The appearance of teeth in babies, teething is often an annoying problem for the baby himself, and for the parents. Therefore, teething problems are sometimes associated with periods of diarrhea, stress, irritability, lack of sleep, a higher temperature, and skin rashes. In principle nothing serious.
Between the fourth and sixth month, the process of calcification of milk teeth usually occurs, so that from the seventh month the first tooth will emerge. But what if this is not the case? The teething tables are approximate, but if they have not appeared after the thirteenth month, it is a late teething. We give you some guidelines on how to act in this and other cases of teething problems.
Problems whose symptoms are reflected in the baby's teething
The appearance or eruption of the baby's first teeth, his teething, is a very important moment for his subsequent formation of the teeth. Believe it or not, this is a very complex and long process that begins in the first weeks of pregnancy, when the cells that will make up your oral cavity appear.
In general, the first teeth appear in the sixth or seventh month. When this is not so, and the ninth month arrives without appearing, and if other problems are suspected, such as short stature, psychomotor retardation, obesity, skeletal alterations or thin and sparse hair, then a detailed review by a specialist will be required.
Tras various tests will be ruled out or confirmed if the baby suffers from any serious problem, such as lack of vitamin D, calcium or phosphorus, rickets; any disease of the thyroid gland or certain syndromes and disorders that affect the development of teeth and bones such as Down's, Apert's or Ellis-van Crevel's syndromes. Other causes may be cleidocranial dysostosis, ectodermal dysplasias, or achromic pigmentary incontinence.
Delayed dentition and asymmetric dentition problems
Each mouth is a world, the fact that teething does not occur in an orderly manner or following the guidelines in the tables, it is a symptom to watch out for, but in itself it should not be a problem. It is sometimes thought that babies with late teething will be short in the future, or that this situation is more common in girls than in boys. There is no scientific evidence on it.
La Family inheritance is an important factor in determining the time in which your child's teething begins. If one or both parents had a late rash, the same is likely to be true of the children. Other variables involved are nutritional status or whether it was a premature delivery.
Another question that may arise is that the teething is asymmetric. To do this you will have to check if after the exit of a tooth, on the other side there is not a hard lump under the gum. There is usually a difference between 3 and 4 weeks. These rare cases also require a review by the pediatric dentist.
Discomfort associated with teething
As we said at the beginning the main problem with teething is discomfort for the baby, and the parents. Babies are very irritable, they change their habits, and they seem not to calm down with almost nothing. This in turn causes anxiety and discomfort in parents, as they do not know how to help the baby in this process.
To try to relieve symptoms of gum irritation, you can give him something to chew on. Make it large enough that you cannot swallow or choke on it. A wet washcloth that you have placed in the freezer for 30 minutes can go a long way, or some teething rings kept in the fridge.
Check keeping the skin around the mouth dry. Drool and saliva can lead to skin rash problems. If the baby is too irritable, consult a pediatrician, he will surely prescribe some medicine to help him. And from before the first tooth, remember to follow the care recommendations for the baby's mouth. You can consult them here.