Dentition is the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth.

Human beings have up to four distinct types of teeth.These are the incisors,the canine, the premolar and the molars.The incisors are used for cutting and the molars for grinding.Normally human beings have 32 teeth.

Teething is the period during which infants teeth grow and break through the gums.

The teething process is quite different in different babies. One chews, frets, and drools for 3 or 4 months before each tooth comes through, and makes life miserable for the whole family. In another case, a mother discovers a tooth one fine morning without ever having suspected that her baby was teething.One baby gets the first tooth at 3 months, another not till 1 year. Yet both are healthy, normal infants.

In one family, most of the children teeth early,in another,late.

The average baby gets the first tooth around 7 months, but has been drooling, biting, and having periods of fretfulness from the age of 3 or 4 months. Babies get twenty teeth in their first two and a half years.

Signs of teething
Drooling
wakefulness
Crankiness
Crying
Biting
Chewing
Tender gums
Refuses food
Refuses milk
Rash around the mouth (irritation from saliva)
Runny nose
Swollen and red gums
Loose stools
Bleeding from the mouth

Do's and Dont's
Sometimes parents think that it is their duty to keep their baby from putting things in the mouth and chewing. Most babies must put things in their mouths, on and off, at least from 6 to 15 months. The best that a parent can do is to provide chewable objects that are blunt enough so that if the baby falls with them in the mouth there will be no damage. Rubber teething rings of various shapes are good, but any piece of rubber that the baby can hold will easily do. The kind containing water that can be put in the refrigerator is particularly useful because it can reduce pain.

One should be careful about toys made from thin, brittle plastic ,as they can break off and be swallowed, causing the baby to choke.

It also is important not to allow the baby to gnaw paint off of furniture or walls or moldings as paint may be made with lead.

Some babies prefer a certain kind of cloth for chewing on. Or, you can tie an ice cube or a piece of apple in a square of cloth. Let the baby have what she seems to want as long as it is not dangerous.

There is no need to worry about germs on a teething ring or favorite piece of cloth in that they are the baby's own germs anyway.

Rubbing a bit of brandy, scotch, or other spirits, on the aching gums - a popular folk remedy for teething - is not recommended for children at any age.

Homeopathic Approach
Homeopathy has very good medicines to decrease the troubles of teething.Depending upon the different signs we prescribe different medicines.

Homeopathic medicines
Most commonly used medicine is byco no. 21 which is given as a precaution and as a supplement of calcium too..other medicines used according to symptoms are..

Aconite,Belladona,Calcarea carb,Calcarea Phos, Chamomilla, Podophyllum, Causticum, Kreosotum etc.,