The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics 2015 , Vol 57 , Num 1
Association Between Teething and Independent Walking in Healthy Children
Departments of 1Pediatrics and 2Public Health, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University 3Faculty of Medicine, Çanakkale, and 4Social Pediatrics Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
Email: drnazan_erdal@hotmail.com
Developing teeth provide a reliable indication of maturation and biological age. The objective of this study was to establish whether there is any association between the time of emergence of the first primary tooth and the time when independent walking occurs. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 206 healthy children (95 girls and 111 boys) aged 12 to 60 (mean: 29.79±0.66) months who were able to walk independently. The study was conducted using a questionnaire that was filled out by the parents. The first primary tooth emerged at 6.86±0.14 (min: 3–max: 13) months; the mean independent walking time was 12.58±2.15 (min: 8.50–max: 24.00) months. There was no correlation between the first teething and independent walking times (r=0.045, p=0.523). Factors such as breastfeeding status, intake of vitamins, walker usage and body mass index were found not to affect the time of either emergence of the first deciduous tooth or independent walking. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper in literature to have researched the relationship between the time of emergence of the first deciduous tooth and that of independent walking. It should be explained to parents that there is no relationship between the two in order to resolve anxiety when their child acquires a tooth but does not walk, or vice versa. Keywords : first deciduous tooth, walking time, maturity, children, eruption.
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