By the first year, most babies have eight complete baby teeth, the front incisors. Although it is quite common for children to have late teething. This is not a pathology, it’s just inherent at the genetic level.
Even if a child is a year old and still has no teeth (it happens with every 2000 thousand or so children), do not despair. As a rule, by the age of 3, maximum 3.5, all the baby teeth will have erupted. And if some of your baby teeth are missing, or not positioned correctly – consult an orthodontic dentist at our clinic. The specialist will determine the cause of this anomaly and prescribe appropriate treatment so that the permanent teeth will erupt on time and in full. In this article we answer the most common questions parents have about baby teeth up to 3 years old.
Teething children often raise a lot of questions for parents. As a rule, during teething babies experience discomfort, which greatly affects the child’s nervous system and makes parents quite anxious. In our article we will look at the order, symptoms and complications of teething.
Normal teething in children
In what order do children’s teeth erupt? Typically, this is the following order of growth of baby teeth:
- The first two lower central incisors – 6-8 months
- The first two upper central incisors at about 8 months
- First two upper lateral incisors – 8 to 12 months
- First two lower lateral incisors at 10-12 months
- First four chewing teeth 14-20 months
- First four canines 18-24 months
- Second four chewing teeth – 2-3 years
It also happens very late teething – about a year, or even later. This is especially common in premature babies. If you are concerned about this situation, make an appointment with our specialists – he will examine everything and dispel your fears or prescribe treatment if necessary.
How to see if a baby is teething. It’s very simple. Ideally, from the first days of life, the mother should regularly clean and massage the gums with a special nozzle or just a moistened gauze swab on her finger. In this case, mom will immediately notice changes with the gums – they swell, slightly redden. Although often it’s even a month and a half or two months from the time of swelling to the appearance of the long-awaited tooth! Just before a tooth emerges, a so-called “teething cyst” may appear (but not necessarily!) – a bump above the growing tooth, with transparent, bluish-colored fluid.
This is quite normal, the cyst independently resorbed after teething gums and does not require any treatment. Immediately during the teething period, the baby’s gums itch and saliva is strongly released. There may be a fever and other body reactions, which we have described in detail in the special articles. You should be careful and differentiate between the swelling of the gums during tooth growth and the manifestation of stomatitis. To make sure that the tooth is already born, just lightly tap with a coffee spoon on the gum – you will hear a characteristic thump.
How old are babies’ teeth until they emerge? Milk teeth, 20 in number, are usually all in place by the age of 3. The norm is +/- 4 months.
Temperatures during the eruption of molars in children – happens much more often than during the eruption of the first teeth up to a year. In general, the eruption of molar teeth is longer, more painful and uncomfortable for the baby due to the large area of the tooth.
How to Determine Delayed Teething
If a child is 1.5 years old and still does not have any teeth, it is a good reason to visit a dental clinic for a consultation.
The normal age of the first teeth in the mouth is from 4 to 16 months, and subsequent teeth appear gradually after the first.
Permanent teeth begin to grow by the age of 6-7 years.
A slight discrepancy with the set time frame is not a reason to raise the alarm, but the complete absence of teeth in a child should be a cause for concern.
Types of delay in teething
Difference from the statistical average by more than six months in the eruption of baby teeth is considered a delay.
Delayed from the average timing of the appearance of permanent teeth should not be more than a year. There are two types of late teething.
- Late formation of the dental follicle. In this situation, the relationship between the development of the tooth and its appearance in the mouth is observed, but both processes are slower than they should be.
- Late eruption. In this kind of development, the tooth is fully formed, it grows a root, but the tooth unit cannot erupt. Fully formed teeth remain in the bone – retained. They may be completely under the gum or partially visible from under it.
Before you can worry about delayed eruption, you need to diagnose the presence of a tooth bud in the bone. This is done by taking a panoramic picture, which allows you to distinguish between the complete absence of an embryo and the delayed formation.
Causes of delayed eruption
There are many reasons that can contribute to teething delays.
- Hereditary factor. If parents have teething later than other children, this symptom may be seen in their children as well.
- Prematurity or low birth weight of the infant.
- Illnesses of the expectant mother during pregnancy, trauma during childbirth, and the baby’s illness in the first few months after birth.
The factors listed above have the most effect on the timing of eruption, as well as the quality of the formation of dental units.
Other causes include:
- Violations in the child’s diet;
- lack of certain vitamins and minerals;
- hypothyroidism;
- rickets and its consequences.
It should also be borne in mind that girls are ahead of boys in development, and therefore their teeth appear earlier.
What does the timing depend on?
The timing of the formation of both temporary and permanent dental units in children can be compared with certain phenomena.
