Most parents dread their infants' teething. They anticipate sleepless nights and inconsolable crying. Parents have attributed dozens of symptoms to teething including drooling, biting, fever, runny nose, congestion, ear problems, diarrhea, skin rash, and vomiting. But what if some or all of those symptoms are not part of teething? In this post, we'll take a closer look at what parents believe about teething versus what the research tells us.
Teething Basics
Teething is more formally called "tooth eruption" and occurs as infant teeth move from the jaw through the gums and become visible in the baby's mouth. While all babies are different (as we always say), babies teeth typically start showing up when the baby is about 6 or 7 months old. Most often, the first teeth to appear are in the lower front of the mouth and a full set of baby teeth may take two years to emerge. Teething, therefore, goes on for many months. Of course, those of you who are already parents know that!
The Teething Experience
While researchers associated biting, thumb sucking, and drooling with teething 30 or 40 years ago, today's parents have expanded their ideas about teething to include a wide range of concerns. In an interesting study published in Pediatrics in 2000, researchers followed a group of children aged 6 to 24 months that attended childcare settings. Each weekday, they asked parents and childcare providers about symptoms commonly believed to be associated with teething. The children's mouths were examined daily by a professional to see if any teeth had appeared. The concept was to identify which symptoms were associated with teething and which were not. What did they find? Virtually none of the common symptoms assumed by parents to be related to teething was statistically associated with tooth eruption. Interestingly, when the parents who participated in the study were asked about their children's teething symptoms, they reported many of the common symptoms even though their own records didn't support the connection. Other studies also support the view that parents are likely to assume that many symptoms of illnesses (like colds and ear infections) are related to teething.
Why Study Teething?
Clinicians and researchers are concerned that some parents might dismiss symptoms of more serious conditions (like ear infections) as teething and delay taking their babies to the doctor. Other parents might give medications to babies unnecessarily either for a few days or a few weeks. Another interesting finding is that parents in the studies often "diagnosed" teething by the symptoms rather than by tooth appearance. Young babies' behavior can be very confusing. Babies also end up catching many minor illnesses during the months in which teeth typically appear. Parents, struggling to understand what is happening with their babies may decide that "teething" must be the reason for their babies' runny noses, skin rashes, and fevers but they are likely to be wrong. Each baby will experience teething in his or her own way but the research indicates that most of the symptoms related to tooth eruption are mild and short-term. We'll talk more next time about what parents might do to "treat" their babies' teething and whether or not these "treatments" work.
