Teething is really a fact of life, beginning at about six months, typically with the eruption of the bottom teeth. It’s rarely the same for each child, not to mention each tooth. Even so, when it happens, it’s usually not hard to identify, and understanding how to soothe the agonizing effects for youngsters has been a goal of parents over the ages.
Signs of Teething
Nobody enjoys seeing an infant or toddler endure teething. Not only may everyone’s sleep be disrupted and baby robbed of normal length naps, but teething pain is often combined with a running nose, low grade fever, and other unpleasant side effects. While not every one of these symptoms emerge every time, they are not unusual. If nothing else, parents can usually count on irritability, biting or gnawing on hard objects, swelling and tenderness of the gums, sometimes even a chin rash.
Helpful Remedies
Thankfully, pediatric dentists and orthodontists offer time-tested remedies for coping with this phenomena which, though starting around six months of age, actually continues until age three when the primary teeth are established.
Here is some tried and true advice from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry,beginning with the popular usage of cold temperatures. Cold works well because, correctly applied, it reduces the flow of blood to the involved area, reducing gum puffiness, swelling and inflammation, hence accompanying pain.
- Offer teething rings, clean and considerably chilled. Rolling a clean baby washcloth in a plastic bag and likewise chilling it in the refrigerator is a suitable substitute that some babies like because of the malleability.
- Binkies or pacifiers, those lovable baby accessories, can also be chilled and substituted for regular ones when teething symptoms show up, providing cold relief by way of beloved comforters.
- Massaging the gums with a clean adult finger cuts down on the pressure from the incoming tooth that is creating the inflammation and may help.
- Offering cold foods for babies old enough to have them will briefly reduce gum soreness; possibilities include popsicles or frozen juice cubes made in ice cube trays, also frozen yogurt. For younger babies, you could try age-appropriate frozen fruit in mesh-like feeders that protect against choking but allow the cold relief to go where it is needed, tastily soothing the gums.
- Over the counter liquid remedies like Baby Tylenol or Motrin, dosage suggested for babies per pharmacist, dentist, or pediatrician, as well as teething gels, are helpful. They facilitate baby’s rest, the lack of which escalates irritability.
- Acupuncture by massaging baby’s toes, especially around the joints, is encouraged by some holistic practitioners. Apparently, the accompanying stimulation of energy meridians that affect the mouth and teeth provides a drug-free approach to gum relief.
Visiting a Pediatric Dentist by Age 1: Beginning Lifelong Dental Health
While teething is inevitable, parents should not lose sight of the fact that the emergence of teeth signals something else: the incredible importance of beginning a child’s dental treatments while young. This truth is, pediatric dentistry is really a growing field, with dentists and staff members dedicated to children’s dental health.
With child-friendly offices, designed with equipment and decor to suit little ones, it is not surprising that the first dental visit is recommended by the first birthday. Parents heeding that advice won’t be sorry as, from when a youngster starts to teethe and all throughout the growing years, good dental health is at the foundation of healthy teeth for life.
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