Home > Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine > Teething Problems

Definition

Teething is the eruption of the primary set of teeth (baby teeth) through the gums.

Description

Humans are born with two sets of teeth under the gums. Twenty of these are primary, or baby teeth. Occasionally a child is born with some primary teeth already visible, but more commonly, they begin to erupt around the middle of the first year. The timing of eruption is quite variable but tends to be similar among members of the same family. Generally, all 20 primary teeth have come in by two and a half years of age. Lower teeth usually come in before their upper counterparts. Incisors often erupt first (centrals, then laterals), followed by first molars, canines, and then two-year molars. An early or late pattern of getting baby teeth will sometimes correspond with a similar pattern of losing the baby teeth and getting the permanent teeth. Issues of spacing and orientation of these first teeth do not...