Is this a cavity or ?? Very tiny brown spots in 4yo's molar

[Alison's Mom]

My husband and I both have good teeth - he has one cavity, and I've never had one. His teeth are good due to flouride in the water where he grew up, not because of good dental hygiene (he's awful, but just lucky, I guess).

Anyway, I was brushing my 4yo's teeth tonight and noticed that there was some food stuck in her last molar. I kept brushing and it didn't come out. I took a metal pointy thing (from my high school biology kit that is similar to the tool dentists use) to try to scratch it off and it didn't come off.

So, there are a couple of very small brown spots in the crevice area of the molar (the part that is used for chewing) - they're almost too small to see. When I poked at it with the tool, they were not soft to the touch, but they are very tiny.

Is this a cavity or something else?

Her diet is not ideal - she drinks juice, eats sweets after dinner, etc, and although I think I'm a pretty good tooth brusher, DH helps her brush probably 50% of the time, and I'm sure he's not as thorough. . . .

I've read a bit about healing cavities and if this is what it is, I'd like to try xylitol and cod liver oil before going to the dentist to get it filled.

[Poddi]

I'd have a dentist look at them. I have a small brown spot on a molar and asked my doctor about it. She said it's older decay that's been stopped by flouride or remineralization and nothing to worry about. It could be new decays or old decays or even very tough stains. They probably won't fill them if they're that small.

[Alison's Mom]

Thanks. I went out and got Natural Factors cod liver oil, spry xylitol mints, toothpaste and mouthwash (though the kids think the toothpaste is too spicy), and a 'green' supplement. The manager at the HFS said that often cavities can form if our bodies are too acidic, and eating more alkaline producing foods can help with teeth as well as overall health. My kids don't eat nearly as many green vegetables as they should, so I bought this green vegetable supplement stuff, and added it to juice, but they both took one sip and said 'I don't like it'. I may be able to hide it in a smoothie on the weekend.