Abstract
Teething is considered a significant event in the growth and development of the child by parents and especially by paediatric dentists and forensic scientists. They constantly need an “up-to-date mirror” of its variability for different geographic regions. The aims of the current study were to determine the timing and sequence of primary tooth emergence, and to establish a correlation between tooth eruption and general growth and external parameters in a sample of Romanian children. This study included 70 healthy children (53% girls and 47% boys), and the analysed data resulted from the questionnaires completed by parents during the whole process. General and specific data on primary teeth eruption were obtained. The differences between sexes were insignificant, except for the maxillary and mandibular canines (p = 0.047 and p = 0.018) and lower temporary second molars (p < 0.001), which were significantly increased in boys. The differences found between the two hemiarches were insignificant (p = 0.197). The mean age of eruption of the first tooth erupted was 7.07 ± 1.990 months. The unpaired t-test was used for comparison of the timings of eruption of the first primary teeth, according to the number of previous births and type of diet, and it was insignificant (p = 0.665 and p = 0.983 respectively).
Highlights
Primary tooth eruption is a complex and highly regulated process in which teeth enter the mouth and become visible during a certain time period [1]
Teething is considered a significant event in the growth and development of the child by parents and especially by paediatric dentists and forensic scientists
The differences between sexes were insignificant, except for the maxillary and mandibular canines (p = 0.047 and p = 0.018) and lower temporary second molars (p < 0.001), which were significantly increased in boys
Summary
Primary tooth eruption is a complex and highly regulated process in which teeth enter the mouth and become visible during a certain time period [1]. The formation and development of human primary teeth begins at the end of the fifth week of gestation. Teething is considered a significant event in the growth and development of the child by parents and health care professionals, especially by paediatric dentists and forensic scientists [3–6]. Its importance extends in other fields, such as physical anthropology and demographic studies, and it is considered “a milestone” on the complex path of human growth [7–10]. Tooth emergence may have particular significance in relation to early childhood caries, because the likelihood of colonisation by mutans streptococci increases with the number of teeth present, contributing to high levels of caries in some populations [12,13]
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