Teething Babies and the Absurd Practice of Gum Lancing

Today, parents dread the period of teething because it brings with it a fussy baby, but at least our understanding of infant health has developed enough over the past decades that we reach for a cold teether rather than a blade.

A major challenge that existed well into the 20th century was getting a child to live until their second birthday. Infant mortality rates were high for a number of reasons including lack of proper nutrition, a deficient understanding of diseases and their treatments, and underdeveloped medical fields pertaining to the delivery of babies and their continual care. Teething babies show obvious signs of discomfort when their teeth begin coming in between 0-2 years of age; the same window of time that most children were dying. Many physicians associated teething with the mortality rates and were desperately trying to find ways to prevent these deaths. Unfortunately for everyone involved, especially the babies, the solution that many doctors came to was not only absurd, but unimaginably painful. 

Ambroise Paré, a French surgeon in the 1500s, is credited with the introduction of gum lancing. He developed the theory that teething was the leading cause of infant deaths after performing an autopsy on a young baby. Having finished looking over the body, he could attribute nothing to the death besides the fact that the baby had hard gums and underlying teeth (Lopresti). It was widely believed that the pressure of the incoming teeth was too severe for the sensitive nervous systems of the baby and could lead to severe sickness and death. The solution: cut a path for the teeth. 

“As soon as I saw some swelling of the gums, I at once took out my lancet and cut the gums down to the teeth”-The Lancet

Doctors used lancets to cut two crossing incisions over each tooth. This was done without any anesthetic while an assistant or parent held the screaming, squirming child. Sometimes it was recommended that this be performed multiple times a day. It is impossible to know just how many babies suffered from infections as a result. In some cases, the cheeks and tongue were accidentally injured. Lancing the gums of babies to assist in teething was practiced for over 400 years! Even into the early 1900s, around 10% of infant deaths were still being connected to teething. Today, parents dread the period of teething because it brings with it a fussy baby, but at least our understanding of infant health has developed enough over the past decades that we reach for a cold teether rather than a blade.

“A superficial incision will be of no avail; the gums must be cut down until the lancet impinges on the approaching tooth.”

If that doesn’t make you thankful for modern medicine, I don’t know what will!

Until Next Time

N.F.

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