For a number of years, pediatric providers have discouraged the use of topical numbing agents for teething pain. Although alternative products became available, these potentially dangerous products were still being produced by drug companies.
As of May 23rd, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked companies including Church & Dwight Co., maker of the Baby Orajel brand, to voluntarily stop selling oral anesthetics that contain benzocaine to soothe teething pain.
In 2006 and 2011, the FDA warned about the potential dangers of benzocaine, and has said parents shouldn’t use the products in children younger than 2 given the risk of developing a potentially deadly condition called methemoglobinemia, which reduces oxygen levels in the blood. The FDA also wants all products that contain the pain reliever to include warnings about infant use.
More than 400 cases of benzocaine-associated methemoglobinemia have been reported to the FDA or in medical literature since 1971. The FDA analyzed 119 of the episodes from February 2009 to October 2017, including 11 linked to patients younger than 2 years old. 
The AAP has previously discouraged the use of homeopathic teething remedies that contain belladonna or benzocaine as ingredients marketed to numb your child’s pain. The FDA has previously issued warnings against both of these ingredients due to potential side effects.