- Gender. Girls have all but the first upper chewing tooth erupt earlier than boys.
- Jaws. Teeth on the lower jaw appear faster than those on the upper jaw.
- Location of teeth. Molars and premolars most often erupt with a delay.
- Bite. Delay is much less common in the deciduous bite than in the permanent bite.
- Population. Scientists have found that people who live in different countries have different timing of tooth emergence. For example, in Europeans, delayed teething is quite common.
- Climatic conditions. In warm climates, teeth erupt faster than in cold climates.
- Level of urbanization. Urban dwellers have faster tooth emergence than those in rural areas.
- New generation. Recent generations are more likely to experience an anomaly in the eruption of wisdom teeth and canines on the upper jaw. Scientists attribute this phenomenon to the evolution of humans as a species and the lack of space due to a decrease in overall jaw size.
It should be noted that the quality of nutrition, hygienic conditions and pathological conditions of the child (rickets, hypovitaminosis, intoxication, oxygen deprivation, the nature of feeding, etc.) significantly affect the process of teething. For example, chaotic teething with violations of the time gaps between groups of teeth, delayed eruption may be a manifestation of such pathology as rickets.
Adverse effects of baby teething
Temporary teeth are not eternal, that’s why they are called that. As the child grows and develops, after a certain period of time, all of the baby 20 teeth will change. As an exception, individuals do not change their baby teeth, even when they are older (most often because there are no permanent teeth to speak of).
During the eruption of temporary teeth, the child is in a state of “stress” and may often show general somatic disorders. The first signs of teething, and often the main ones, are the appearance of swelling of the mucous membrane of the gums in the projection of the erupting teeth, profuse salivation and a child may be irritable and tearful. The eruption of the central teeth most often occurs without any manifestations, except for swollen gums and profuse salivation. With the eruption of the chewing group of teeth and the involvement of a large area of the gum mucosa, a secondary infection may occur if the child’s resistance is reduced. Symptoms such as fever, stool disorders, redness of the mucous membrane of the gums in the mouth, loss of appetite, to relieve annoying itching child begins to “drag” in his mouth fingers, various objects (toys, sucks the edge of clothing, blankets) to scratch the gum, thereby damaging and infecting the mucous membrane. This can manifest itself as an erosive rash. And aggravate this condition.
How to help a baby with teething
To relieve gum itching in a child, you can recommend chewing solid vegetables or fruit (peeled apples, carrots), crusts of bread. It is a good idea to massage the gums with special teething rings or toothbrushes (silicone or baby’s toothbrush with soft bristles). Some rings can be pre-cooled, but you should carefully inspect these devices, buy them in special places, so as to avoid fake not certified goods and subsequently not to harm the health of the baby, so that the child does not hurt himself. When the temperature rises, you can give antipyretics. To reduce the sensitivity of mucous membranes and reduce pain in pharmacies, manufacturers of pharmaceutical companies offer special analgesic gels for local use. But we recommend you use these drugs only by prescription, so as not to cause allergies in your baby and not to miss more severe complications. Contact a specialist pediatric dentist, who will examine you and give you a qualified appointment to improve your baby’s well-being.
Changing temporary teeth
Permanent teeth most often appear at the age of 5.5-7 years. Their eruption occurs in much the same sequence as the temporary teeth. The first to emerge are the lower central incisors, then the upper central incisors, and parallel to – or sometimes even earlier than – the first large molars (the first molars, or numbered as the “sixth”). They should last your child a lifetime. Parents mistake them for temporary teeth, which is misleading especially if there is no or poor oral hygiene and this group of teeth is affected. This can lead to disastrous results – tooth loss. But this group of teeth, the “first molars” are fundamental in the formation of proper bite, they are also called the key occlusion. Permanent “young” teeth are shaped differently from more mature teeth. The cusps and incisal edge of the crowns are more pronounced, especially the incisal edges of the central teeth have a festoon (wavy edge), the size of the permanent tooth is different from the temporary tooth, it is larger. Some parents are concerned about this fact, to which we answer, there are no reasons to worry, just in a year after the eruption of enamel edge will be leveled, it will be flat. And about the size of the crowns of the teeth, while the child is small (the appearance of the first permanent teeth – 5,5-6 years) relative to the facial skeleton, there is some disproportion as growth and development of the facial bones comes a harmonious relationship of the face to the teeth.
Is late teething dangerous?
Late teething itself is not a problem. However, late teething can cause problems later in life. Studies show that people who inherited late teething by age thirty were 35% more likely to need orthodontic treatment.
Also, milk teeth contribute to the proper eruption of permanent teeth in the mouth, which is very important in the formation of a proper bite.