Teething treatment

Self-care at home

Often, your infant's gums will feel better when gentle pressure is placed on the gums. For this reason, many doctors recommend gently rubbing your child’s gums with a clean finger or having your child bite down on a clean flannel.

If the pain seems to be causing feeding problems, a bottle with a different shaped teat or the use of a cup may reduce discomfort and improve feeding.

Cold objects may also help reduce the inflammation. Some parents have discovered the usefulness of frozen flannels for this purpose, but be careful to avoid prolonged contact of your child’s gums with very cold objects. Also, never put anything into a child's mouth that might cause them to choke.

Use of pain medications: Some controversy surrounds the use of pain medicines.

Medicines that can be placed on the gums: Certain over-the-counter medicines can be placed directly onto the gums to help relieve pain. They contain medicines that temporarily numb the gum. They may help for brief periods of time, but they have a taste and sensation that many children do not like. It is important not to let the medicine numb the throat because this may interfere with the normal gag reflex and may make it possible for food to get into the lungs. For this reason, many doctors do not recommend the use of these medicines.

Medicines that are taken by mouth to help reduce the pain:

Paracetamol or ibuprofen may also help with pain. They should be used only for the few times when the other self-care methods do not help. Caution should be taken not to overmedicate for teething. The medicine may cover up a fever that could indicate the presence of some other significant condition.Never give children products containing aspirin because of the risk of a condition called Reye’s syndrome.