Teething: A Child’s Rite of Passage
According to the American Dental Association (ADA), the average age children start developing their primary teeth is between 4-7 months with a full set completed by the age of 3. However there are cases where a child doesn’t start to develop until they’re one year old so don’t panic if you don’t see any teeth coming out before that.
Some of the sure signs of teething are:
- Sore or sensitive gums
- Drooling
- Chewing on solid objects
- Irritability or crankiness
- less appetite
- slight increase in body temperature
Many dentists do say that a child’s reaction to teething will vary due to how much pain they can tolerate.
Here are some tips and advice that’s been proven over the years to help soothe a child’s gum:
- Give your child a teething ring. They’re soft enough for the child to chew on and sooth the irritated gums. You can even place the ring in the refrigerator to make it cold for extra relief. Never give a child frozen teething ring because it may do more harm than good.
- Try rubbing the baby’s gum with your clean finger to ease the pressure that the child is feeling from the tooth trying to erupt through the gums.
- If you’re going to give the baby something to chew on other than a teething ring, make sure that it’s edible and not too hard. Otherwise it might irritate the child’s gum line and do damage to the erupting tooth.
- When the child is teething, they’ll produce more than usual drool. To prevent skin rash, always try to keep the baby’s chin dry as possible.
- Dentists usually tell parents not to give their child over the counter pain medicine such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen unless it’s absolutely necessary. They and the Food and Drug Administration (ADA) all agree that children under 2 years should not be given medicine that contain the pain reliever benzocaine (ingredient found in products such as Orajel and Anbesol.) It has have been associated with methemoglobinemia, a condition know to reduce oxygen levels in the blood.
Remember to take the child to a pediatric dentist by the age of 1. That’s the recommended age that dentist usually give parents when asked about when they should start bringing in the child for a checkup. Never let the child sleep with a bottle in his/her mouth because milk or juice left inside the mouth will promote cavities. When the child’s tooth has erupted gently brush it twice a day and have him/her rinse with tap water because they contain fluoride. Dentist usually recommend having the child use a pea size amount of toothpaste once they’re over 2 years of age. Not many people are aware of this but too much fluoride can cause discoloring in a developing tooth. There’s no way to avoid this rite of passage for the child. All you can do is to help alleviate the pain they’re experiencing.
