Don’t Forget About the Fever When Your Child Has Teething
Fever – one of the frequently mentioned symptoms of teething – not always doctors, more often parents shared advice. But a new analysis of real-life teething symptoms suggests fever is probably not one of them. In other words: if your child has teething and a high fever, chances are they are sick too.
It is nothing new to confuse the symptoms of teething with those of the disease. The first teeth in babies appear at about six months, and then they crawl out from time to time in early childhood. It also happens when babies become infected with a lot of germs, so a fever and runny nose often occurs at the same time a tooth begins to pierce. This association is so strong that in the olden days, when infant mortality was appallingly high, teething was considered a fatal disease .
So, if fever is not a sign of teething, what then? The new analysis, published in the March issue of Pediatrics , is consistent with what people like those at the Academy of Pediatric Dentistry have been saying for years: mostly drooling and moodiness.
According to the limited data available, deciduous teething has signs and symptoms. The most common were irritation, irritability and salivation of the gums. When analyzing body temperature, it was possible to establish that teething of deciduous teeth was associated with an increase in temperature, but was not characterized as a fever.
This means that if your child has a present fever ( 100.5 or more ) or other symptoms such as diarrhea or a runny nose, consider calling the doctor. ( Usually your pediatrician wants to hear about a fever lasting more than 24 hours.) As always, use your judgment – just don’t lose sight of the real symptoms, because you blame them on teething.
Signs and Symptoms of Primary Teething: A Meta-Analysis | Pediatrics through parents .