Pediatric Dentistry 
Double Tooth Photos(0)
Since starting Oral Answers, many people frequently email me photos that would be useful to share with everyone here on Oral Answers to illustrate a particular dental condition. Since many parents end up coming to Oral Answers via the page on double teeth, I thought it would be appropriate to start a collection of double [...]
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Teething Baby Pictures
One of the most frequently read articles on Oral Answers over the past year is an article that I wrote back in January called What A Baby’s Gums Look Like While Teething. That article only showed pictures of the two lower teeth coming in. I figured that it would also be helpful to show what [...]
False Teething Symptoms: 10 Symptoms Teething Doesn’t Cause
In a paper presented over 100 years ago (1896) at a meeting of the American medical Association, Dr. S.W. Foster said the following about teething: “The [teething] child becomes wakeful, restless, and fretful, refuses nourishment; the alimentary canal becomes more active, diarrhea follows, and if relief is not given, relaxation of the vital forces follows, [...]
Should Pregnant Women Take Fluoride Supplements?
Fifty years ago you could have walked into a pharmacy and seen fluoride drops that were specifically targeted toward pregnant women. The packages claimed that fluoride drops, when taken during pregnancy would help keep their children cavity-free. That all changed on October 20, 1966 when the FDA cracked down on the fluoride supplement makers. They [...]
Six Names for Baby Teeth and Their Meanings
Dentists often use many different words that all refer to the same thing. Dentists say calculus when they mean tartar and radiographs when they really mean to say x-rays. One interesting group of synonyms like this are used to describe a child’s first set of teeth. Here are six different names that are all used to describe our [...]
How Much Does the Tooth Fairy Pay Per Tooth?
Gone are the good old days of lost tooth lore when all that children wanted in exchange for their lost baby tooth was a healthy permanent tooth. Nowadays, kids are demanding more and more from the tooth fairy. Many parents want to know how much the tooth fairy pays. Personally, I’m not sure that it’s [...]
When Your Baby Is Born With Teeth: Natal Teeth
Many hundreds of years ago, babies that were born with teeth would be tragically put to death because they were thought to be demons. Fortunately, that doesn’t occur today. In fact, parents may be happy to find that their child is born with some teeth because it means that their baby has to experience teething [...]
Extra Tooth: Mesiodens and Other Supernumerary Teeth
Has your child ever come up to you and told you that they have an extra tooth growing out of their upper jaw behind their permanent teeth? It’s probably more likely that you’ve been told that your child has an extra tooth, or supernumerary tooth (we try to make up complicated words!) as dentists like [...]
Can Baby Orajel Cause Methemoglobinemia In Your Teething Baby?
Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to an upset teething baby. You stick some Orajel in the baby’s mouth and go back to bed for some sleep. The next morning, you realize that your baby isn’t breathing. Although rare, this can happen. Last month, the FDA spoke out about a certain complication [...]
Eight Natural Teething Remedies to Help Your Teething Baby
Many parents aren’t comfortable giving their little teething babies teething gel, especially when they hear about the rare, but serious side effects that can occur. Back before teething gels were invented, many parents used natural methods to calm their teething babies. Fortunately, for those parents that don’t want to give their teething babies drugs, there [...]
How Mamelons Look As They Get Worn Away
Last July, I wrote an article describing mamelons, which are the tiny bumps that appear on the edges of newly erupted permanent front teeth. If you missed that article, you can read it here: Mamelons, the Bumps On Your Child’s Permanent Teeth. As we get older, our mamelons will naturally wear off if our teeth [...]
At What Age Can Kids Brush Their Own Teeth?
Have you ever heard any of the following quotes regarding the age that kids should start brushing their teeth by themselves? “My daughter could brush all by herself when she turned two years old!” “Kids can brush alone when they can cut through a thick New York strip steak without any help.” “They can brush [...]
Teething Biscuits – A Natural Way to Calm Your Teething Baby
Many parents are looking for a way to help soothe their teething baby that doesn’t involve smearing a numbing gel such as Orajel on their gums. Teething biscuits are just one of many alternatives and have been around for quite some time. Does Your Teething Baby Need Teething Biscuits? The short answer to this question [...]
Cavities in Baby Teeth: Should You Get Baby Teeth Filled?
A lot of parents wonder if it’s really necessary to have their children get fillings in their baby teeth. Since baby teeth just end up falling out, why not let the cavity fall out with the baby tooth rather than paying to have a dentist remove the cavity? Many people assume that baby teeth aren’t [...]
Baby Teething Symptoms: 10 Signs of a Teething Baby
Did you know that 5,016 children died from teething in just one year in Wales and England? The year was 1839. Since many babies died around the age of teething, most people simply assumed that it was the teething that killed them. Luckily we’ve come a long way since then — we now know that [...]
