Baby has neonatal tooth removed at 12 days old

A baby girl born was born with a tooth and had it removed at just 12 days old in early August. The infant, named Isla-Rose, was treated at Seven Trees Dental Access Centre, where the dentist used numbing cream as she was too young for a general anesthetic. The story was widely reported in the national media.

The BDA's scientific advisor, Professor Damien Walmsley, explained how neonatal teeth are often loose because the roots are not properly developed and that there is a risk of a detached tooth entering the child's lungs, but this is extremely rare.

Eating disorders and their impact on teeth

BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour explored how eating disorders can damage teeth in an edition which featured Laura Dennison who suffered from bulimia for five years.

Also speaking on the programme, private London dentist Uchenna Okoye pointed out that eating disorders are not the only cause of erosion and drew listeners’ attention to NICE tips on how to minimise such damage to teeth.

Tongue-splitting now illegal

People who have cosmetic treatment to split their tongue are at serious risk of haemorrhage, infection and even nerve damage, surgeons have warned. In a joint statement, the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) at the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) and the British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) warn that, following a recent court case, ‘body modification practitioners’ in England and Wales offering tongue splitting are now likely to be doing so illegally.

The procedure is often offered alongside regulated procedures such as tattooing and piercing, but there has been uncertainty over the legal status of tongue splitting for some time – it is not covered under any existing legislation, so is in effect entirely unregulated. However, in England and Wales a Court of Appeal judgement recently found tongue splitting to be illegal, constituting grievous bodily harm, when performed by a body modification practitioner for cosmetic purposes, even in instances where consent has been obtained.