Teething and Fever—What’s the Connection?

Teething and Fever—What’s the Connection?

While babies usually cut their first teeth at between four and seven months of ages, some children do not get their first teeth until their first birthday or later. Crankiness, drooling and fever have long been considered traditional signs that a child is teething. But is fever connected to teething?

Recently, researchers observed a group of infants aged five to fifteen months, recording the babies’ body temperature and symptoms during the period when children typically get their baby teeth. They tracked such classic signs of teething as fever, sleep disturbance, rash, irritability, drooling, diarrhea, runny nose and loss of appetite during four time periods: the day a tooth erupted, the day before a tooth erupted, the day after a tooth erupted and all other days.

Surprisingly, on the day a tooth erupted, the children’s temperatures rose by only a few tenths of a degree. Other symptoms, including irritability, drooling, diarrhea and runny nose, appeared the day the tooth erupted but not before, meaning that it was impossible to predict when a new tooth would emerge just by reading the so-called signs.

“I've seen a lot of parents that will come in with children with fevers of 101 degrees or higher, and first thing they say is, ‘It might just be teething,’” noted Dr. Roya Samuels, a pediatrician at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York. “Teething has never been proven to be related to high-grade temperatures.”

Some babies feel the pain of teething intensely while others seem to shrug it off. To alleviate crankiness, you can give your baby a chilled (not frozen) rubber teething ring or let her chew on a clean, wet washcloth that has been cooled in the freezer for thirty minutes. If your child is having great difficulty sleeping, your pediatrician may recommend giving her acetaminophen.

An infant’s fever should not be shrugged off as “just teething.” Any fever over 100.4 degrees should be checked out by the baby’s pediatrician. It may be related to another condition and should be treated accordingly.

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Teeth Touching? Start Flossing

Teeth Touching? Start Flossing

Flossing is an important tool for children as it is with adults for preventing cavity formation between teeth, removing plaque between teeth and below the gumline before it hardens into tartar. Your child’s need to floss can start as early as age 2½.

Primary teeth often have space between them, reflecting the slow development of your child’s mouth. Eventually, as that spacing decreases, you will notice two or more of your child’s teeth touching―or at least close enough that simply brushing teeth is not enough. That’s when you need to start flossing your child’s teeth. Remember the goal is complete dental hygiene; it is vital to get all sides of the tooth―including those you can’t reach with a brush.

Your child does not and will not have the fine motor skills necessary for flossing for quite some time (usually not until age 10 or 11), so the job is up to you. Make flossing a pleasant experience and emphasize that it is part of a healthy dental routine. Use the simplest motions possible to dislodge whatever food might be stuck between the teeth.

Sometimes it is easiest to have your child lie flat with his or her head on a pillow or in your lap and say, “Open wide!” Take a piece of floss and wrap it between your middle fingers until you have about two inches of floss to work with. Place the floss around the base of the tooth near the gum in a “C” shape. Move from bottom to top two to three times, using a fresh part of the floss as you go from tooth to tooth.

As a parent, you need to set the groundwork for a healthy dental routine. Remember, including flossing in this routine is vital to your child’s oral health―you don’t want to risk any long-term dental issues. Call KiDDS Dental with any questions you may have about flossing, or bring them up at your child’s next appointment with Dr. Jared.

Give us a call at 509-891-7070 to schedule today!