DAILY diaries were kept on 125 well children for the eight months between a four-month health check and a one-year health check.

Every day, the parents took the child’s temperature twice and recorded the absence or presence of 18 symptoms, together with any tooth eruptions.

The symptoms found to be associated with teething were:

• increased biting
• drooling
• gum-rubbing
• sucking
• irritability
• wakefulness
• ear-rubbing
• facial rash
• decreased appetite for solid foods
• mild increase in temperature.

The symptoms which were not found to have a strong link were:

• congestion
• disturbed sleep
• loose stools
• increased stools
• decreased appetite for liquid
• cough
• rashes other than on the face
• fever over 102F
• vomiting

Even though a range of symptoms were found to be associated with teething, more than a third of the babies had no symptoms when they teethed.

The study was carried out by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, USA and published in Pediatrics, a respected American journal. Some of the information conflicts with current UK thinking, including the facial rash, which is thought by dentists to be linked to a virus rather than teething.