Oral Characteristics of Newborns

Newborn infants present some oral characteristics that are inherent to their stage of development and adequate to their physiological needs. There may also be physiological variations, however, which frequently raise doubts among parents. Many dental professionals are not aware of these aspects of the oral cavity of infants. The purpose of this paper was to present the normal aspects and common variations observed in the oral cavity of newborns to allow proper dental care and counseling to parents. (J Dent Child 2008;75:4-6) Received October 15, 2006 | Last Revision May 18, 2007 | Revision Accepted May 23, 2007.