to think this was an odd thing for the dentist to say

[42andcounting]

Took DD to the dentist for the first time today (she is just one this week and has three teeth). He had a quick look and said "she should have more teeth by now. Give her something to chew on, like a teething ring". I felt like he was saying that if she did more chewing she would have a mouth full of teeth, but surely all children develop at different rates. Is this odd, or am I making no sense?

Oh, and she chews on stuff all the time - she's one!

Did was almost 15 months before she had her 1st tooth, had 2 dentist appointments before she even had teeth.

Dentist wasn't worried.

I find it strange, but perhaps it changed as DD is now in year 1 at school and sulking because all the rest of her school friends have lost teeth and she hasn't

My 3.5 yr old still hasn't got her 2 yr molars. The dentist said it was a good thing, there was less time for them to get damaged

Yes odd. I thought that teeth development just happened and couldn't be encouraged, but hey I'm not a dentist. Dd1 was toothless on her first birthday and lost her last baby tooth at 15. She's fine.

Yes, that's odd.

Though I am not a dentist.

Very odd. A bit like people who tell you to cut your hair to make it grow.

DS1 had 1 tooth at 1yo, 8 by around 18mo, then a cranial osteopathy appt after which 10 teeth cut thru in a week.

They do indeed all arrive in their own time, but my Osteo appeared to loosen something up!

Oh jeez a tick box dentist! Children do all develop at different rates. Eg DD1 had teeth at 7 months, DS1 at 11 months, DD2 at 6 months and DS2 at 14 months. I think it was an odd thing for the dentist to say. You can't make your DD's teeth grow any faster. I always thought teeth come through when they decided to. All my kids had bickipegs (oh the shame) and chewing certainly didn't have anything to do with their teeth coming in.

DD1 had her first tooth at about 10 months old, by the times she was 2 years old, she still only had about 6 teeth. She's now almost 7 and is a bit disappointed that she's only lost two teeth, whereas her classmates have lost loads! Dentist says it's good to get them/lose them later as the adult teeth will last longer. I'm not sure when I got my milk teeth through but I still have two of them and I'm 36!
DD2 had a full set (minus the last back molars) by the time she was about 18 months old and DS had a full set by the time he was 12 mths old.