Swollen gums in a baby - ProfiMed

The timing of teething can characterize both the biological and passport age of the child. The process and timing of teething depend not only on inherited genetic parameters, that is, how they erupted in mom and dad, and even in ancestors in the seventh generation. The timing of teething can be influenced by external and internal factors. For example: climatic conditions, diet, quality of drinking water, etc. In this regard, the timing of the eruption of permanent teeth in children varies in different regions. The hotter the climate, the earlier teething usually occurs. Although this is also not an axiom.

Baby teeth usually begin to emerge at 6-8 months. A one-year-old baby, as a rule, celebrates his first birthday with four upper and lower incisors in his mouth. By the age of two, the first primary molars and canines erupt. Second primary molars appear after another six months. Complete formation of the primary dentition is usually completed at three years of age. By the age of three, a child should have grown all 20 baby teeth.

What to do if by 9 months your child has not yet erupted a single tooth? First of all, don’t worry ahead of time. Dentists consider a delay in the eruption of primary teeth within 6 months to be completely natural. However, boys tend to erupt teeth later than girls.

Start by carefully examining your baby’s gums: it is very likely that they look swollen and reddened, or, on the contrary, the gums are thin and pale, and the edge of the tooth can be felt underneath and even visible. In order to speed up teething, buy special ring toys - teething stimulators. A light massage of the gums with a clean finger is also useful. Pressure on the gums facilitates and speeds up teething, and cold reduces discomfort.

Delays in teething can be caused by general growth retardation due to a number of child diseases, primarily rickets. Consult your pediatrician: your baby may need vitamins or calcium supplements to maintain normal mineral metabolism.

In rare cases, children have edentia - the absence of tooth buds. So if your baby is over a year old and his teeth have not yet begun to emerge, you should consult a dentist. You can check the presence of tooth germs using an x-ray. X-ray irradiation may be unsafe for a child’s body, so this study should be performed only when necessary and as prescribed by a doctor. Today it is possible to reduce the harmful effects of X-rays if you take a picture using a radiovisiograph. Such equipment is usually available in every modernly equipped dental clinic.

Symptoms of teething in a child.

How to determine that a child is already cutting his first tooth? Symptoms of a baby's first teeth erupting include red, inflamed gums, burning cheeks and, possibly, an already swollen white ball from which a tooth is about to emerge. True, he can make himself wait. Before being exposed, the tooth must first pass through the bone tissue that surrounds it, and then through the mucous membrane of the gums.

Is it necessary to somehow help teething? You should not interfere with the natural course of events, because nature has provided that children’s teeth are born independently, without special external efforts or additional devices. There is no need to irritate your baby's gums by scratching them with a piece of sugar or the handle of a spoon, as was done before. This can damage delicate baby teeth and cause infection in the jaw bone. Be careful with bagels, bread crusts, bagels: their crumbs can get stuck in the respiratory tract.

During a person’s life, 20 teeth change once, and the remaining 12 teeth do not change; they erupt initially as permanent teeth (molars).

Teething. First (medial) lower incisors - 6-9 months. First (medial) upper incisors - 7-10 months. Second (lateral) upper incisors - 9-12 months. Second (lateral) lower incisors - 9-12 months. First upper molars - 12-18 months. First lower molars - 13-19 months. Upper canines - 16-20 months. Lower canines - 17-22 months. Second lower molars - 20-33 months. Second upper molars - 24-36 months.

These tables are approximate. According to statistics, the first tooth in modern infants appears on average only at 8 and a half months. Thus, the timing of the eruption of other teeth is shifted. Dentists believe that the later the first tooth erupts, the later the baby teeth will begin to fall out and this is undoubtedly good. However, before the baby is one year old, at least one tooth must appear, otherwise the causes should be looked for in some diseases, for example, rickets. The first tooth can be paired with the second, and the same is true with subsequent teeth. It happens that a baby has 4 teeth at once. Naturally, such “massive” growth of teeth affects the timing of teething. The situation is also uncertain with the order in which teeth appear; you simply cannot influence this, so “don’t worry in vain,” because everything goes as nature intended.

By the age of three, all baby teeth erupt in a child, which by the age of 5 begin to gradually be replaced by permanent ones.

There are 20 primary teeth in total: on each jaw there are 4 incisors (4 central teeth), 2 canines (third teeth) and 4 molars (fourth and fifth teeth).

By the age of 10-12 years there are 28 teeth.

An adult normally has 28-32 permanent teeth: each jaw has 4 incisors, 2 canines, 4 premolars and 4-6 molars. The development of the third molar (“wisdom tooth”) may not occur at all, with congenital edentia of the third molars, which is also considered normal. Another situation is also possible: a wisdom tooth is embedded in the thickness of the jaw, but does not erupt due to incorrect position or lack of space in the jaw. This situation occurs very often.

