3 Concerns to Watch for in Your Infant’s Dental Health
Posted on: 13 August 2021
Your infant has teeth below the surface of their gum line that has yet to grow. Their teeth will begin to show somewhere around 3 months old, which is when you'll notice a bit more irritability and crying. These baby teeth are important and will eventually fall out to give way to the adult teeth your baby will have throughout most of their lifetime. These adult teeth can only be healthy if the teeth before them are well-cared for and if the gums are also well-cared for, even before they erupt. Infant dental health is very important, and you need to do what you can to help keep your baby's gums as healthy as possible. Read on for a few concerns you need to watch out for and report to a local pediatric dentist immediately if you notice them.
1. Blackening Or Discoloration Of The Gums
Your baby's gums are going to turn red at some point, possibly even white where their baby teeth are going to erupt from. But if they are blackening, or there is other discoloration going on, you need to report this to the dentist. Blackening could be the result of a bruise, or it could also be a sign of something else, such as gum disease. Be sure to take good care of your infant's gums, using a washcloth to gently wipe their gums daily to prevent too much plaque buildup on the gums, which can lead to tooth decay to the underlying teeth.
2. No Teeth Erupting
If by the time your infant is 6 months old, there should be at least one tooth that has erupted. If no teeth have started to appear, you should take your child to the pediatric dentist to have an x-ray done to check on the underlying teeth to see if there are any issues with them at all. Some babies may not erupt teeth for a while, but it's best to check to be sure there aren't any underlying issues or concerns that need to be looked into right away.
3. Rotten Baby Teeth
If your baby's teeth have erupted and they are coming out yellow or stained another color, you should report it to the dentist. Your baby could have a vitamin deficiency, or it could simply be that the teeth below have rotted due to things such as bottle rot, which is what can happen when you put a baby to bed with a bottle and leave the milk to sit on your baby's gums for too long. It can eventually rot the teeth that haven't yet grown in.
If you have any of these concerns, you should report them to your baby's dentist right away and seek treatment for your infant. Be sure you take your infant to the pediatric dentist early and continue this trend regularly so your child understands the importance of dental health.
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