Treatment.—­As most of the above symptoms are induced by the painful tension of the gum, it would seem that the most rational mode of attempting their relief is by freely lancing the swollen part.  Great prejudices, however, still exist in the minds of some parents against this operation.  They think it gives great pain, and, if the tooth is not very near, makes its coming through the gum subsequently the more difficult.

With regard to the first objection, the lancet is carried through the gum so quickly, that this is hardly possible; and the fact that the infant will often smile in your face after it is done, although previously crying from pain, is sufficient evidence that it is not a very painful operation.  In reference to the second, that the scar which ensues, opposes, by its hardness, the subsequent progress of the tooth, it is quite groundless; for cicatrices, like all other new-formed parts, are much more easily absorbed than the original structure.

Of the practical utility and perfect safety of this operation we have ample proof in its daily performance with impunity, and in the instant relief which it often affords to all the symptoms.

Mere scarifying the gums is sometimes all that is required, and will afford great relief.  This operation, therefore, should not be opposed by the mother.  She, at the same time, should be acquainted with its precise object, lest the speedy return of the symptoms, and the non-appearance of the expected tooth, might tend to bring the operation of lancing the gums into disrepute.

The parental management of the infant, then, and by which much of the pain and difficulty of teething may be removed or alleviated, consists in attending to the following directions:—­

First, to the state of the mouth.—­To this it is an important part of the mother’s duty to pay especial attention; and, by so doing, she will save her child much suffering.  The condition of the mouth should be carefully inspected from time to time; and should a swollen gum be discovered, it should immediately be attended to, not waiting till constitutional symptoms appear before she employs proper aid for her child.  For this purpose the mother should make herself familiar with the appearances of the gum under distention and inflammation; a matter of no difficulty, accompanied, as this condition usually is, by a profuse secretion of saliva, heat of mouth, and at a time when the age of the child justifies the supposition that it is about to cut its first tooth, or, if it have some teeth, that others are about to appear.

Secondly, to the food.—­If a child is teething with difficulty, it should always have its quantity of nourishment diminished.  If it is being fed, as well as nursed at the breast, at the time, the former should be immediately withheld:  if it is being fed alone, the only kind of food that should be allowed is milk and water.  These cases are much aggravated by the not uncommon habit of parents giving the infant food whenever it cries from the irritation attending upon the process; and thus a slightly difficult dentition is converted into serious disease.