All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

"All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth", according to Wikipedia, is a novelty Christmas song written in 1944 by Donald Yetter Gardner while teaching music at public schools in Smithtown, New York. He asked his second grade class what they wanted for Christmas, and noticed that almost all of the students had at least one front tooth missing as they answered in a lisp. Gardner wrote the song in 30 minutes. In a 1995 interview, Gardner said, "I was amazed at the way that silly little song was picked up by the whole country." The song was published in 1948 after an employee of Witmark music company heard Gardner sing it at a music teachers conference.

A few weeks ago, when little Faye Armstrong of Waterloo, Liverpool was born, she actually received two front teeth! Faye is considered a rarity because she was born with two front teeth…and has two more appearing!

Teeth begin to develop before birth, along with other organs in your body; however, they don’t usually erupt until ~6mos to one year of age. The first teeth to erupt are normally the top and bottom 4 front teeth, and by age 3, approximately 20 baby teeth are present. These baby teeth will begin to fall out & make way for larger adult teeth around the age of 5yrs.

But baby Faye’s case is a little different. She represents 1 in ~3000 babies who have natal / neonatal teeth. Natal teeth are teeth that are present at the time of birth. Neonatal teeth are teeth that erupt during the fist 30 days after birth. Natal teeth usually develop in the lower front gum area and are attached to the gums by soft tissue. Most are mobile and do not have adequate root formation, but can cause irritation to the infant’s tongue or a nursing mother. Most natal teeth are removed shortly after birth, especially if they are mobile, to prevent aspiration of the tooth.

No one really knows for sure why these teeth erupt so early, but several sources suggest a possible hereditary connection. For instance, the Tlinget Indians in Alaska show a prevalence of 9% of their newborns having natal or neonatal teeth, 62% of them had affected relatives. Other environmental factors, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), used in pesticides, coolants, carbonless copy paper, etc, have all been sited as other possible sources, and are associated with other symptoms as well. Some also indicate correlations between natal teeth and various syndromes.

Regardless of the cause, there can be complications with the tooth enamel on these teeth, causing the teeth to turn a yellow-brown color or cavity formation to begin. So, if your child has natal or neonatal teeth, it is imperative that you seek professional advice from your dentist to ensure proper tooth development can occur in the future.

So in the spirit of the holidays, you can continue singing Mr. Gardner’s lyrics…that is, unless you are an expectant mother due in the month of December.