A new mother has spoken of her shock after her baby daughter was found to have two fully formed teeth straight after she was born. Vicki Griffiths was astounded to see that baby Eva Faith already had two front teeth when she was born at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough on September 8th, weighing 7lbs 4oz.
Vicki, 26, told the Daily Mail that her partner Steven informed her that the baby already had teeth and the pair ‘burst out laughing’; she added ‘we were in shock, and so were the midwives. She had her mouth closed to begin with, so we didn’t notice. It was quite bizarre to see them’ The new mum also said that she had been planning to breastfeed but was put off when she saw Eva’s teeth, saying ‘I don’t think anybody could blame me!’
Midwives and doctors at the hospital struggled to give the parents information about how to care for Eva properly because the occurrence is so rare – appearing once in every 2,000 to 3,000 babies. Vicki said ‘I kept asking the midwives and nurses what I could give Eva if she was in pain, but nobody was able to answer me. They just kept going away and then coming back with more people to look at Eva’s teeth. Nobody could believe it. When we came out of the hospital I went to see my GP and he said that he had never heard of this happening before.’
Consultant neonatologist at James Cook said ‘It probably happens about three times every two years here and we deliver 4,000 babies a year. Babies are born with one or two teeth and it’s usually in the lower gum.’