early tooth decay

[07Mommy]

My 2 y/o has a tiny bit of decay....just beginning...and pediatric dentist says it is from "too much milk" and needs to be drilled and filled ASAP!

Has anyone else had this? It is also known as Baby Bottle Decay.

I am concerned about this situation...esp. when it comes to giving meds to my Lo and doing fillings w/o being under.

WWYD?

Thanks for reading.

[07Mommy]

Ok...so-o-o there's no one? No one who has a toddler at the dental check up was told that BFing babies to sleep at night is bad for their teeth?!?!

[CozMama]

I read a study on this with great visuals quite awhile ago and now I can't find it but here are 4 articles for you to read all saying the same if not similar things.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/tooth-decay.html
http://www.bflrc.com/ljs/myths/dentalca.htm
http://www.curetoothdecay.com/Baby_B...k_cavities.htm
http://www.breastfeeding.org/articles/dental.html

[kalamos23]

My DD has pretty bad decay - she started getting it at ~12m or so and is now 19mo. She was supposed to get caps at 15mo but I freaked out and canceled the surgery, my intuition was just blaring not to do it right then.

There was an article in Mothering a while ago ( I can look it up) and it talked about some sort of bacteria that causes tooth decay and is usually passed from the mother to the child by kissing, sharing food etc. I will see if I can find it, but I'm almost positive that is what happened iwth us - my teeth were fine until I got pregnant with DD and then went downhill fast.

Pretty much the only way to control the bacteria is by lots of tooth brushing/wiping and building the enamel back and supporting it as much as possible. As much as I hate flouride, we have started using floridated water (we have a well, so no flouride) because the xylitol gummies aren't available to the general public yet. Xylitol is also supposed to be a great option too. It has helped slow the decay significantly until DD is a little older and can understand surgery a bit better. If you use flouride or xylitol, it needs to be several times a day.

[possum]

You might also do some poking around over in the dental forum too.
I noticed white spots on my son's teeth around 10 months and "chipped" lateral incisors around 14 months. I now know the white spots were early demineralization. It took us a long time to find someone we felt comfortabel with who was knowledgeable and willing to treat a little guy.
We are finally staying with a great family dentist who is over an hour away.
He treats with ozone which kills the bacteria and stimulate healing of the tooth.
We also reluctantly decided to use Fl toothpaste (Squiggle) when my son was able to spit after brushing. We had been using xylitol for some time.
My son's decay is currently arrested and he is *still* nursing at almost 3. He recently night weaned too.
Melinda

[JamieCatheryn]

It's got little to do with the breastmilk, bacteria don't go after that, but going to bed with both milk AND food or other drinks on the teeth can contribute to decay. My first had weak enamel on his top incisors and they decayed rapidly no matter what we did (even CLO and Butter Oil), and they needed filling and maintenance refilling after that since it's a high impact set of teeth. Sucks to go through it with him but in our case it's all we can do.

I haven't seen anything to suggest drinking fluoride actually helps teeth, though direct treatments on the teeth may.

[kalamos23]

Jamie - my way of thinking was that since DD drinks fromj a cup, she is getting small amounts of flouride washed over her teeth many times a day - it's not optimal though at all.

I'd be very interested to learn about treating with ozone - although I doubtthat she wouldsit for a treatment.

[LadyCatherine185]

My 18 mo DS has some cavities as well that "have to be filled right away" under GA. I'm considering getting a second opinion.

I noticed you are in VA. I'm in Midlothian (20 minutes out side of richmond).. are you close?

[simplykate]

My 8 month old is too early for decay, but I'm concerned about it because my Sisters DDs had issues with it. My ped has had me using xylitol toothpaste (on myself) since the day she was born. Something about the bacteria in my mouth.... anyone know anything about this?

[echospiritwarrior]

My four year old has decay and started getting it around 18 months I think. My decay has gotten much worse since pregnancy and I even had to have one tooth pulled since my 2nd was born. I'm not sure I am going to have X's teeth worked on. The dentist I go to says, wait until she gets her permanent and then I'll take a look. Isn't that one of the reasons we have milk teeth?

[nervousmommy]

Hi ....nak
My son is 14 months...I don't know if he has any problems with decay. We haven't taken him to the dentist yet. I've always had bad teeth and did all the wring things when he was little...sucked on my finger,paci to "clean" before putting in his mouth to suck on. I'm nervous about him getting decay.

At this point...what can I do for him. We "try" to brush his teeth every morning and most nights. It's very difficult to know if I'm getting all his teeth as he clinches his mouth and it's very hard to get in there.

He treats with ozone which kills the bacteria and stimulate healing of the tooth.
We also reluctantly decided to use Fl toothpaste (Squiggle) when my son was able to spit after brushing. We had been using xylitol for some time.

Tell me about this xylitol and should we use it on him and me? Where do I look to find a dentist that does this ozone thing? When should I take him to dentist..I don't want to scare him? How do you clean a child's teeth that fights you on it without them then having bad associations with brushing their teeth?
Thanks

[possum]

Originally Posted by nervousmommy

Hi ....nak
My son is 14 months...I don't know if he has any problems with decay. We haven't taken him to the dentist yet. I've always had bad teeth and did all the wring things when he was little...sucked on my finger,paci to "clean" before putting in his mouth to suck on. I'm nervous about him getting decay.

At this point...what can I do for him. We "try" to brush his teeth every morning and most nights. It's very difficult to know if I'm getting all his teeth as he clinches his mouth and it's very hard to get in there.



Tell me about this xylitol and should we use it on him and me? Where do I look to find a dentist that does this ozone thing? When should I take him to dentist..I don't want to scare him? How do you clean a child's teeth that fights you on it without them then having bad associations with brushing their teeth?
Thanks

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol that inhibits the growth of bacteria. I think the recommendation is 5-6 exposures/day for a total of about 5-7 grams of xylitol. You can get mints made with xylitol (we like Epic mints), gum, xylitol crystals/poweder to use like sugar, and toothpaste. Squiggle TP has Fl, but the same company also makes a no Fl version. Those are the TPs with the highest xylitol content. We were a bit uncomfortable with Fl and did not use it at all until my son could spit after brushing.

I would ask on the dental forum, your tribal area, and also on the very young kids teeth and alternative kids teeth yahoo groups to find an ozone practitioner. Heal Ozone is a trademarked ozone delivery system, and they have a practitioner database I believe, but there are a number of dentists who treat with ozone that are not using that system. If you are in the Philadelphia area, Dr. Keith Hollander is great. We see him and don't mind an hour's drive to do it. It took us a year and 3 other dentists before we finally found Dr. Keith, and we are so glad we did.

Melinda

[nervousmommy]

Thanks for such a quick reply. I'm in California. At what age did you take your son to the dentist the first time and did they find the decay the first visit? Did you have a history of decay and feel it was passed on?

[possum]

We took my son to the dentist at about 15 months when we realized that what we were seeing was decay. The first few dentists we saw were worthless - each for their own reasons. They all recognized his decay right away though.

I have never had a cavity. My husband has had a couple I believe. He had something done about 8 years ago for a cavity but hasn't had any issues since then.
My son's issues came from gluten intolerance which caused poor digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Melinda