Case Report: Natal tooth in a four-day old newborn

Abstract

Background: A natal tooth is a tooth that is present at the time of birth. Eruption of teeth in infants is a rare phenomenon. Though rare, natal and neonatal tooth must be looked upon with great importance because they may lead to many complications. Case report: We present a case of a four-day old baby presenting with a mandibular natal tooth, which was successfully extracted without any complications. The mother had presented with a single umbilical artery during her pregnancy, which might be the proposed etiology of the natal tooth as the exact etiology is unknown. Conclusion: The exact etiology of natal tooth is unknown but there are a lot of factors that might be a cause. For the majority of cases, extraction is the mainstay of therapy as the risk associated is higher and can be life-threatening in most cases.