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Teething is really a fact of life, beginning at about six months, typically together with the eruption of the bottom teeth. It is hardly ever exactly the same for each child, let alone each tooth.  Even so, when it occurs, it’s usually easy to identify, and knowing how to soothe the unpleasant effects for young children has been a goal of parents through the ages.

Signs and symptoms of Teething

No one enjoys seeing a baby or toddler endure teething. Not only may everyone’s sleep be disrupted and baby robbed of usual length naps, but teething pain is often accompanied by a running nose, low grade fever, and other unpleasant unwanted side effects.  While not every one of these symptoms present themselves every time, none are unusual.  If little else, parents normally can count on irritability, biting or gnawing on hard objects, swelling and tenderness of the gums, maybe even a chin rash.

Helpful Remedies

Thankfully, pediatric dentists and orthodontists offer you time-tested remedies for dealing with this phenomena which, though beginning around six months of age, in fact continues until age three when the primary teeth are in place. 

Here’s some tried and true advice from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry,starting with the widely accepted usage of cold temperatures.  Cold is effective because, properly applied, it reduces blood flow to the affected area, decreasing gum puffiness, swelling and inflammation, hence accompanying pain.

• Offer teething rings, clean and substantially chilled.  Rolling a clean baby washcloth in a plastic bag as well as chilling it in the refrigerator is a suitable substitute that some babies like due to the malleability.

• Pacifiers or binkies, 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 reduces the pressure from the incoming tooth that’s creating the inflammation and may help.

• Offering cold foods for babies who are old enough to have them will temporarily decrease gum soreness; possibilities include popsicles or frozen juice cubes made in ice cube trays, also frozen yogurt.  For younger babies, try age-appropriate frozen fruit in mesh-like feeders that prevent 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, in addition to teething gels, are useful. 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 providers.  Reportedly, the accompanying stimulation of energy meridians that affect the mouth and teeth provides a drug-free approach to gum relief.

Going to 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 personnel committed to children’s dental health. 

With child-friendly offices, furnished with equipment and decor to accommodate little ones, it’s not surprising that the first dental visit is recommended by the first birthday.  Parents heeding that advice won’t be sorry as, from the time a youngster begins to teethe and all throughout the growing years, good dental health is at the building block of healthy teeth for a lifetime.

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