My baby's teeth
There is no correct time for your baby to cut his first tooth. Some babies are born with a tooth, although this is rare, and yet it is still within the normal range to have none at 12 months old.
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It would therefore be misleading to give dates when you should expect your child to cut certain teeth, although it is possible to make a generalization about the order in which teeth erupt.
As a general rule, teething starts around six months old, after which many teeth appear up to the end of your baby's first year; the order in which they come rarely differs between children.
Teething
If you are on the look-out you will probably notice your baby's first tooth as it starts to push its way through the gum and form a small, pale bump. The only normal symptoms of teething are fretfulness and dribbling. You should never blame any other symptoms on cutting a tooth; it is a myth that teething can cause fever, diarrhoea, vomiting, convulsions, rashes or loss of appetite. Don't make the mistake of attributing any illness to cutting a tooth, so if you're at all worried get medical advice immediately. No parent likes to see their child in discomfort so I would suggest you do the following to help relieve pain:
- Offer your baby something firm to chew on like a raw carrot, a rusk or a cool teething ring. Your baby may find sucking rather painful, so give drinks from a cup instead.
- Try just gently rubbing your child's gums with your own little finger - this can help as much as anything. Certainly your attention and concern about his pain will bring him comfort.
- Avoid taking your child out in a cold wind, as this always seems to make the pain of teething worse. When you go outside in the winter try to cover most of your child's face and head with a warm hat or a hood and put a scarf around his neck and chin.
- Don't put teething gels containing local anaesthetics on his gums. They only have a transient effect, and local anaesthetics can cause allergies.
- Don't use teething powders and teething medicines. Your baby has many teeth to cut, and if you use any kind regularly you will be exposing your baby to a large amount of medication, much of which may be unnecessary and all of which may be accompanied by side effects.
- Take care if you use the water-filled teething rings that can be frozen to form ice if placed in the freezer. Careless use of these teething rings has been known to cause frostbite in babies. These rings can be used quite safely to cool down the mouth if they are just kept in the fridge as opposed to the freezer.
- Avoid the frequent use of paracetamol syrup. It is useful, but should not be given with any regularity except under doctor's orders. If you need recourse to it to soothe your fretful baby for more than two doses then you should consult your doctor or health visitor.
Looking after teeth
When your baby has several teeth, you can start good habits early by encouraging him with a game of tooth brushing. First of all let your child watch you so that he can see how brushing should be done. Then just make an offer of a soft toothbrush as something to play with. He will almost certainly want to do what he has just seen you doing and will try to make the same kind of movements by putting the brush into his mouth and moving it to and fro. Cleaning the teeth shouldn't be a serious business; it really should be playful. You are teaching your child to like and want to look after his teeth so you should avoid being censorious and make it a big laugh instead of a chore.
To actually get the teeth clean, take a piece of gauze with some toothpaste on it and gently rub it across the gums and any teeth that your baby has. It's important to clean the baby's gums even if there are no teeth because this keeps the mouth free of the bacteria that cause plaque. This also provides a good environment for milk teeth and later permanent teeth to grow into. The easiest position to clean his teeth/gums will probably be with him on your lap, feet pointing away from you, mouth tilted up towards you.
Use a low-fluoride toothpaste at first, and avoid varieties made for children as they often contain a sweetener. Your baby may want to eat the toothpaste but you should stop him. Clean the teeth once if not twice a day and always after he's been given any medicine as they are often sweet and sticky to make them “more palatable”.
Fighting tooth decay
The three most important factors in the care of your baby's teeth are diet and the absence of sugar, good dental hygiene and regular check-ups.
One of the best ways of taking care of your baby's teeth as soon as he has them is to see that his diet does not contain sugary foods such as sweets, chocolates, cakes, biscuits and very sweet drinks. Sugar, be it white or brown, is the arch villain in tooth decay. No child needs sugar. It is not necessary for health and you will be doing your child a favour if you don't encourage a sweet tooth, not only for his teeth but also for his weight.
Never leave a bottle containing milk or a sweetened drink lying around for your baby to suck on. His teeth will be constantly bathed in a sugary fluid, which will encourage decay. Give him a dummy if he wants to suck something.
Make sure that your baby's diet contains plenty of calcium and vitamin D, as they are essential for the healthy formation of the permanent teeth, which are already growing in your baby's jawbones. Foods that are rich in both of these nutrients are dairy products and fish; oily fish such as salmon, herring and sardines are particularly good.
Many people think that dental hygiene isn't important until your child has his permanent teeth. This is not true, so do follow a sensible cleaning programme for your child's teeth and, as soon as he's about two, start taking him for regular dental check-ups.
New Babycare
Copyright © 2009 Dorling Kindersley
Text copyright © 2009 Miriam Stoppard
Posted 03.11.2010
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