Dark Tooth: Why Your Child Has a Discolored Tooth
If you have kids, you know that they can get themselves into a lot of interesting accidents. Many times when kids get a head injury they knock out a tooth. Other times, they simply hit the tooth really hard and injure it. It has been estimated that 8-30% of kids under 7 suffer an accident [...]
Does Teething Cause a Fever in Teething Babies?
There are so many symptoms that are attributed to teething that many parents think that they’re child is almost always teething! Traditionally, “academic research” has found that teething doesn’t really cause a fever, while many parents and caregivers that are actually taking care of teething babies report that they definitely do get fevers during teething. [...]
How Long Does Teething Last?
If you’ve had a child, then you probably know how teething affects kids — and parents! When it comes to teething, many parents want to know at what age teething starts and how long it will last. While I can’t give you an exact answer as to when your child will start teething and for [...]
The Differences Between Baby Teeth and Permanent Teeth
Have you ever noticed that baby teeth look like they’re whiter than adult teeth? Or maybe you knocked out a baby tooth when you were a child, but when you had a similar accident when you were older, your permanent tooth got chipped rather than getting knocked out. The two scenarios above can be explained [...]
At What Age Does a Child Need a Frenectomy?
One of the topics that I get emailed about most often is labial frenectomies. Not long ago, my sister called me asking me whether or not her daughter should get a labial frenectomy. The dentist had noticed it at one appointment and said that she may have a gap between her front teeth if a [...]
What to Expect at Your Child’s First Dental Visit
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the age when your child should go to the dentist for the first time. Many people think that taking your child to the dentist before they are one year old is too early. They wonder what a dentist could possibly do with such a young child. One [...]
At What Age Should Your Child Go to the Dentist for the First Time?
It has been said that although your baby may not be ready for a dental visit at one year of age, your baby’s teeth are ready. However, even if you take your child to the dentist on their first birthday, you may be taking them later than is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatric [...]
What a Baby’s Gums Look Like While Teething
A few years ago, my wife and I kept thinking that our son was getting his first tooth. He eventually got it, but there were many times when it looked like his first tooth would be coming in and it didn’t. It’s important to know that the first tooth usually comes in around six months [...]
Why Baby Teeth Are Important
Have you ever wondered why we have baby teeth? It’s kind of interesting that we are born with permanent limbs and other body parts, but the first teeth we have are only temporary. You, like many parents, may have even wondered the following: Why should I take care of my child’s baby teeth? They’re just [...]
When Should Your Baby’s First Tooth Come In?
Many parents wait with anticipation to finally see their baby’s first tooth poking through the gums. A baby getting his or her very first tooth can be an exciting and sometimes tiring experience for both baby and parents. When does the average baby get their first tooth? When Does a Baby’s First Tooth Erupt? The [...]
Adult Permanent Teeth Coming In Behind Baby Teeth: Shark Teeth
Many parents become alarmed when they look in their child’s mouth and see the permanent teeth growing behind the baby teeth. What went wrong? Aren’t the permanent teeth supposed to grow under the baby teeth and push them out? Rest assured, permanent teeth coming in behind baby teeth is not an emergency! Ordinarily, as the [...]
OA Links: Maine Dental Association and Glamour Magazine
My wife and I traveled up to Maine this past weekend to attend the Maine Dental Association’s annual conference. Since Maine doesn’t have very many dentists, they are trying to attract dental students to go and practice there after they have graduated. It was really pretty (see the end of this post for some pictures), [...]
Tetracycline Tooth Staining: Its Cause, Prevention & Treatment
I want to thank Dr. James R. Donley, DDS for kindly allowing me to use his photos in the article below. When I was a little boy, I remember seeing my brother in the bathroom trying to bleach his teeth. He tried many different formulations of bleaching agents to try to remove the staining on [...]
Double Teeth – Gemination and Fusion
I want to thank Rachel Inbar for allowing me to use two pictures of her son with a “double tooth” for this article. Rachel runs a fertility blog and allows couples to share their fertility stories online. Many parents wait with great excitement and anticipation for the eruption of their baby’s first tooth. Sadly, baby [...]
Are You Causing the Cavities On Your Toddler’s Teeth?
It’s sad to see a two year old child with horrible teeth. At such a young age, children don’t really understand oral hygiene. Many times, poor oral hygiene in a toddler is the result of parents who don’t understand oral hygiene. Since most cavities are preventable, this topic fascinates me. With children of my own, [...]
Mamelons: The Bumps On Your Child’s Permanent Teeth Are Normal
Have you ever noticed the little bumps on a brand new permanent front tooth in your child’s mouth? Sometimes parents think that their children’s teeth have something wrong with them when they first notice these serrated edges on their kids’ front teeth. Fortunately, there is nothing abnormal about these bumps and grooves. They are completely [...]
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- What to Do When Your Child’s Baby Tooth Gets Knocked Out
- What A Space Maintainer (Spacer) Is And Why Your Child Might Need One
Hi, I'm Tom. I'm currently a 4th year dental student in the USA. I started this blog to help people take better care of their teeth. You can