What is teething?
By definition, teething is the sequential process in which an infant’s deciduous teeth appear by emerging through the gums. However, most parents like to know a great deal more about the process than a dry medical description.
Deciduous teeth are the technical name for your baby’s first set of teeth, commonly called baby teeth or milk teeth. There are 20 teeth in the deciduous set that will typically begin to emerge when your baby is between 6-9 months of age and the entire process can take as long as two to three years before all of the teeth have appeared.
However, babies have their own agenda as individuals. Even though all babies already have their milk teeth formed in the gum at the time of birth, in rare instances a baby may be born with teeth already emerged. However, most early bloomers begin teething at the age of 3.5 months and some babies may not cut any teeth until they are 15 months old.
For most babies, the normal progression is for the first tooth to emerge around the time they are 6 months old. Then by the time they are 12 months old, they will usually have 4 to 8 teeth. By the time another 6 months has flown by, they will have 12 teeth and in the next year-and-a-half, all 20 will have emerged from the gum. The baby teeth will remain in place until they start to fall out when your child is between 6 and 12 years of age. Then the permanent, or adult, teeth will emerge.
When baby’s teeth emerge, they generally appear in a certain order. They usually make their appearance in pairs and the lower pair will usually appear first, followed by the upper pair. The first pair to appear is the lower central incisors, which are the front teeth. In fact, if you run your finger over your baby’s gum, you should be able to feel the hard point of the tooth underneath your fingertip. The upper pair of front teeth, or central incisors, will be the next pair of teeth to emerge. This generally happens when your baby is between 6-10 months of age.
The second set of pairs to emerge will generally be the lateral incisors, or the teeth on either side of the front incisors. These teeth will put in appearance when the baby is 7-10 months old. Then you can expect to the first four molars to appear in pairs between the age of 12-16 months. Molars are located in the back of the mouth and are used for grinding food.
Then you can expect to see the 4 cuspids, or eyeteeth, emerge between 15-20 months. These are the sets next to the lateral incisors and may be referred to as “canine” teeth. The last set of pairs, which are called the two-year molars, make their appearance between your child’s second and third birthday.
There are a couple notes worth mentioning, especially with first-time parents. Your baby’s teeth cannot retract or move downward after they have emerged from the gum. However, it is possible for the skin of the gum to temporarily cover the tooth. Remember the tooth is not retracting because right behind the baby tooth is where the permanent tooth is forming. Another point is that white, pearly-looking bumps can appear on the roof and gum of babies and take on the appearance of emerging teeth. These bumps are called Epstein Pearls and are temporary cysts that are harmless and will disappear in time.
BUY NOW
