Teething & Toothaches

Symptoms

It's often hard to tell whether crying and fussing is due to teething, dental decay or thrush.

If your child is teething, he or she may exhibit the following symptoms:

• Excessive drooling - a classic symptom of teething
• Irritability for no apparent reason (i.e., in the absence of fever, hunger, tiredness or external injury)
• Difficulty sleeping or settling at night
• Refusal to eat
• Gnawing at hard objects
• Flushed cheeks and red, swollen gums around the site of the new tooth
• (Rarely) Gum bleeding - check with your doctor to make sure there is no infection while the gums that were bleeding heal

Low fevers, often believed to be due to teething, may in fact be due to an infection that is unrelated to tooth eruption. There is no proof that a fever is a normal part of teething.

Look for the following clues to check if your child's tooth pain is caused by cavities:

• Tooth sensitivity to hot or cold foods, or cold air
• Dark spots on the teeth
• Bad breath
• A tooth that is painful to the touch

Symptoms of thrush include:

• White patches or blisters on the tongue, lips, cheeks, throat and gums
• If the white patches are scraped off, the underlying mucous membrane appears slightly inflamed and may be mildly sensitive