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PEDODONTICS

Something to relieve the pain

If nothing else works, paracetamol will make your job easier. Consult your doctor for dose adjustment. Do not apply anything else to your baby's gums unless your doctor recommends it. This includes alcoholic beverages.

Teeth have an important place in the general health of children. Since they are developing in all respects, they need good nutrition and therefore healthy teeth. Advanced caries and poor oral hygiene cause dental inflammation in children; This can lead to results such as fatigue and fever.

Baby teeth: Baby starts teething from the 6th month. The lower milk incisors usually erupt first. The eruption period of milk teeth is completed between 18 – 30 months. When all the teeth are erupted, the child has a total of 20 milk teeth in his mouth.

Permanent teeth: Permanent dentition in children begins with the first molar tooth from the age of 6 years. This tooth erupts behind the rearmost primary molar, and is often neglected by parents, assuming it is a primary tooth. That's why there are early losses. The permanent dentition period is completed when the wisdom teeth erupt.

Teething in Children

When Do Teeth Come Out?

On average, the first tooth appears in the middle of the 7th month. However, sometimes the first tooth emerges early in the third month, and sometimes it can hang in the twelfth month or even later. The eruption of teeth usually follows hereditary order, so if you or your partner's teeth erupted early, your baby is likely to do the same. In the figure below, you can see the average eruption times of milk teeth.

What Happens When Teeth Come Out?

Teething symptoms may appear two to three months before the teeth themselves. These symptoms vary from child to child, and in fact opinions about what they are and how painful they are also vary from doctor to doctor. However, it is generally accepted that a teething baby may experience the following:

drool

Many babies drool starting around two and a half to three months old. Teething increases this more in some babies than in others.

Redness of the chin or face

It is not surprising that in a baby who drools a lot, redness or cracks occur on the skin due to the irritation caused by the constant contact of saliva on the chin and around the mouth. To prevent this, gently wipe the saliva periodically throughout the day, and place a towel under the bed sheet to absorb the saliva while your baby is sleeping. When the skin becomes dry, keep the area constantly moist with a soft skin cream.

mild cough

Excessive saliva can cause the baby to choke and cough from time to time. If your baby is not showing signs of a cold, flu or allergy, there is nothing to worry about. It is common for infants to continue coughing to gain attention or enrich their vocal repertoire.

Bite

A bite in this case is not a sign of hostility. A teething baby tries to soothe his gums by putting anything he can get into his mouth, whether it's his own hand, his mother's breast, a stranger's finger.

ache

Under the pressure of an erupting tooth, inflammation develops in the gingiva. While this may cause unbearable pain in some babies, it may not cause any problems in others. The first teeth and molars are the teeth that cause the most trouble when they come out.

Unrest

As the inflammation increases and the sharp tooth approaches the surface, the pain in the baby's gums may become constant. Like anyone with chronic pain, he can be distressed and distracted from his normal self. This restlessness can sometimes last for weeks.

Refusal to feed

A teething baby may refuse to feed. A baby who has started solid foods may lose interest in these foods for a while. However, this should not worry you. Because your baby gets the necessary nutrients from liquid foods and his appetite will come back after the tooth comes out.

Diarrhea

The relevance of this to teething is very doubtful. Some mothers say their baby has diarrhea every time they teethe. Some doctors think there is a correlation between teething and bowel movements, most likely due to increased salivation. Some doctors do not want to admit that there is such a correlation ; perhaps because mothers fear that by attributing every diarrhea to teething, significant gastrointestinal disorders may be overlooked. Know that your baby's stool may be watery during teething, but be sure to report diarrhea that lasts longer than two stools to your doctor.

Fire

Fever, like diarrhea, is a symptom that doctors are hesitant to be associated with teething. A fever below 38°C may accompany teething due to inflammation of the gums. However, if your baby has a fever, do what you do at other times and let your doctor know if it doesn't subside in two days.

Insomnia

Gingival hematoma

Sometimes an erupted tooth can cause bleeding in the gums, which is seen as a bluish stain. There is no need to worry about these hematomas and they resolve on their own without medical intervention. A cold compress can reduce pain and speed healing.

Ear pulling, cheek scratching

Pain in the gums may radiate to the ear and cheek along the nerve pathways. It is important to remember that babies also pull their ears when they have an ear infection. See your doctor if you suspect an ear infection, even if your baby is teething.

What to Do When Teething?

There are dozens of tried-and-true treatments. Some work, some don't. You can try some of the following

Giving something to chew

Here, it is aimed to relieve the pressure on the gums rather than the nutritional value. For this reason, if the chewed thing is cold, its benefit increases. A frozen donut, a cold banana, or carrot, a piece of ice wrapped in cheesecloth, a rubber tooth ring. Whatever you give your baby to chew, always be with him and ensure that he is in a sitting position.

Things he can scratch his teeth at

Some babies may object because of the initial pain. But after a while, the pain gives way to relief.

Cold drinks

Give your baby a bottle of cold water. If she refuses the bottle, try giving it with a glass. In this way, you will also meet your baby's water needs and replace the fluid lost with diarrhea or increased salivation.

cold foods

Refrigerated peach puree, applesauce, yoghurt may appeal to your baby more than room temperature food.

CARE AND PROTECTION OF THE TEETH

Care of the teeth should be given the necessary care starting from the milk dentition period. It is wrong to neglect the care and treatment of milk teeth by thinking that "it will change anyway". When necessary, filling and other treatments of milk teeth prevent premature loss of this tooth.

Teeth should be brushed for two minutes at least twice a day. It is very important to brush your teeth, especially before going to bed at night. During sleep, the amount of saliva secretion is minimized, so the ability of saliva to wash and clean the surface of the teeth decreases. Therefore, the number of bacteria in the environment and, in parallel, the acid environment in the mouth increases. This causes tooth decay.

Another way to protect milk teeth against caries is to cover the chewing surfaces of deeply recessed milk and permanent molars, which are prone to caries, with fissure sealants by the dentist. Fissure sealants release fluorine into the environment they are in. Thus, more caries-resistant surfaces are formed. Since it is very easy to apply, it is the easiest method for children to meet the dentist. Since the areas that are difficult to clean will be closed, the risk of caries formation will be minimized.

In order for the child to have good oral health in the future, the dentist and the family must work together.