When the first teeth come out, this can affect you and your baby to lose sleep for a night or two. Here you can find out more of when which milk tooth is come in, how you can note that your baby is teething, and tips for helping your teething baby.
When do babies start teething?
The lower central incisors are the first teeth to appear in the mouth, typically around the age of 6 months. They follow by the lower lateral front teeth at about 7 months age. Immediately after that, the upper central and lateral incisors appear at about 7 to 9 months of age.
Then, both you and your child can take a break. Only at about 14 months of age do the upper and lower small molars breakthrough. When the baby reaches 1.5 years, the upper and lower big molars come through and with 2 years the canines.
Typical symptoms: How can you tell if your baby is starting to teeth?
Children’s teeth begin developing in the fetus. Even after birth, first teeth continue to grow until later they are large enough to pass through the gums. The pressure that the teeth generate causes pain and itching of the gums. Since counter-pressure helps most babies teething, they put everything in their mouth and chewing on it.
The first symptoms of teething are:
- increased drooling
- swollen, reddened gums
- foul mood, whining and crying
- rarely diarrhea and fever
Orthodontic treatment
Which complications may occur?
Besides diarrhea and fever, certain complications may also arise during teething. One complication is the eruption of cyst, a bluish, bulging blister that forms on the ridge of the jaw. Normally, the eruption cyst is harmless, as it almost always bursts open by itself when chewing on objects. Only in rare cases the dentist has to open it.
A serious complication in dentistry is the difficulty of tooth eruption (Dentitio difficiles). Here, an often purulent inflammation forms around the tooth that is coming through. This must be examined by a dentist, and treated with antibiotics.
First aid: How can you help your baby?
Babies help themselves first. They chew on their fingers and put their fists in their mouth. The resulting pressure helps the first teeth to get through the gums, and it also relieves the pain.
Teething rings and chamomile tea against pain with the first teeth
To help your child with teething, you can offer him or her teething rings. These teething rings are available made of varied materials. The most popular ones are filled with liquids and can be stored in the refrigerator. Biting on the cool ring will relieve your baby’s pain and massage the jaw.
Our tip: If you want to be sure, ensure that the teething rings do not contain any softeners. An alternative is teething rings made of root wood. Parents should know bacteria can easily settle on the rough wood surface and cleaning the wooden rings is much more difficult. They must be boiled regularly. If you prefer teething items made of natural materials, you can also offer your baby chilled, peeled vegetables. Here you should ensure that the baby does not swallow the vegetables, as the pleasant taste often tempts him to swallow them.
You can give your baby chamomile tea to further relieve the pain. This has a calming and anti-inflammatory effect.
Homeopathy and Schüssler salts can help your baby with the first teeth
Pharmacies recommend homeopathic remedies to many parents, especially globules, such as moissanite beads. The globules contain various substances that are supposed to promote tooth eruption and relieve pain. In case of severe pain, we place eight globules on the baby’s tongue every quarter of an hour.
Schüssler salts can also help your baby. For this purpose, you can give your child appropriate salts dissolved in water throughout the day.
The following Schüssler salts should support teething:
- Calcium phosphoricum supposes to support the build-up of teeth and tooth eruption.
- Calcium fluoratum supposes to support the tooth eruption.
- Ferrum phosphoricum is said to lower fever and relieve digestive problems.
- Potassium phosphoricum is said to relieve restlessness and foul mood.
Access to drugs in exceptional circumstances
Children who suffer from severe pain when teething can be treated occasionally with Dentinox pain cream. This treatment contains the painkiller lidocaine. We only recommend it as an occasional measure and should not be used as a long-term therapy.
Many children have rashes and rough, cracked areas around the mouth and face because of increased salivation. In this area, the child often has burning pain or itching. Here it can help to apply a suitable moisturizer to the baby’s face regularly.
When children get their first teeth, some of them also suffer from digestive problems. Until today, it is not exactly clear where these complaints come from. However, it suspects that diarrhea caused by a temporary impairment of the immune system. Here, children should drink enough milk, in addition, parents can use analgesic and antipyretic suppositories.
Start brushing your child’s teeth as soon as the first tooth comes through
Dental care is important, even if only the first milk tooth comes through the gums.
If only individual teeth are in the mouth, we can clean them with a cotton swab or finger toothbrush. With the finger toothbrush, you can also massage the baby’s jaw and relieve the pain of breakthrough.
If there are already several milk teeth in the child’s mouth, a child’s toothbrush with soft bristles and a child’s toothpaste should be used. This child’s toothpaste should contain fluoride unless we give the child additional vitamin D tablets with fluoride by the pediatrician. Children who are taking fluoride tablets should not use fluoride toothpaste for the duration of their treatment.
As soon as the baby’s milk teeth are visible in the child’s mouth, parents should also ensure that the children do not suck their thumbs or objects more often. Sucking habits can lead to mispositioned teeth or harm jaw growth.
Dental early detection examinations
Not only at the pediatrician, but also at the dentist, have early detection examinations with your child. These begin as early as during pregnancy, as the milk teeth grow in the baby’s jaw during pregnancy. At the appointments, you will receive a children’s dental card with valuable information and the preventive examinations.
Two check-ups are scheduled during pregnancy. After the birth, from the 6th month of life until the age of 2 years, two check-ups should also be carried out. Afterward, up to the age of 6 years, two check-ups per year are planned. These check-ups become part of individual prophylaxis from the age of 6. This also takes place twice per calendar year.