Tooth Eruption

Tooth eruption and the shedding of primary teeth are important events in the life of a child, and teething in very young children often results in slight increases in temperature, generally less than 0.2 °F., irritability etc. However, high fever or other signs of illness should never be assumed to be related to tooth eruption.

In the middle of the 19th century, teething was considered one of the leading causes of childhood mortality, simply because of the coincidence of severe childhood illnesses, such as diphtheria, with the onset of tooth eruption.