It is not a simple task to age a camel. Camels can be aged up to 7 years.
The camel has 22 milk teeth and 32 permanent teeth. It is different to other ruminants in having two front teeth in the upper jaw. Camels also have a pair of canine (dog teeth) in both the upper and lower jaws which are used to crush woody plants for food. The first pair of permanent cheek teeth are separate from the other teeth and are dark in colour.
The Milk Teeth of the Camel
The camel has 22 milk teeth arranged as:
| Upper jaw | one front tooth on each side | 2 |
| one canine (dog) tooth on each side | 2 | |
| three cheek teeth on each side | 6 | |
| Lower jaw | three front teeth on each side | 6 |
| one canine (dog) tooth on each side | 2 | |
| two cheek teeth on each side | 4 |
Ageing camels from the milk teeth
| (1) New born: | There are no teeth. | |
| (2) One month: | Upper jaw: | 2 cheek teeth on each side |
| Lower jaw: | one cheek tooth on each side 2 front teeth | |
| (3) Three months: | Upper jaw: | 1 canine, 3 cheek teeth on each side |
| Lower jaw: | 3 front teeth, 1 canine, 2 cheek teeth on each side | |
| (4) Six months: | Upper jaw: | 1 front, 1 canine, 3 cheek teeth on each side |
| Lower jaw: | 3 front, 1 canine, 2 cheek teeth on each side |
The Permanent Teeth
There are 34 permanent teeth. These are larger than the milk teeth and are arranged as follows:
| Upper jaw | one front tooth on each side | 2 |
| one canine on each side | 2 | |
| six cheek teeth on each side | 12 | |
| Lower jaw | three front teeth on each side | 6 |
| one canine on each side | 2 | |
| five cheek teeth on each side | 10 |
Ageing camels after 1 year of age
| 1 year | Upper jaw: | 4 cheek teeth on each side |
| Lower jaw: | 3 cheek teeth on each side | |
| 2.5 years | Upper jaw: | 4 to 5 cheek teeth on each side |
| Lower jaw: | 3 to 4 cheek teeth on each side | |
| 3 years | Upper jaw: | 5 cheek teeth on each side |
| Lower jaw: | 4 cheek teeth on each side | |
| 4.5 years | First permanent front teeth are showing | |
| 5 years | Milk cheek teeth replaced by permanent teeth, 2 replaced on each side of upper jaw, 1 on each side of lower jaw. | |
| 5.5 years | 2 more permanent front teeth on lower jaw | |
| Upper jaw: | 6 cheek teeth on each side | |
| Lower jaw: | 5 cheek teeth on each side | |
| 6 years | Upper jaw: | 1 front tooth and permanent canine through on each side |
| Lower jaw: | permanent canine through | |
| 7 years | Full set of permanent teeth | |
| First cheek teeth on both jaws are black | ||
The canines appear at 6 years of age and by the age of 7 are very large. These teeth in the upper jaw can be 4 centimetres long. The lower ones may be cut off by some camel owners. Camels can live to around 40 years of age but from 15 years of age they will have difficulty with hard feedstuffs as the front teeth wear and begin to spread.