Imagine waking up one morning to find that your baby, barely two and a half months old, sprouted a tooth overnight! Not only a tooth – but a fang! Baby teeth growth isn’t supposed to happen till they’re about six months, so imagine this mom’s absolute HORROR to find her baby had grown a fang overnight.
Baby teeth growth overnight: 11-week-old sprouts fang
According to an article in the Irish Mirror, Tara O’Byrne, mom of Oscar O’Bryne was left shocked after discovering her 11-week-old baby grew a sharp fang tooth overnight.
She told the Irish Mirror that she had gone in to check on him around 7am. “I usually give him a soother and he goes back asleep for an hour, but he kept crying.”
So, she decided to take him out. It was only after she changed him and was getting ready to feed him that she found the sharp tooth growing out of his mouth. It had grown overnight!
Immediately, Tara rushed Oscar to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. Here, seemingly unprofessional doctors spent more time debating what it was than actually treating her son.
Frustrated, she took him to the nearby Temple Street Hospital instead, where they were put in touch with a dentist.
Dentist removed baby teeth growth
“We got an appointment and brought him in. I had to hold him and hold his arms down while she took the tooth out.
But something went wrong during the procedure and the suction caused the tooth to go up the baby’s nose. “I had to wind him to get it out, but he was okay,” Tara shared.
“There were dentists coming in to take pictures of the tooth and everything. We took it home to show Oscar when he gets older.
“We were terrified at first but now we’re seeing the funny side. Me and my husband were laughing about it, it’s mad – especially at this time of the year!”
Talk about an early Halloween trick!
What is a normal baby teeth growth rate like?
While Tara’s baby’s tooth growth is super rare and out of the ordinary, baby teeth growth normally begin only at 6 months of age.
Usually, the first two teeth to grow are the two bottom front teeth, followed by the top four front teeth. All 20 teeth (10 in the upper jaw and 10 in the lower jaw) should be out by the time the child is two and half to three years old.
Baby teeth growth facts:
- Generally, for every 6 months of life, approximately 4 teeth will grow out.
- Girls normally have teeth before boys do at the same age.
- Lower teeth will normally grow before upper teeth.
- Teeth in both jaws usually erupt in pairs — one on the right and one on the left.
- Primary teeth or baby teeth, are smaller and whiter than permanent teeth.
- By the time a child is 2 to 3 years of age, all primary teeth should have erupted.
- Children start losing their primary teeth around the age of six or seven.
Also read:
Does teething cause fever in babies?
7 Everyday habits that can ruin your child’s teeth
Brushing baby teeth: When to start and best ways to do it