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Somewhere between 4 and 7 months old, you can say good-bye to your baby's toothless grin as her first tooth makes its adorable debut. (Some babies don't get a single tooth until they're a year old, which is completely fine, experts say.) Over the next two years, she'll sprout 19 more choppers, for a total of 20 primary teeth by around age 2 1/2 to 3. Teeth like to arrive in pairs; the first two will show up in the front bottom gums and are called central incisors. A month or two later, four upper teeth will emerge (two central and lateral incisors). To complete the set, two lower lateral incisors show up, followed by four molars, four canines, and then a second set of upper and lower molars.

Thanks to her new teeth, your infant can soon kiss pureed baby food good-bye...

Somewhere between 4 and 7 months old, you can say good-bye to your baby's toothless grin as her first tooth makes its adorable debut. (Some babies don't get a single tooth until they're a year old, which is completely fine, experts say.) Over the next two years, she'll sprout 19 more choppers, for a total of 20 primary teeth by around age 2 1/2 to 3. Teeth like to arrive in pairs; the first two will show up in the front bottom gums and are called central incisors. A month or two later, four upper teeth will emerge (two central and lateral incisors). To complete the set, two lower lateral incisors show up, followed by four molars, four canines, and then a second set of upper and lower molars.

Thanks to her new teeth, your infant can soon kiss pureed baby food good-bye and set her sights on more interesting edibles, like Cheerios and baby biscuits. However, having a hard enamel tooth push through the sensitive gum tissue is no picnic for your baby (or you, for that matter). In order to allow for the emerging tooth to pass through the gum, the saliva becomes more acidic. As a result, your baby might develop a red rash around her mouth. Try dabbing a little petroleum jelly on the affected area. Her gums will also be itchy and sore.

The best teether in the world is a clean finger. (Curl up your index finger and let her nosh on the meaty part.) A cold spoon or a wet washcloth will also provide relief, says the American Academy of Pediatrics. Refrigerated baby teethers are great, too; just don't freeze them since gnawing on a rock-solid teething ring can injure your baby's gums.

And, while it's true that for some babies teething can bring on a fever and diarrhea (probably due to the acidic saliva), a temperature over 100 degrees, blood or mucus in the stool, or severe diarrhea that persists more than 24 hours is probably due to a virus and warrants a visit to your pediatrician.

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Sep 27, 2008 at 2:00:43 PM

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ferrari-johnson
September 02, 2008

My daughter the vampire!

My daughter Sophia will be 13 mos. next week. As she is my 4th child I can verify that every child's tooth development is different. All of my children started teething at 2 weeks old. I still have the marks from my 18 year old seeing as...  read more

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olivia2803
June 01, 2008

Re: late teethers

My daughter didn't have a single tooth until she turned 13 mos, she is currently 4 and has all her teeth which are all very healthy. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, all kids are different.

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carlybllrd
June 01, 2008

No teeth

My son is 10 mnths old, but has no teeth, it worries me. This is my first child, but I'm not sure if this is normal.

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