Teething is the process during which an infant’s teeth start to grow. Teething is an important event in your baby’s life. Teething can start as early as three month or as late as twelve months. Most babies usually start teething after six months. The teething process can take up to several years for all baby teeth to emerge and usually it finishes around the age of three when all the twenty primary teeth have appeared. The pattern of emergence for teething is the lower teeth will start to grow first and followed by the two front teeth within a month or two. Milk teeth tend to emerge sooner in females than in males.

In certain cases teething may appear later than the average. Nevertheless, do not worry about such situation as variation in the development of the child is perfectly normal. Teething problems occurs only when there is not enough space in the jaw for the teeth to grow correctly or when certain teeth fail to appear at all. For such special situations, consulting a doctor is an absolute must.

Many parents are getting worried about their babies during this period of life as it has been known that teething can cause all sorts of unpleasant symptoms for the babies. Babies are usually fussier during the process of teething due to soreness caused by the swelling of the gums. When the gums begin to swell, it takes between three to five days for the teeth to break through the surface of the gums. After that, the discomfort caused by teething will usually go away.

Some common teething signs may include poor mood, loss of appetite, object chewing, swelling in gums, excess salivation and a running rose. Although many babies are not affected by teething, there are cases where drooling, crying and even lack of appetite may appear in some babies. Teething has not been shown to cause fever. A slight rise of temperature may occur when the teeth come through the gum, but this does not make a baby ill.

Sometimes when the teething process causes the gums to swell seriously, the babies tend to alleviate the pain by biting on their fingers and toys as a means of relieving the pressure that affects their gums. This can be dangerous if the baby is allowed to chew on objects which are small enough to be swallowed or which could break while being chewed and cause choking. You should be looking out for such behavior and offer your child a rubber teething ring to chew. Teething rings and other toys are often designed with textures that will appeal to an infant during teething.

In cases where the infant is in obvious pain, some doctors recommend the use of anti-inflammatory or child-safe pain-relief treatments containing benzocaine. Some infants gain relief from chewing on cold objects.

Anyway, before using any type of product that relieves the discomfort of teething, it is better to speak to your doctor and ask for opinions. You can avoid many mistakes as well as reduce the risks of a child’s health. A common example here is that the administration of aspirin to children under two is not allowed as it can cause serious health problems.

Sometimes premature permanent teething could occur when a baby loses a tooth due to an accident or an injury. If a tooth loss occurs long before the growing of a permanent teeth, a dental intervention may be required. The dentist would use a spacer in the location of the lost tooth to prevent the teeth on the side to tip into the space.

In summary, teething is part of life for every babies. There is nothing to worry or scare about as a parent. As long as the baby is taken care of during the teething period, you and the baby can go thru a normal life during this period.