We all know just how difficult it is when our little one starts getting teeth, but according to a leading dentist, teething pain is a figment of parents’ imagination, and warns we could be missing more serious conditions.

 

Kristen Fitzgerald, consultant paediatric dental surgeon at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, has suggested that teething is a figment of parental imagination saying red cheeks, nappy rash and fevers are generally due to an infection.

 

While not trying to scare mums and dads, Kristen went on to describe one case where a child with meningitis went undiagnosed for a critical period because it was thought she was simply teething.

 

 

While "cutting" and "piercing" are common words used to describe children getting teeth, Kristen says nothing like this happens.

 

Explaining that milk teeth form cell by cell in a protective sac before rising to the surface, she said: “Teething is a simple, gentle and benign process but it has come to mean so much more. It’s a normal process, just like growing nails or hair.”

 

While teething has been linked to swelling and slightly raised temperature, the paediatric dentist believes “people’s imaginations have got the better of them”.  

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