After all the baby teeth have erupted, there are no gaps (gaps, gaps) between them, which is normal. But as the jaw grows, before the baby teeth are replaced by permanent ones, gaps should appear between the baby teeth. This process is necessary because permanent teeth are larger in size than baby teeth and if spaces are not formed, then the permanent teeth do not fit in the jaws and the child receives “crooked” permanent teeth.

In parallel with the formation of spaces between temporary teeth, the roots of baby teeth are “reabsorbed”, after which the teeth alternately become loose and fall out. Nowadays there is even a fashion to buy a box made of gold or silver to store the first teeth.

There is no general opinion about the normal timing of teething, since scientific studies by different authors were carried out in different regions and in different years of the last and present century.

What are the causes of swollen gums in an infant?

Swollen gums in infants are most often observed during the appearance of milk jugs. How does the process proceed, what symptoms accompany it, and how to distinguish normal from alarming symptoms?

What should your gums look like?
FAQ
Atypical situations
Useful tips for parents

Gums change as follows:

Beginning of mineralization

The temporary teeth of the fetus are mineralized in the second half of intrauterine development. At six months of age, with the introduction of complementary foods, permanent teeth 1, 3, 6 appear.

The average time for mineralization of the first premolars is 2-2.5 years, the second premolars and molars are 2.5-3.5 years, and from the age of 8 the third molars are mineralized.

Why is this happening?

If a child has swollen gums, there may be several reasons for this phenomenon. First of all, parents should understand the difference between swollen and swollen tissues.

The phenomena are caused by various factors. The gums swell as a result of teething, and the soft tissues swell due to the development of infection.

Main reasons:

Inflammation of the gums in an infant as a result of the eruption of the first set of teeth. Starting from 3 months, the baby's soft tissues swell. On average, teething occurs at six months of age. In addition to the fact that the gums may periodically become inflamed, there is increased salivation, restless behavior, sometimes diarrhea and fever.
Caries quite often affects baby teeth. A feature of the course of the disease at an early age is the fact that it can quickly progress, affecting the pulp and root. Most often, the disease affects young patients whose diet is rich in carbohydrates, and who pay insufficient attention to hygienic procedures. Until now, many parents believe that it is not necessary to treat baby teeth, because they will soon fall out anyway. This is a wrong opinion. Advanced caries causes infection to penetrate into the stabilizing system of the unit. As a result, complications develop (periodontitis, granuloma, cyst), accompanied by inflammation of the child’s gums. Purulent contents accumulate in the infectious focus. As a result, it breaks through the gum tissue, forming a fistulous tract.
The mucous membrane becomes inflamed as a result of the development of gingivitis. The disease is most often diagnosed at the age of 5–6 years. Symptoms of the disease are increased bleeding (during hygiene procedures or eating), pain, and unpleasant odor from the mouth.
Soft tissue injury . Redness and swelling may indicate that on the eve of these events the integrity of the mucous membrane was damaged (burn, injury with a sharp object or solid food).
Tooth amputation . For some time, slight swelling of the tissues is considered a normal reaction of the body. A cause for concern is the increase in hyperemia every day and the addition of other unpleasant symptoms. Read more about removing baby teeth→
Eruption of wisdom teeth . These molars begin to appear as early as adolescence. Most often, their growth is accompanied by pain and swelling.
With a deficiency of vitamin C. The gum tissue increases in size and looks loose.

The child is teething. If it hurts a lot...

Teething may be accompanied by increased excitability: the child becomes restless, capricious, often wakes up crying at night, and may refuse to eat. At the same time, the baby puts any object in his mouth, since chewing reduces the itching of irritated gums. The secretion of saliva is sharply increased, which, flowing from the mouth, can cause skin irritation. Often, a limited area of redness or rash appears on the cheek on the side of the erupting tooth. The child's temperature may rise to subfebrile levels (within 37.8°). However, fever does not necessarily accompany teething.

During teething, one or another infection may develop. Therefore, if your baby develops symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, ear pain, diarrhea, cough, rash, persistent loss of appetite or high fever, you should consult a doctor.

What remedies relieve pain? The simplest thing is cold. Cold relieves pain and reduces swelling. If this does not help, you can use dental gel or ointment containing anti-inflammatory and pain relievers to lubricate the gums. If necessary, you can give your child a pain reliever. Any medications should be used only as prescribed by a doctor.

How to understand that these symptoms are due to teeth?

The fact is that when the gums swell, they provoke inflammation . The body produces antibodies and this can even cause a fever. That is, there is resistance to the disease. But, in any case, you should always call a doctor to make sure that it is not a virus or a problem of another origin. After all, when teething, the child’s immunity decreases, this is a well-known fact.

