Treatmesweetlie

As with almost all parents, I too was convinced that my little girl had started teething from as early as 3 months old. It was at 4 months when I actually saw a little speck of hard white on her gums, and again I was convinced that she was officially teething. 9 months later and I am yet to see her first tooth appear – Ammaarah still has no teeth! (I know, I have absolutely no idea what happened to that white speck either!)

At 4 months, that white speck was a tooth, I am convinced!

To be truthful and really honest, I am beginning to become a tad bit concerned that perhaps there are no teeth at all. Fear is starting to set in that perhaps Ammaarah is going to remain toothless forever! And this is absolutely not ideal, because she wants to eat everything and anything and sometime struggles to chew with her gums. (It is awefully cute though, the way she chews with no teeth!)

always chewing – with no teeth!

I therefore decided to do some research, and this is what I came up with…

According to Teething.Org, a ‘late teether’ is described as a baby who does not start teething until after their first birthday (i.e. Ammaarah). This is often called ‘delayed eruption’. All babies develop differently, and even if your baby doesn’t develop teeth until after their first birthday, it does not necessarily mean that something is wrong.

This made me feel a little better, as Ammaarah fits the profile perfectly. It is safe to say that she is a late teether. But then I continued researching…

Many websites suggest that if your baby does not cut any teeth by 18 months, it then becomes imperative to seek advise from a pediatric dentist, as there may be underlying health conditions that are preventing the teeth from erupting, or, in some rare cases, there may be no teeth at all. (And then my fear came back – Ammaarah may be toothless forever!).

the cutest toothless smiles (while chewing ofcourse!)

Based on my research, if your baby does not cut any teeth by 18 months, these may be some of the reasons why:

She is a late teether and the teeth are definitely still coming (i.e. just relax and calm down! This is by far my best reason for why Ammaarah hasn’t begun teething yet, and it is the one that I am sticking with!), or
It could be a sign of an underlying medical condition, such as under active thyroid or hypothyroidism. An under active thyroid stops the body from producing hormones, and I assume that it is this lack of hormones that prevents the teeth from erupting(??). This is however very rare and most experts believe that this condition would have been picked up a long time ago. So if your baby is a ball of energy, then this is probably something that you do not need to worry about. (Ammaarah seems pretty fine to me, so I don’t think this is the reason), or
Poor nutrition or insufficient diet, causing your baby to not get the sufficient vitamins and nutrients she needs for her development. Again, experts believe that this is something that would have been picked earlier, as there would have been other signs of poor nutrition, such as being underweight. (Ammaarah eats really well and is not underweight, so hopefully this is not the reason either!), or
The teeth are obstructed in the gums– there could be some form of obstruction causing the your baby’s teeth to not emerge. This would be checked by the pediatric dentist through an x-ray. Most websites however say that an x-ray will not be done until after the age of 18 months, because the exposure to radiation is simply not worth it. I try to find the solution to this reason, and I was only able to find comments by people stating that their dentists had advised that if there is an obstruction, the gums would be cut in order to facilitate the emerging of the teeth. (Eeek, I hope this isn’t Princess Porschie!), or
The late teething is genetic. Teething is apparently genetically coded, so chances are someone in your family was a late teether. (I cannot however find anyone in our family who was a late teether, uh oh!).

So as you can imagine, after reading all these websites, I cannot help but be a little concerned. And this is just a summary of what I actually read.

But despite my concern, there really is not much that I can do. So I have resolved to staying calm and enjoying the following benefits of late teething:

NO teething symptoms (yet – touch wood!) – no prodol, no sleepless nights, no crabby baby, no runny tummy, etc. , and
Once a late teether, always a late teether – chances are that Ammaarah will continue to be a late teether, all the way up to losing her milk teeth and growing her permanent teeth, and
Late teething is supposed to give healthier and stronger teeth, as the night feeds are generally over, and
The older Ammaarah gets, the better for her to cope with the pain of teething, resulting in a happier mommy (yay! and hopefully!), and
I get to savor the moments of the most cutest toothless smiles for a little bit longer.

i just cannot get enough of her toothless smiles!

toothless!

I truly hope that there is nothing to be concerned about and that we will be having our pancake celebration soon. Because let’s be honest, this pancake celebration is way overdue and is probably going to become one massive big party!

PS. SOS has officially been called for my website, and hopefully I can start posting on the new website soon. Hold thumbs that I am able to export these latest posts successfully!

All my love, xxx

**Note that I am no expert on the matter. All views in this post are my own interpretation of the information found on the internet.**