The present invention relates to a system device and method for monitoring infant oral motor kinetics (OMK), which can be used to assess the functional significance of the different sucking components, i.e., the plasticity of infant sucking skills in relation to their oral feeding performance, at a particular time, during the developmental period and/or during preventive or therapeutic intervention programs. It is a unique system and apparatus that provides a means to study the nonnutritive and/or nutritive sucking skills, i.e., the Suction and/or Expression components of sucking, of infants in the natural setting, i.e., during a normal feeding session. OMK sensors, tracked in real-time by the monitoring system, include miniature pressure transducers, or pressure sensitive pads, attached to the nipple for measuring intraoral pressure pulses during Suction, and for measuring compression/stripping pressure pulses during Expression; and a miniature flow sensor for measuring fluid flow rate, which can be integrated over time to determine the volume of milk removed (bolus) per suck. Other signals, such as respiration, swallowing, thermal, optical, and acoustic signals can be recorded and compared along with the instrumented-nipple signals, in an OMK monitoring system.

A teething apparatus includes a water-resistant housing containing a controller and a power source and communication means and a plurality of sensors in communication with the surface of the housing arranged and configured to detect at least pH and at least one volatile organic compound. Each of the plurality of sensors is in data communication with the controller and the controller is capable of communication with an external device via communication means. The apparatus may be a component of a larger system and may be used in a method including the steps of providing a teething apparatus to an oral cavity of an infant, establishing a data connection between the teething apparatus and a remote device, and relaying information from the teething apparatus to the remote device, the information comprising the qualitative measurement of one or more volatile organic compounds and the quantitative value of pH in the oral cavity.