Health care professionals ascribe too many symptoms to teething
Health care professionals in Australia, including pharmacists, believe
that teething causes a range of symptoms even though there is evidence
to suggest that it is associated, at most, with minor and relatively infrequent
symptoms, according to the authors of a paper published in the BMJ (2002;325:814).
The authors conducted a survey of those health care professionals most
closely concerned with the health of children including 73 pharmacists,
114 general practitioners, 98 nurses, 91 dentists and 88 paediatricians
in Victoria, Australia.
The mean number of different symptoms ascribed to teething per group was
8.4 for pharmacists, 2.8 for paediatricians, 4.4 for dentists, 6.5 for
GPs and 9.8 for nurses.
Most health care professionals in each group thought that at least some
infants or young children suffer symptoms. A total of 32 pharmacists reported
that teething may cause fever (>38C), a view which was also taken by
19 dentists, 12 GPs, seven nurses and two paediatricians. Nine paediatricians
and 30–50 per cent of each of the other groups believed that teething
predisposes to infections, most commonly colds and ear infections.
The authors say that health care professionals in all groups believed
that parents experience as much (or more) distress as the infants themselves.
Paracetamol and teething gels were recommended by all groups and 41 of
the 73 pharmacists recommended sedating medicines.
The authors add: “These beliefs may prevent professionals from effectively
managing some of the common developmental issues of infancy and might
lead to late diagnosis of important illness.”
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