Difficult dentition will be attended with painful inflammation and
swelling of the gum, which is hotter, of a deeper red, than natural,
and intolerant of the slightest pressure. There is often great
determination of blood to the head, which a mother may recognise by the
cheeks being red, hot, and swollen; the eyes red, irritable, and
watery; and the saliva running from the mouth profusely. The fever is
great, and the thirst extreme. The child is at one time restless and
irritable, and at another heavy and oppressed: the sleep will be
broken, and the infant frequently awake suddenly and in alarm from its
short slumbers. Such are the chief symptoms of difficult teething, and
which will be present to a greater or less degree.
TREATMENT.--As most of the above symptoms are induced by the painful
tension of the gum, it would seem that the most rational mode of
attempting their relief is by freely lancing the swollen part. Great
prejudices, however, still exist in the minds of some parents against
this operation. They think it gives great pain, and, if the tooth is
not very near, makes its coming through the gum subsequently the more
difficult.
With regard to the first objection, the lancet is carried through the
gum so quickly, that this is hardly possible; and the fact that the
infant will often smile in your face after it is done, although
previously crying from pain, is sufficient evidence that it is not a
very painful operation.
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