This is a difficult and nervous period for the whole family. For many children and parents, teething comes with problems. But there are also those who don’t even notice their appearance. Even if there is no fever or other symptoms similar to the disease, it is usually immediately clear that the gums are swollen. The child becomes capricious, nervous, loses appetite, becomes whiny and rubs his face all the time. The most obvious sign is, of course, excessive salivation. There is no doubt left here.

To alleviate pain and itching, you can give your baby special teethers to chew on. It's better when they're cold. To do this, you can simply put one in the refrigerator for an hour.

The baby puts everything in his mouth. He needs to be distracted from the pain all the time. You can buy special gels to relieve pain; they have a cooling and kind of freezing effect. It also helps a lot to massage your gums. This can be done with a clean finger wrapped in a clean napkin or cloth. Like rubbing a sore spot.

Many begin to painfully bite their mother during feeding. You just need to say several times that you can’t do this. Over time, the child will understand. But in this way he simply calms himself down. During teething, when the gums swell, the child needs increased attention and love from his parents. We need to feel more sorry for him and calm him down. One should not think that this will spoil and spoil his character, because a bad mood and endless tears bring much more harm.

Often, due to swollen gums, another symptom is added in the form of diarrhea and fever. This may be due to a decrease in the body's natural defenses. A temperature of up to 39 degrees for two days can be considered normal in this situation . But before giving antipyretics, you should consult your doctor.

Diarrhea may also be due to the fact that the body secretes a lot of saliva and the child swallows it more than usual, which speeds up the processes in the intestines. But in this case, this phenomenon will occur no more than 2-3 times a day for up to three days. If more, then you need to see a doctor.

A runny nose and even a cough often occur. This happens because there is too much saliva and mucus in the mouth. But all this should be no more than 2-3 days due to teeth. Otherwise, it’s already a cold. Sometimes the gums swell at a very early age, when it seems that it is too early for teeth to erupt. But that's just how it seems.

Firstly, swollen gums do not mean that the tooth will definitely come soon. It can swell even a couple of months before the tooth itself erupts. This could be preparation, walking paths. It often happens that all the symptoms are on the face, saliva flows like a river, the gums are huge, but there is no tooth. And this can continue for several months.

Secondly, there is no strict time frame for teething. This can happen at 6 months. Or maybe at 1 year. And in rare cases it happens at 2 months. There are also unique facts when a child is born with several teeth. All these are variants of the norm. The child does not have to meet the standards, everything is individual.

What to do if teeth erupt at the wrong time?

Nothing to do. There is no clear concept of “late teething”, or rather “teething dates” are relative, generally accepted terms, and not strict data. These terms are determined by average values and depend on neonatal (how the birth went) indicators, physical constitution, individual characteristics of the baby, etc. So, no matter what time teeth erupt, this period is normal for this child. By the way, the same applies to the eruption of permanent teeth and wisdom teeth. Only in rare cases of obvious pathologies can the timing of eruption really be abnormal.

Top 12 Teething Gels

It's 2020, modern medicine does not stand still. Many solutions and gels have been developed to alleviate the symptoms of pecking incisors.

In addition to topical medications, you can also use complex pain relievers. For example, Nurofen for children, Cefekon D, etc.

Kamistad gel baby

Produced in the form of a gel. Active ingredients: polidocanol, chamomile. The first substance has a cooling effect, the plant stops the inflammatory process and soothes the gums. Before use, wash your hands thoroughly and squeeze a pea-sized amount of gel onto your finger and apply to your gums.

It has no contraindications, with the exception of intolerance to the constituent components.

Dentol Baby

The gel contains benzocaine, which has an analgesic effect. The drug begins to act instantly. The medicine must be used according to the instructions, otherwise the following undesirable reactions can be provoked:

angioedema;
convulsions;
nausea and vomiting;
burning;
hyperthermia.

Use the drug after a doctor's prescription.

Dentol Baby is also used for pain in adult patients.

Holisal

Available in the form of a gel for teething gums in babies. The ingredients include choline and cetalkonium chloride. These substances stop inflammation and cool.

The drug is used up to 3 times in 24 hours. After use, do not drink or eat for at least 60 minutes. The gel is applied in a thin layer of 0.5 cm to the gums with massage movements.

It is advisable that the last use of Cholisal be before bedtime.

Baby Doctor "First Teeth"

The gel is created from plant extracts, therefore it has no restrictions on use, except for intolerance to the constituent components. Has anti-inflammatory, anesthetic, antibacterial effects. The drug has no taste or smell, so there will be no problems when using it.

It has a local effect and has a low absorption rate, so it does not negatively affect internal organs.

Kalgel

Dentokind

Produced in the form of lozenges. When the child is small and does not know how to control this process, Dentokind can be dissolved in water. The dosage depends on age and is indicated in the annotation. Give up to 6 tablets per day.

If within 48 hours the medicine does not produce results, the temperature rises, you should stop taking it.

