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Dental and Oral Health (Children)

Baby born with teeth

01/18/2008

Question:

My baby was born 12/21/07 and he was born with 2 bottom front teeth. The doctor called in an dentist to take them out, and they did. Now he is almost 4 weeks old and he is cutting more teeth in back. What is causing this and is this unusal.

Answer:

Teeth present at birth occurs once or twice in every 6000 births, so it's fairly rare. These teeth are almost always the infant's lower front baby teeth (central incisors). They may need to be taken out if they are very loose. It is very unusual for a 4 week old to erupt baby teeth in the back. Since these are probably the baby's primary teeth, they should not be extracted unless they are causing significant problems. Your child should be examined by a pediatric dentist who will guide you on the best course of action.

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Response by:

Dennis J McTigue, DDS Dennis J McTigue, DDS
Professor of Pediatric Dentistry
College of Dentistry
The Ohio State University