tooth 5 in Palmer notation; only the ┐ (or the letters LR) makes it this one.

All adult teeth in the lower right quarter

From the front of the mouth to the back:

The Tooth Number Chart & Converter converts any tooth between the three systems.

Tools for tooth 29

• Dental Emergency Checker: how soon to see a dentist if it hurts or breaks.
• Dental Numbness Calculator: how long numbness lasts after a filling.
• Dental Insurance Calculator: what your plan may pay for a crown or root canal.
• Adult Teeth Predictor: likely dates for your child's adult teeth.
• How Long Does Dental Work Last?: how long fillings, crowns, veneers and implants usually last, from long-term studies.
• Dental Treatment Plan Decoder: plain English for treatment-plan shorthand like "#30 MOD comp".

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. American Dental Association (MouthHealthy). Permanent Tooth Development (eruption chart). 2012. Accessed October 26, 2026.
2. American Dental Association (MouthHealthy). Primary Tooth Development (eruption chart). 2012. Accessed October 26, 2026.
3. American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Dental Growth and Development (chronology after Logan & Kronfeld 1933, adapted 2003). Accessed October 26, 2026.
4. American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Management of the Developing Dentition and Occlusion in Pediatric Dentistry (Reference Manual of Pediatric Dentistry). latest revision 2024. Accessed October 26, 2026.
5. World Health Organization. Oral health surveys: basic methods, 5th edition (tooth notation after ISO 3950). 2013. Accessed October 26, 2026.
6. Nelson SJ. Elsevier. Wheeler's Dental Anatomy, Physiology and Occlusion, 11th edition. 2019.
7. American Dental Association. ADA Dental Claim Form (tooth designation systems). Accessed October 26, 2026.
8. Dentalcare.com (continuing education course CE500). An Overview of Dental Anatomy: Types of Teeth and their Functions. Accessed October 26, 2026.
9. Dentalcare.com (continuing education course CE500). An Overview of Dental Anatomy: Permanent Dentition. Accessed October 26, 2026.
10. Cleveland Clinic. Teeth: Anatomy, Types, Function & Care. last updated January 26, 2023. Accessed October 26, 2026.

Last reviewed October 26, 2026 by the Dental Health Time editorial team, against the sources above. How we review.