Pansoral “First Teeth”

Available in the form of a gel, applied in a thin layer of 0.5-1 cm to the gums. It belongs to homeopathic medicines and relieves unpleasant symptoms within a quarter of an hour after use. Use up to 3 times a day for a maximum of 5 days. If after using Pansoral the effect is not observed even after 48 hours, you need to choose another drug.

How to make teething easier?

The teething process can be made a little easier using several methods. All of them are used after consultation with a pediatrician. These methods include:

Application of local anesthetic gels.
Teethers are special toys for children filled with water. Cool and massage the gums.
Taking antipyretic and anti-inflammatory drugs: ibuprofen, paracetamol.
Massage. A sterile bandage is wrapped around the finger and the erupting tooth is gently massaged.

Give your baby a teether, it will help him relieve pain and itching.
Important! Traditional medicine relieves swelling well: decoctions of chamomile, mint, sage, lemon balm. They wipe the baby's gums. Herbal infusions can be replaced with soda solution.

Teething is a difficult period for a child. At this time, it is important to monitor the slightest changes in the baby’s well-being. The baby’s condition can be alleviated with special gels, teethers, and homeopathic remedies.

Recommendations for parents

Teething causes discomfort not only for the baby, but also for parents who want to ease the child’s well-being.

To reduce disturbing symptoms, you can use:

drugs that have analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects;

teethers , accelerating the appearance of the baby tooth on the surface. These are toys that contain gel or water inside.

The child will chew on the teethers and eliminate itching and soreness in the gum area;

antipyretics for gums, which are given when the temperature rises during teething.

Immediately before taking any medications, consult your pediatrician to rule out intolerance to the components of the substance;

traditional medicine (use mint, chamomile, lemon balm, lavender, sage).

Medicinal plants have an anti-inflammatory effect, and decoctions based on them can be used to treat gums with signs of inflammation.

Complications for which you should not hesitate to visit a doctor include the formation of large hematomas, an increase in temperature above 38 degrees, the formation of ulcers, frequent bouts of vomiting or stool disorders, severe cough or the appearance of a runny nose, accompanied by greenish mucus discharge.

What do gums look like when teething?

By the time the baby is born, the crowns of all his baby teeth are fully formed and are located deep in the alveolar processes of the upper and lower jaw. The process of eruption is a kind of increase in their volume with gradual pushing out.

At the same time, they first overcome the resistance of bone tissue, and then the soft mucous membrane. It is at this time that the gums swell during teething, itching and pain appear at the site of their growth.

What do gums look like before teething? In normal condition, they are pale pink in color for infants. There are no changes (swelling, lumpiness, bleeding, plaque).

In most cases, the eruption picture looks like this:

During teething in infants, the gums first become loose, a slight bumpiness and redness of the mucous membrane appears. The baby becomes restless, sleeps poorly and refuses to eat. In some cases, external manifestations may be absent - it all depends on the pain threshold and the degree of discomfort in the oral cavity.
After a certain period of time, swollen gums become more sensitive during teething, a slight hemorrhage appears, and then a small wound forms at the site of growth and the tip of the tooth crown appears.

A small bruise on the gum during teething is not a reason to panic. In most cases, this phenomenon goes away completely as soon as the baby’s tooth approaches the surface of the tissue.

Useful video: what should you avoid scratching your gums when teething?

mama66 /child/sostoyanie-desen-pri-prorezyvanii-zubov-u-grudnichka-norma-i-pathologiya" mama66

Eruption of baby teeth.

There are no exact dates for the eruption of baby teeth - they vary depending on the genetic factor, climatic conditions, the course of the mother's pregnancy and the child's nutrition. According to many pediatricians, formula-fed children begin to erupt teeth earlier than infants. In most infants, the eruption of the first tooth occurs at the age of 6 months, but this is not a mandatory rule and does not in any way characterize the child’s health status. Recently, cases of children being born with already erupted teeth are becoming more and more common, and there are also babies whose teeth begin to make themselves felt after the child turns one year old. Both options are not signs of deviations and do not provide any information about the further development of the child.

Advice from Dr. Komarovsky

During this period, it is important to ensure peace for the baby . It is worth temporarily avoiding visiting noisy companies, traveling, and stress, which can aggravate the process.

Vomiting and regurgitation should not be frequent companions. Their appearance is acceptable at high temperatures, but the baby should be shown to a doctor.

To massage the gums, you can use a moistened, rough cloth, or do it with a massage toothbrush. It is important to perform the procedure carefully, without damaging the child’s mucous membranes.

About children's first teeth:

Now you know what gums look like when the first teeth erupt (see photo), how gums swell and swell and why.

Most often, the eruption of baby teeth occurs without serious complications . Parents are required to carefully monitor the condition of the baby’s oral cavity in order to promptly identify and prevent the development of dangerous pathologies.