Preparing your child for a visit to the dentist
The appearance of teeth in babies is a complex stage. In many cases, the baby receives its teething without any problems but, in other cases, its appearance is accompanied by pain in the baby and the logical concern of its parents.
Caring for baby teeth is also important
Many parents believe that caring for baby teeth is not as important as caring for the permanent dentition. This is a mistake.
Baby teeth give structure to the child’s face, they save space for the permanent dentition. Premature loss of the infant dentition can lead to the rest of the teeth moving, resulting in crowding or crooked teeth.
Furthermore, dental care is important to provide the infant with dental hygiene habits that, if not acquired from infancy, will be difficult to inculcate later on.
Teeth in babies erupt between 6 and 12 months of age
We should not become obsessed with when our baby’s teeth should appear. There is a wide range that goes from 6 to 12 months, but even so, there are children who have some teeth before the age of 6 months and, in other cases, they have not yet appeared at 12 months.
The first teeth to appear are usually the lower front teeth (lower incisors).
If your baby’s teething is something that worries you, make an appointment with our paediatric dentist, who is the right person to answer any questions you may have.
Help your baby through the teething process
It is during these months that our baby will be irritable due to the pain caused by the eruption of the teeth. We will see that the level of saliva increases and that the baby bites down on everything within reach to mitigate, even temporarily, the pain.
This is when parents can explore their baby’s gums to look for signs of the next eruption: redness, inflammation. And if, in the process, they detect a hard spot, it will be the sign that confirms the next eruption.
How can we relieve the baby’s pain?
- By massaging the gums with two fingers (be careful with hygiene, the fingers must be very clean).
- By using solid teething rings for the baby to relieve the pain by biting, including in this chapter the previously cooled soother.
- By rubbing the gums with a clean, rolled up, frozen cloth.
- In cases of severe pain, your paediatrician can prescribe a pain reliever for your baby.
Do not use magic solutions to soothe your baby
No gels with benzocaine or belladonna. Although these are marketed as children’s painkillers, they have received warnings about their use due to side effects.
Do not use amber collars or other home remedies that have no scientific basis. You have at your disposal means, detailed above, that will help your baby. No necklace will do if they do not.
Although we have recommended the use of dental rings, we do not recommend the use of liquid-filled rings or those that are used frozen (in this case, due to their excessive hardness).
Fever and other symptoms on the appearance of your teeth
Sometimes the appearance of teeth is accompanied by fever in the baby. Although a slight increase in body temperature may be justified, fever is not considered a symptom associated with tooth eruption.
Several studies, such as the one carried out by the journal Paediatrics in 2016, do not associate the onset of a fever (temperature above 38°C) with teething. It is possible, then, that this fever is a response to an infection acquired by the baby through other means, such as the habit of putting anything he finds in his mouth, including his fists.
Caring for your baby’s teeth
Once the teeth have erupted, we should clean them twice a day with a small amount of toothpaste (the size of a grain of rice) to take care of your baby’s dental hygiene.
Is this really necessary? Remember that we have explained the importance of preserving baby teeth. One of the most common conditions is baby bottle tooth decay, caused by “the stagnation of milk or other sugary liquids in the child’s mouth, combined with a lack of oral hygiene”.
As indicated in the study carried out on baby bottle tooth decay by doctors Antonia Molina Escribano, Antonio J. López Garví, Catalina López Ibáñez, Antonio J. López Garví, Catalina López Ibáñez and Catalina López Ibáñez . Catalina López Ibáñez, Úrsula Sáez Cuesta, “Baby bottle caries is a disease with a rapid and aggressive evolution that affects the primary dentition of very young children in whom bottle feeding has been prolonged beyond the recommended time”.
The use of fluoride
The positive effects of fluoride on the dentition are widely known. Fluoride helps to strengthen tooth enamel. In most of the public drinking water supply in Spanish towns, fluoride is not sufficiently available and must be supplemented by fluoride supplementation.
Consult our paediatric dentist to find out if your local water is fluoridated or if, on the contrary, you should provide these fluoride supplements.
Request an appointment with your paediatric dentist
Make an appointment with our paediatric dentist when your baby’s first teeth appear. We know this may seem premature, but detecting early conditions is the best way to treat them.
We’re not just talking about tooth decay. Facial control during the appearance of the first teeth can help us detect cases of malocclusion or open or cross bite. Do not hesitate to consult us.
