2R Old with Cavity

I just took my almost 3 yo son to the dentist. I would suggest a pediatric dentist. They have experience with helping kids who are younger. It makes a difference.

We talked about what to expect ahead of time- sitting on my lap in the big cool chair, the lights, how the dentist has special tools to help his teeth stay healthy and strong. He knew the dentist would count his teeth. I tried for a few weeks to get him used to my fingers in his mouth and getting him to open wider and stay open wide while brushing. We talked about it every day for many days in advance.

When we brush I try to get him to copy me and open my mouth super wide, or roar like a tiger, sing, or yodel like Tarzan... anything to get those teeth apart enough for me to really see and brush.

At the dentist he sat on my lap. The bright lights bothered him, so he wore sunglasses. For part of the time I also covered his eyes with my hands. It was a pretty quick process, but he did better because he knew what to expect.

Are you giving her any hard sugar candy, or cokes? Some parents give their children lots of sweets as rewards etc when they are young. My sister did this with her kids. Her son had 9 cavities by the age of 4. He allowed cokes (a lot), and a lot of junk food. It's hard to say no when your little one is giving you their beautiful fluttering eyes..lol.

Sometimes even if you are giving them nothing but healthy foods and very seldom any sugar snacks, their teeth are just born weak.

The dentist will be able to tell you what is going on with her teeth. Bless her heart. Take care.

My daughter did not even make it to 2 without ECC (early childhood carries). I think she inherited her father's teeth or I didn't get enough vitamin D while preg. (They are finding the RDA's for adults and kids are way too low...Canada has boosted theirs up.
Her decay started with the 2 front teeth discolored...then advanced FAST. Like just a few months. (Like what you described...the "breaking into pieces") What really got me is the first two dentists we saw did not think it was decay, and so I was lulled into false sense of security.
The destruction was so complete...they just pulled her front teeth and had to fill some in the back. I opted for sealing on the back ones. All this was a big bill...but they got to knock kids out for this kind of work.
Like a previous poster...I went to west valley pediatric for the work...they are great.

Hi J. -

If I understand you correctly, it's the front teeth that are chipped/cracked/discolored - is that right?

There are some natural herbs, very high in calcium/magnesium, that will add natural calcium to her blood - and her teeth. There is also a good product, called Dentazyme (sp?), that you can put on the tooth brush and it strengths, kills germs (naturally), and lots of other stuff.

Are you using toothpaste? Does it have flouride in it? The chemicals in regular toothpaste are hard on a child's teeth. Have you tried NEEM - a natural toothpaste or baking soda (non-aluminum type) with a little bit of water and some peppermint extract?

Just some ideas. If you need more information about the herbs or where to get the Dentazyme - let me know.

Blessings,

M. M. Ernsberger
Certified Clinical Herbalist

So far we have been lucky with our girls. Neither one has had teeth problems. Each girl started seeing the dentist as soon as she had teeth. They would just do a count on teeth and make sure they were healthy. My oldest (6) now just climbs in the chair and sits patiently while her teeth are cleaned. My youngest (3) is still a little impatient, but just squirms in the chair.

My nephew has had his 8 cavities filled, and a few baby root canals as well, he is 4. If they aren't taken care of they will affect the permanent teeth underneath the baby teeth.

Make sure you get a good dentist, it makes all the difference, I use the pediatric dentist on Wilcox in Sierra Vista. My girls love him and the staff.

Good Luck.

I rarely gave my kids juice when they were young. I think it is a lot of sugar even the all
natural. My niece has always had all kinds of soda and juice and her teeth are terrible.
I would keep trying to brush them. It could be that they were injured and that is why the discoloration. I'd wait and see what the dentist says, but I'd also let her know the Dr. says you need to brush her teeth or they will get cavities and explain what that is and that it's not good for the teeth. They understand more than we think at this age. Fortunately, these are her baby teeth and maybe if they are taken good care of she can develop good permanent teeth.

Take care,
K.

Hi J.,
Don't blame yourself. My son had no cavities at 2 1/2 and then 6 months later had 7 cavities! I was shocked and we brushed and flossed everyday. The dentist said that sharing cups can introduce a more virulent form of bacteria in the mouth making the teeth more prone to cavities. I would switch to the straw cups and use tap water. My son's dentist also recommended a floride rinse at night with nothing by mouth after the rinse. Now he brushes with a perscription toothpaste that has higher floride levels. They will not generally give it to young children because it can not be swallowed. He has been using it for 4 years now with no cavities until this time. Thankfully the one he has is on a loose tooth and doesn't need to be filled. The other improvement was using an electric toothbrush like Oral B. Keep brushing and flossing (make it into a game if they resist) and do the best you can. Find a good pediatric dentist (We go to West Valley Pediatric Dentisty) because they are better able to handle scared and wiggly kids. Good luck and remember it is not your fault!
M. B.

