Dental Eruption: A Survey of its Manifestations in Early Childhood

Abstract

Objective: To identify signs and symptoms related to eruption, understand the occurrence of these alterations, and finally, identify the frequency and intensity of their appearance. Method: Questionnaires and surveys were conducted with 100 parents or legal guardians of children between the ages of six months and five years of age, and also with 100 pediatricians in the city of Fortaleza. The factors researched were the incidence of signs and symptoms during dental eruption, aiming to discover which were most common, which methods of treatment were used and other aspects related to the quality of information received by the mothers. Results: Of the pediatricians interviewed, 93.9% reported clinical alterations in their patients during dental eruption. The manifestations most commonly found were, in a decreasing order of frequency, irritability, the habit of taking the hand to the mouth, syalorrhea, anorexia, fever, fitful sleep and diarrhea. A great number of mothers reported visiting a doctor upon occurrence of these alterations, and also using teething rings and ointments. The pediatricians, for the most part, reported giving exclusive orientation as a treatment option, and, in some cases, prescribing symptomatic medication. A small part of these professionals referred the patient to a dentist. The mothers reported having received minimum information with regards to dental eruption during the pre-natal period and showed a low level of satisfaction with the information received. Conclusion: The vast majority of the pediatricians and caregivers demonstrated the presence of systemic oral manifestations. Irritability was reported in a higher percentage, followed by the habit of hand-to-mouth, excessive salivation, anorexia, fever, disturbance in the sleep and diarrhea.

Keywords

• Tooth eruption
• Symptoms
• Deciduous tooth