Natal Teeth or Baby Born With Teeth
Dr. Ajay Jain
Jun 8, 2020
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Baby born with Teeth
Not all the early happenings in the child’s life are easily appreciated. One such thing that leads to too much of reactions is the newborn with teeth at birth. A baby starts forming teeth when it is just 6 weeks old fetus in the womb. The teeth develop in the gums and are not usually visible at birth. Usually temporary teeth first appear at age of around 4- 7 months but some time you can see a pair of teeth at birth. These teeth called natal teeth. Natal teeth are rare with occurrence around 1 in 1000 to 1 in 30,000 in different studies.
The occurrence of natal teeth for centuries has been associated with diverse superstitions among many culture Malaysian communities considers these as good fortune while Chinese community considers bad fortune and affected child is considered to be monster.
While there are certain factors that can cause appearance of natal teeth but the exact cause for the eruption of natal teeth is unknown.
Sometimes natal teeth maybe associated with certain medical conditions like natal molars, genetic disorder and langerhans cell histiocytosis and rarely associated with cleft lip and palate, ellis-van creveld syndrome, sotos syndrome etc.
Natal teeth look like normal baby teeth, but they are usually smaller, loose and yellowish in color. Natal teeth often have poor tooth structure with little to no root and are wiggly, although it’s possible for baby to be born with a nearly or fully developed set of healthy teeth too.
If baby is born with natal teeth, don’t panic. Generally it’s not a cause of concern. Natal teeth can sometimes cause some difficulties.
- Difficulty in breast feeding:- Natal teeth can cause discomfort to baby while sucking. Some baby struggling to feed or refuse to feed due to the pain in gums. The presence of teeth can cause problem in latching onto the breast. Thus it may lead to poor feeding and baby may not get the essential nutrients. If it continues then it may effect on development of baby.
- Tongue ulceration:- Natal teeth sometimes rub against baby’s tongue, causing tongue ulceration. It’s very painful and discourage baby from feeding.
- Irritability:- The baby experience pain that is similar to teething pain. And this makes baby irritable.
- Chocking:- Natal teeth are more loose than normal teeth so there is a chance if natal teeth break, baby can inhale it and can gets chocked.
- Biting on mother’s nipple:- A baby with natal teeth can potentially cut into mother’s breast and nipple. Repeated biting on nipples will make breast feeding difficult.
Treatment:-
Treatment depends on your child’s symptoms, age and general health. If the baby is having loose teeth, that have no roots, then it is best to remove them surgically.
The pediatric dentist will decide whether to remove or not to remove natal teeth, after examining the depth of teeth. . If the teeth are deep rooted and have no impact on baby’s feeding, then surgery may not be required.
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