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| |  Severe Symptoms Attributed To Teething Can Have Other Causes CLEVELAND, OH -- April 4, 2000 -- Parents of infants often associate symptoms such as high fever and severe irritability in their children with the onset of teething. But according to results of a study conducted by Cleveland Clinic researchers, these symptoms usually have little to do with teething and may in fact be signs of more serious disease. Results of the study are published in the April 4, 2000, issue of the journal Pediatrics. Only 3 percent of unexplained fevers over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the study occurred in children who were teething. Similarly, fevers over 102 degrees were not associated with teething, and no teething child had a fever in excess of 104 degrees. No teething patient had a life-threatening illness. The investigators examined data from 114 pediatric outpatients, all of whom were children of Cleveland Clinic employees. Parents recorded symptom data each day from the time of their children's four-month well-child examination up until their one-year visit. Symptom data included twice-daily temperature measurements, the presence or absence of 18 different symptoms, and all tooth eruptions. Symptoms were only more frequent in the four days prior to the emergence of a tooth, the day of tooth emergence, and the three days after tooth emergence. Even then, no single symptom occurred in more than 35 percent of teething infants, nor was any one symptom more than 20 percent more prevalent in teething infants versus non-teething infants. "Parents have a tendency to attribute their children's symptoms to teething, but no one symptom or group of symptoms could reliably predict the imminent emergence of a tooth," said Michael L. Macknin, M.D., lead author of the study and chairman of the department of general pediatrics at the Cleveland Clinic. "We should never assume that a child's severe illness is a consequence of teething. Other possible causes must be ruled out first." Though no symptoms occurred in the majority of teething infants, several had a statistical association with tooth emergence. Those were: increased biting, drooling, gum rubbing, sucking, irritability, wakefulness, ear rubbing, facial rash, decreased appetite for solid foods, and mild temperature elevation. On the other hand, congestion, sleep disturbance, stool looseness, increased stool number, decreased appetite for liquids, cough, rashes other than facial rashes, fever over 102 degrees, and vomiting were not significantly associated with tooth eruption only. The study is believed to be the largest prospective examination of symptoms associated with teething conducted on healthy, non-institutionalized children. Therefore, it may better reflect what happens with infants in the real world than previous studies. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, founded in 1921, integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education in a private, non-profit group practice. At the Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Florida in 1998, nearly 1,000 full-time salaried physicians representing more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties provided for 1,735,484 outpatient visits and 49,893 hospital admissions for patients from throughout the United States and more than 80 countries. In 1997, The Cleveland Clinic Health System was formed. It now comprises The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Euclid, Fairview, Hillcrest, Huron, Lakewood, Lutheran, Marymount and South Pointe hospitals, and the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital for Rehabilitation. With 3,010 staffed beds, the Cleveland Clinic Health System offers broad geographic coverage, a full continuum of care, improved quality and lower cost of care to Northeast Ohio residents.
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