Don't give infants age-inappropriate foods to use for teething. If your baby isn't ready to eat a food, it shouldn't be used for teething. A baby, even one without teeth, can break off pieces of food that could pose a choking risk. Also, hard foods can cause cuts or other injury to an infant's mouth or gums. Besides the choking hazard, salt-cured foods such as jerky and those foods with sodium nitrates contain carcinogens which are associated with cancer.
Infants have a higher risk for cancer development with exposures because of rapid cell division.
However, a baby with a numb mouth may have some difficulty chewing and swallowing. Be sure and watch your baby closely during meals if you are using mouth-numbing teething medication. Even a small amount of alcohol ingestion can be very dangerous for an infant. Alcohol is toxic and should never be given to babies or children. Some babies may sail through the teething process with few symptoms while other infants are visibly uncomfortable and difficult to console with each new tooth's arrival.