Some people have bad teeth some have bad gums. I have bad teeth and my husband has bad gums. So far our son is good on both and our daughter goes soon for her first check up.

If you are in Tucson and dont have a good dentist. Kim Pakune DDS is great with adults and children. She has two boys of her own. I am not sure what she will do but she is very honest.

Some kids just are more prone to tooth problems.

Some thing you can do to prevent it, if you are doing any of these things...

1. No bottle/sippy cup in bed, unless it's water, especially tap water. The flouride in it can sit on the teeth. If you give milk or juice just before bed, the sugar can sit on teeth causing decay.

2. If you can, start using regular cups or straws as much as possible over sippy cups. in order to drink from a sippy cup, the juice/milk come directly onto the two front teeth. If you use a straw or a regular cup, this does not happen.

Good luck!

Do you give her bottled water or tap water? Bottled water does not have flouride in it, which our teeth need. Tap water does have it. The dentist will probably give her a flouride treatment, and then prescribe flouride vitamins to her. Or she could have just inherited bad teeth.

If it is a good dentist who isn't out for money, hopefully nothing. She is too young and she will lose those teeth eventually. They may take x-rays to see if there is root damage since they are discoloring...

My daughter chipped her tooth at about 16 mos. It didn't discolor and I didn't take her to the dentist. Just waiting for the permanent tooth sometime after she is 5 years old.
Good luck!

Hi J.. I don't know if they will do anything different for a 2-year-old, but I just a piece of my 6-year-old daughter's tooth just fell off a couple of weeks ago (it was a molar) and they had to do a baby root canal and cap her tooth, then she had to had to get fillings on some other teeth.

I don't know what is different with kids now then back when I was a kid, but you're supposed to floss your child's teeth every night. My parents never flossed my teeth and I didn't have a cavity until I was 29... and I ate A LOT of sugar and junk food growing up. So I'm not sure why things are so different for my daughter and why she had so many cavities, but I felt like the worst parent in the world, but since then I've found quite a few kids who have had to have caps on their teeth, so I think maybe doctors or schools or something should keep parents better informed on how to take care of your child's teeth. So if you feel like I felt, don't feel too bad. Apparently there are a lot of parents like us who don't know what can happen ... it just doesn't seem like something that happens to a kid ... I've always thought of cavaties as an adult problem.

Anyway, as far as technique the dentist should be able to help you be more successful when brushing your daughter's teeth and they should show you how to floss too.

Don't give up on brushing your daughters teeth. My sister who is a dentist- lays her children down with their head in her lap and has them open their mouth to brush. This allows her to see the back teeth that can be hard to reach. It also seems to relax them before going to bed. She will sing a song "this is the way we brush or teeth", and names the teeth. Now I don't know the numbers of all the teeth- so that doesn't work for me. But her style does as long as you don't use to much tooth paste. In fact she suggest that you don't need tooth paste at all and can use a rinse for children if they can spit it out. Anyway, I used to tell my son that I could see the cavity makers and I will get them, saying oops there is one there and there allowing me to brush for the recommended 3 min. (my sister uses a timer, I use a tooth bush that lights up for the time). All that said, my youngest has terrible teeth.

Hi J.!

I really know where you are coming from 100% my son who is 6 now has dental problems at about 18 months. We noticed discoloring, and decaying and the first thing I thought was "what did I do wrong, what could I have done to prevent this". The answer is: NOTHING. Many times specially in cases where the children have dental problems at an early age it can actually just plain be linked to genetics. My son at 18 months had to have dental surgery to have caps, and fillings. He is now 6 and while things for the most part have been great we are going in for some more work (mostly on his baby teeth unfortunately they aren't falling out anytime soon so we have to work on them). In General his adult teeth are coming in fine only 2 small cavities and sealing them ( I highly recommend sealing as will the dentist I am sure). Talk to your dentist! I am positive he will tell you the same thing. So don't blame yourself!

Depending on the area you are in I recently found a great children's dental place in Tempe my son is going there the 7th for his dental work (and being completely knocked out!) I wish I had found them 5 years ago!

If you are serious about stopping your child's decay, consider a complete nutritional makeover. No, I don't mean "no sugar," though that may be part of it. Sugar is only a small part of it. Here are two threads on mothering.com which may be of interest to you. Again, some of these ideas run counter to our no-fat culture, so be prepared!
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=399989
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=940212

Good luck. It's hard to face something that we seem to have so little control over.