Teething
Teething is the time in infancy and early childhood when children
get their primary teeth.
What is going on in the body?
The age at which a child begins to get teeth can vary. The average age is
about 7 months, but some infants' teeth erupt when they are only 3 or 4 months
old. Other babies do not begin to get teeth until they are 12 months or even a
little older. Getting teeth at any of these ages is normal. Sometimes infants are born with
erupted teeth, but these are often abnormal and fall out.
What are the causes and risks of the condition?
Teething is a normal part of a child's growth and development. In
general, children follow a certain pattern of tooth eruption. In some children, teeth may erupt late,
in a different sequence, or not at all. Following are some of the conditions that affect normal tooth
eruption:
congenital conditions that affect tooth development, such as abnormal
development of the embryo known as ectodermal dysplasia
Down syndrome, a
chromosomal abnormality that causes mental retardation and physical
abnormalities, such as delayed tooth eruption
malformation syndromes, or conditions in which some teeth fail to
develop
malnutrition
progeria, a condition in which the body ages prematurely
prolonged illness
rickets, a condition of abnormal bone growth caused by a lack of vitamin D
in the diet
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