A premolar is one of the teeth in your mouth that sits between your pointy canine teeth and your flat molars at the back. You have eight premolars total: two on each side of your upper jaw and two on each side of your lower jaw.

Premolars have a flattened top with small raised points called cusps, making them perfect for both gripping and grinding food. They're tougher than your front teeth but more precise than your big molars. When you bite into an apple, your front teeth cut through it, but your premolars help tear and crush the pieces so your molars can finish grinding them up.

Dentists sometimes call them bicuspids because most have two cusps on top, though some people's premolars have just one.

Your first premolars appear around age 10, replacing baby teeth called first molars. Your second premolars come in around age 11. Unlike your wisdom teeth at the very back, which many people never need, premolars do important work every time you eat.