Do you ever hear the interesting fact that babies can be born with teeth or got confused about can a baby be born with teeth? This is true, and those teeth are called natal teeth. One out of 2000 babies is rarely born with at least one tooth. However, if you start imagining the situation of a baby born with 32 teeth, this is not possible. A baby with this condition is born with a maximum of 2 teeth.
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How Do Natal Teeth Look Like?
Typically, natal teeth look like regular baby teeth, but they are a bit yellowish in color and small in size. Moreover, these teeth have weird shapes and are not strong enough and wiggle because of it.
These teeth look normal but can be disturbing for nursing and can damage the baby’s tongue. To avoid any such issues and keep things safe, doctors often remove them or foil them to make them smooth.
Are Natal Teeth Primary Teeth?
Dentists tell whether they are primary or natal teeth. But often the natal teeth are primary teeth. Usually, the number of primary teeth is 20, but in a few cases, it exceeds 21-22. Rarely these teeth are not primary and are named supernumerary teeth. According to research, almost less than 10% of natal teeth are supernumerary teeth.
Why Are Some Babies Born with Teeth?
There are a few reasons that lead a baby to be born with natal teeth. However, the fundamental reason is still unknown. Instead of the root cause, there are two reasons discovered by science that results in natal teeth. First, it is because the tooth comes close to the skin, and secondly, because of their genes.
According to many researchers, if the parents are early or late teethers, the child will also be an early or late teether. Approximately 15% of babies born with natal teeth have early teethers parents.
In contrast, it can happen due to a medical condition. These conditions can be genetic or other; they can be due to Pfieffer syndrome (a genetic disorder). The other conditions include:
– Cleft lip and palate
– Pierre-Robin sequence
– Jadassohn-Lewandowsky syndrome
– Hallerman-Streiff syndrome
– Wiedemann-Rautenstrauch syndrome
– Sotos syndromeEllis-van Creveld syndrome
Are Natal Teeth Dangerous?
If your baby has natal teeth, it is recommended to remove them because they can lead to severe issues.
Nursing
Natal teeth disturb the baby’s feed because they make sucking difficult, and because of this, they avoid meals that result in poor nutritional intake. Moreover, natal teeth can cause injury to the breast of the mother.
Tongue Injury
These teeth are not strong and wiggle. This can be dangerous if the baby suddenly swallows it.
What to Do When a Baby Born with Teeth?
If you want to know whether Natal teeth are good or bad, the answer is simple, it is not good or bad, because these are just regular teeth that your baby got earlier. You don’t need to do anything unless they cause issues in breastfeeding, damage the tongue, or are loose enough that they can fall any time. In any of these cases, it is recommended to remove them by consulting a dentist.
However, if they are normal, don’t need to be worried; keep them clean and pay a regular visit to the dentist until they fall at the age of 6-7.
