Editing Teething (section)

===Misdiagnosis as teething===
Teething has not been shown to cause fever or diarrhea;<ref>{{cite book |title=Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide |edition=6th |last=Tintinalli |first=Judith  |year=2004 |publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional |isbn=0-07-138875-3 |page=1483 }}</ref> however, the belief that teething causes fever is extremely common among parents.<ref name="wiley28">{{cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1601-5037.2009.00412.x | title = Challenging parental myths regarding their children's teething | year = 2010 | last1 = Owais | first1 = AI | last2 = Zawaideh | first2 = F | last3 = Bataineh | first3 = O | name-list-style = vanc | journal = International Journal of Dental Hygiene | volume = 8 | pages = 28–34 | pmid = 20096079 | issue = 1}}</ref> Whilst there is some evidence that teething can cause an elevated temperature, it does not cause [[fever]] (medically defined as rectal temperature greater than {{convert|100.4|F|C|sigfig=3}}). One small 1992 study found a significant rise in temperature on the day of eruption of the first tooth.<ref name="autogenerated234"/> Another study in 2000 found "mild temperature elevation" but not fever over {{convert|102|F|C}}.<ref>{{cite journal | pmid = 10742315 | year = 2000 | last1 = MacKnin | first1 = ML | last2 = Piedmonte | first2 = M | last3 = Jacobs | first3 = J | last4 = Skibinski | first4 = C | name-list-style = vanc | s2cid = 24601644 | title = Symptoms associated with infant teething: A prospective study | volume = 105 | issue = 4 Pt 1 | pages = 747–752 | journal = Pediatrics | doi = 10.1542/peds.105.4.747}}</ref>

There is a risk that fever around the age of teething is dismissed as due to teething when it is actually due to illness, particularly infection by herpes viruses. "Coincidentally, primary tooth eruption begins at about the time that infants are losing maternal antibody protection against the herpes virus. Also, reports on teething difficulties have recorded symptoms which are remarkably consistent with primary oral herpetic infection, such as fever, irritability, sleeplessness, and difficulty with eating."<ref name=pmid1323823>{{Cite journal | pmid = 1323823 | year = 1992 | last1 = King | first1 = DL | last2 = Steinhauer | first2 = W | last3 = García-Godoy | first3 = F | last4 = Elkins | first4 = CJ | name-list-style = vanc | title = Herpetic gingivostomatitis and teething difficulty in infants | volume = 14 | issue = 2 | pages = 82–85 | journal = Pediatric Dentistry}}</ref> "Younger infants with higher residual levels  of antibodies would experience milder infections, and these would be more likely to go unrecognized or be dismissed as teething difficulty."<ref name=pmid1323823/> Herpes virus infection may take the form of [[primary herpetic gingivostomatitis]] (HSV-1)<ref name="wiley28"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.drugs.com/cg/primary-herpetic-gingivostomatitis-in-children.html |title=Primary Herpetic Gingivostomatitis In Children |publisher=Drugs.com |access-date=December 18, 2011}}</ref> or of infection by [[human herpesvirus 6]] (HHV-6), which infects 90% of children by age 2.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1056/NEJMoa042207 | title = A Population-Based Study of Primary Human Herpesvirus 6 Infection | year = 2005 | last1 = Zerr | first1 = Danielle M. | last2 = Meier | first2 = Amalia S. | last3 = Selke | first3 = Stacy S. | last4 = Frenkel | first4 = Lisa M. | last5 = Huang | first5 = Meei-Li | last6 = Wald | first6 = Anna | last7 = Rhoads | first7 = Margaret P. | last8 = Nguy | first8 = Long | last9 = Bornemann | first9 = Rena | last10 = Morrow | first10 = Rhoda Ashley | last11 = Corey | first11 = Lawrence | journal = New England Journal of Medicine | volume = 352 | issue = 8 | pages = 768–76 | pmid = 15728809| display-authors = 8 | doi-access = free }}</ref> "The symptoms of elevated temperature and facial rash could be explainable by infection with the HHV-6 agent, which is ubiquitous among infants of teething age."<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1038/sj.bdj.4801349 | title=Teething troubles? | year=2002 | last1=McIntyre | first1=GT | last2=McIntyre | first2=GM | name-list-style = vanc | journal=British Dental Journal | volume=192 | issue=5 | pages=251–5 | pmid=11924952| doi-access=free }} Citing {{cite journal |vauthors=King DL |title=Teething revisited |journal=Pediatric Dentistry |year=1994 |volume=16 |issue=16 |pages=179–182|pmid=8058540 }}</ref> Other viruses{{example needed|date=December 2018}} may also cause fevers which might be misattributed to teething,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Jeanie Lerche |title=Teething vs. Illness: How to Tell the Difference |url=http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/news/20000410/babies-teething-illness |website=[[WebMD]] |access-date=14 October 2015}}</ref> but the oral involvement that may occur with herpes viruses makes misdiagnosis a particular risk for such infections.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kutekeiki.com/teething/can-teething-cause-fever/  |title=Can Teething Cause Fever? |website=Kute Keiki |date=20 April 2018 |access-date=21 March 2023}}</ref>