Evelyn Berger-Jenkins, MD

 Recall normal pattern of primary and secondary tooth development
 Identify common non-tooth related pathology in the oral cavity
 Include screening for caries in well child care, and establish prevention strategies with parents
 Be aware of some of the evidence base around controversial oral health issues

 ‘A’ is a 3-week old, ex-FT boy with no significant peri-natal complications.
He comes today for his first well-child visit.
His mother had no complaints, but on exam you notice the following:

 Usually “normal variant”, but can be associated with certain syndromes:
 Ellis van Creveld
 Hallermann-Streiff
 Jadassohn-Lewandowski
 What to do?
 X-ray
 Observe
 Remove if supernumery, feeding problems or loose

 ‘B’ is A’s twin sister. She has no natal teeth, but mom is concerned about this other bump in her mouth

 Mucocele
Ranula 

 ‘C’ is a 4 month-old girl who presents because her mother noticed “some white stuff on her tongue”.
What is your differential diagnosis?

 ‘D’ is a 10 month-old healthy girl presenting for well-child care. Her father complains that she’s been taking less formula and wonders if it’s because she’s teething. She had eruption of her lower central incisors at 6 months. He asks you when she will get her two front teeth?

 ‘E’ is an 18-month old boy with no significant past medical history. He presents with fever to 101.2 x 2 days. He had mild nasal congestion yesterday.
Mom asks if his fever could be due to teething?

Study
Wake et al
(Australia, 2000)
Macknin et al
(USA, 2000)
Methods
Prospective study of 21 infants assessed by staff for teething & temperature
Outcome
No association between teething and fever
Prospective study of 125 infants assessed by parents for teething
& temperature
Fever <38.5 was associated with teething period of +/- 1 day compared to non-teething days
Jaber et al
(Israel, 1991)
Peretz et al
(Colombia,
2003)
Prospective study of 46 infants.
Temperature assessed by parents. Tooth eruption assessed by staff.
Retrospective questionnaire completed by parents of 585 teething children
Temperature increase to 37.9 associated with the day of tooth eruption compared to preceeding days
60% of teething children had fever > 39, but no comparison to fever in control children
Tighe M et al. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2007;92:266

 Review of the evidence
 Mostly poor quality studies, i.e. retrospective or relied on parent report
 Two prospective studies found an association between increased temperature and the day of tooth eruption +/- 1 day.
 Bottom line
 Infants with fever > 38.5, or with temperature 38-
38.5 on days other than the day of tooth eruption +/-
1 day should be evaluated for other sources of fever.
 Those presenting with low-grade fever (< 38.5) during this window may be monitored conservatively if well appearing.
Tighe M et al. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2007;92:266

 ‘F’ is a 2 year-old girl with mild speech delay. Her mother is concerned that her speech delay is due to her “tongue tie”.
What do you tell her?

 Prominent lingual frenulum occurs in
~3-5% of children
 Complications may include
 Feeding
(breastfeeding) difficulties
 Articulation problems

 Review of the evidence
 No evidence for ankyloglossia and speech/language delay
 Moderate evidence for moderate-severe ankyloglossia and articulation problems
 Lingual frenulum will recede by 6 years of age in majority of children  therefore may observe conservatively

 ‘G’ is a healthy 3 year-old boy presenting for WCC. Mom has had trouble getting him to sleep throughout the night b/c he still wakes for his bottle.
On exam you are presented with the following:

 The MOST common chronic disease in children
 18% in 2-4 year olds  67% in 12-17 year olds
 Higher in certain ethnic groups
 Common in < 3 year-olds due to
 Primary teeth are thinner than permanent teeth
 Teeth that erupt 1 st are less protected by saliva

 Extrinsic factors
 Dyes in foods
(coffee), cigarettes…
 Medications
(tetracyclines, anticholinergics)
 Metals (iron, lead)
 Trauma
 Intrinsic factors
 Hyperbilirubinemia
 Poryphyria
Tetracycline discoloration

 Remove plaque and decayed teeth
 PREVENTION, PREVENTION,
PREVENTION!
 Oral hygiene
 Limit substrate (carbohydrates)
 Fluoride

Age Toothbrushing
Recommendations
(CDC 2001)
< 1-2 years Parent cleans with cloth or soft toothbrush.
No toothpaste
2-6 years Pea-sized amount of fluoride-containing toothpaste twice per day
Floss Qday
Parent supervises
> 6 years Brush independently twice per day

 Beginning at 6-mo pediatricians should:
 Assess mother’s oral health.
 Assess oral health risks*
 Examine mouth/teeth and recognize signs/symptoms of caries.
 Assess child’s exposure to fluoride.
 *Send high-risk patients to dentist sooner

 Mom asks if this could have been prevented if she had given him a vitamin. Her friend is giving her child supplemental fluoride, but you never prescribed this for her. Why?

 Anti-cariogenic
 Decreases demineralization by
(1) combining into & strengthening enamel
(2) decreasing production of acid from bacteria
 Present in 2/3 of all US public water supplies ( http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/MWF/Index.asp
) and most toothpastes
 Supplement if low fluoride levels in water supply, or child doesn’t drink water

 You’re in the ED and are presented with ‘H’, a 5 year-old boy who comes in with his front tooth in a cup of salt water. It fell out when he was hit in the face during a baseball game.

 Were these likely his primary or secondary teeth?
 What should you do with the patient?
The tooth?

 Don’t forget to assess for head trauma
 Call OMF surgery early
 Utility of preserving the avulsed tooth?
 Avulsed primary teeth should NOT be reimplanted
 Avulsed permanent teeth should be reimplanted STAT (before 15 minutes) or stored in cold milk until they can be restored

 ‘I’ is a 12 year-old girl with no significant past medical history. She sucks her thumb, and her mother is asking your opinion about obtaining braces for the following problem:

 Causes:
 Hereditary
 Behaviors (bottles, pacifiers and thumb sucking esp. beyond 5 yrs.)
 Treatment:
 Mostly cosmetic
 Orthodontist referral best if early

 ‘J’ is a 14 year-old girl who is preparing for her quinceañera. She asks you whether there is any
“downside” to using teeth whiteners, and whether you could recommend a whitening method.
What do you tell her?

 Lee SS et al.
 Recent review of tooth whitening in children
 Conclusions:
 30-50% of patients experience gingival irritation (increased in children)
 Excessive peroxide exposure can cause pulpal/root damage esp. in < 18 year olds
 Whitening during mixed dentition will result in uneven results
Lee SS et al. Pediatric Dentistry. 2005 Sep-Oct;27(5):362-8

 MAIN:
 Website AAP Health Topics, Oral Health: www.aap.org/healthtopics/oralhealth.cfm
 Preventive Oral Health Intervention for Pediatricians.
Pediatrics 2008;122:1387-1394
 OTHER:
 Natal Teeth A Review: J Natl Med Assoc. 2006 Feb.
98(2):226-8
 Delayed Tooth Eruption: Am J Orthod Dentofacial
Orthop. 2004 Oct. 126(4):432-45
 Fever & Teething:
2007. 92:266
Archives of Disease in Childhood.
 Ankyloglossia: J Paediatr Child Health 2005 May-Jun.
41(5-6):246-50
 Fluoride content in various water sources: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/MWF/Index.asp