The rudiments of milk teeth are formed in a child in the womb — at the 6th week of pregnancy. But the process of eruption normally begins at 3-7 months of life. You can understand the surprise of parents, and sometimes medical staff, when a newborn is born with one or even several teeth at once. What is it — pathology, a joke of nature, a cause for concern? And anyway, does this really happen? We are dealing with a specialist.
One in a thousand
Cases when a baby is born with already erupted teeth — as a rule, these are incisors — do occur in medical practice, although quite rarely. They are found mainly in girls.
Such teeth are called natal. They may not have fully erupted yet and are only being felt, or they may manifest themselves completely. Most of them have no root or it is poorly developed, very fragile, unstable. They can occupy a normal position or be displaced — cross the gum, form an additional dentition, which prevents the formation of milk and permanent teeth. It can also affect the development of the jaw apparatus and facial bones. Natal teeth can cause discomfort to both the baby and the mother, in particular during feeding.
Sometimes natal teeth can be associated with developmental abnormalities, but these are extremely rare cases.
Why is a baby born with teeth?
As a rule, the reason is that the rudiments of the teeth were located too close to the gums — the so-called surface location, due to which the eruption occurs prematurely.
Since the phenomenon is not particularly common, its nature has not yet been fully studied. Most often , 4 more reasons are considered:
genetic predisposition,
complications during pregnancy,
excess calcium in the diet of the expectant mother,
hormonal failures.
tooth extraction in a child
Do we need to remove natal teeth?
What should parents do? First of all, it is necessary to show the baby to the dentist. It is not at all necessary that a child born with teeth will have any problems in the future. But this is still a pathology, so it’s better to keep the situation under control.
Whether it is necessary to remove such teeth — the question is decided on an individual basis.
If possible, the tooth should be preserved, the removal process is a trauma for the child, and the operation is quite painful. Now there are silicone breast pads that prevent tissue damage during feeding. Please note — this tooth also needs to be cleaned. Special finger pads will help in this.
Most likely, it will not be possible to do without deletion if:
they are abnormally located — for example, they form a second row. This can affect the formation of milk, and in the future permanent teeth, lead to problems with the bite.
teeth can damage or injure the oral cavity or cause pain to the child — they have sharp edges, are too fragile and can crumble, not fully erupted.
In addition to natal teeth, the doctor should examine the entire cavity and make sure that there are no deformities of the jaw, pathology of the palate. In some cases, an X-ray and consultation with a specialized specialist may be required.
It is important to be monitored periodically at the dentist — if problems with the bite still appear, for example, it will be possible to take measures in time.
