Success Stories from Moms Who Chose Not to "Fix" Cavities in Baby Teeth - Page 2

[SleeplessMommy]

It is my expectation that weak enamel can be made stronger (with fluoride + mipaste for example). But filling in holes in teeth "naturally" .. not going to happen. Either dentist will be able to offer composite fillings (mercury free).

Personally, I would choose the dentist who has better "chairside  manner" with your kid.

[jj NZ]

Seriously, if you are giving your children that much fluoride you should at least do some research first. There are plenty of legitimate studies that show the dangers of fluoride. Your post looks like an ADVERT to try and convince parents that the only way to prevent tooth decay in children is to use fluoride, while there is evidence that fluoride can do massive damage to the bones and teeth over a long period of time. It is known to be one of the most bone-seeking elements there is, meaning that what goes into the body doesn't come out, instead it stays in the bones and can lead to osteoporosis, as well as tooth decay.. the very thing it is supposed to prevent. There are countries that will not put it into the water because of the massive health risks that it has been linked to. The Germans put fluoride into the water at concentration camps for the Jewish people to drink, what does that tell you?   There are plenty of ways to keep children's teeth healthy without the use of poisons like fluoride. There are water filters able to remove fluoride from drinking water if your water supply is fluoridated. I am lucky enough to live in a city that has not got fluoride in the water. I only use natural toothpastes, and my family and I eat a good healthy diet: No lollies, fizzys, junk food etc.. and our teeth are fine.  Check out the link... or do your own research.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-study-fluoride-can-damage-the-brain---avoid-use-in-children-124299299.html   

[falling horse]

I second Rami Nagels book.  My sons decay stopped only after we used nutritional threrapy.  We also did the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for three months and have had no new decay in almost three years, he will be six next month!  Still making those bone broths!

[Holistic]

I thought I'd update what we've done since I started this thread.

We tried EVERYTHING. Bought Ramil Nagel's book, did Dr. Ellie's xylitol system, spent $100 on high vitamin butter oil and fermented cod liver oil, gave ds 4 different types of cell salts 3x/day, painted clay on his teeth at night, limited sugar/juice/carbs/etc., fed him a traditional foods diet, got a temporary filling from a holistic dentist, tested the pH level of his saliva, fed him seaweed and nettles and hard cheese and I'm sure there are many more things I did that I can't remember off the top of my head.

However...his teeth continued to chip away and look worse and worse.  I spent so many hours thinking/worrying/stressing about his mouth- Is he feeling any pain? Does he have an abscess? Will his permanent teeth be affected? When will he develop insecurities from all the kids who are starting to ask why he has broken/brown teeth? Is his night-waking caused by tooth pain? Is his shyness or temper tantrum caused by headaches caused by tooth pain?

I had read somewhere that small children are unable to communicate tooth pain and will often say their head hurts or lips hurt, or won't say anything hurts, but they act out. I asked my son too often if his teeth hurt and he always said no, but flinched when I brushed his teeth, and was always pushing on the outside of his lip above the teeth. He also woke 3x4 times a night crying, and woke from his naps crying. (He's 3.)

We took him to see 4 dentists. Two of them had absolutely nothing to profit off of me- one was a family friend and the other was my personal holistic dentist, and they did not work with children.

They all said we needed to have the top four teeth extracted.

It took us 6 months to finally work up the courage to do it, still thinking we could "wait and see." But last week I felt a strong urge to take him in. I thought I saw an abscess forming and we took him in to see a fantastic pedodontist. She said there was no abscess,which was a huge relief to me because this meant no need for antibiotics (which he has never been on) and we set up the appointment for the 4 extractions. She gave me two options- general sedation in the hospital, or conscious sedation in her office. She allowed us in the room, even let my son sit on his dad's lap. No restraints, no papoose board needed. We opted for the conscious sedation, and though he wasn't too pleased about being there, once the meds kicked in he fell asleep and slept through his extractions. I was worried about the sedation since he has never even had Motrin in his life, much less a narcotic, but he did fine. 

He slept until the novocaine wore off, and I nursed him as soon as he woke up back home. There was no bleeding, minimal swelling, and he hasn't once complained about pain. I was forcefeeding him popsicles, but never had to give him anything else and by the next morning he was trying to bite into things with his gums. I kept trying to stop him without making too big of a deal about it, but he doesn't seem to miss his teeth at all. I've been asking him if his teeth hurt and he says, "no, they used to but they don't anymore."

Since his extractions, he has slept through the night EVERY NIGHT. This hasn't happened since he was born. He also just seems generally happier. Oh- and it turns out he DID have an abscess- something the dentist saw when she removed the tooth, which confirmed the importance of extracting that tooth because that could have caused damage to his adult tooth. There really is truth to "mother's intuition" since I just knew he had an abscess, but she didn't see it at his exam. 

His speech has not been affected, and he seems to be eating a little better since the procedure. He now looks like an adorable tiny little first grader with those missing teeth.  The other kids he's been around have not said anything to him, and I think as long as we don't make a big deal about it, the whole thing will soon be a distant memory.

In conclusion, I am glad we were able to wait until he was 3 to have the treatment. I am also relieved I don't have to worry about those teeth anymore. If I could go back in time, there is nothing I would do any differently.

I am extremely curious as to why so many of us AP moms have children with serious decay on those top four teeth. It has been proven that breast milk is not to blame, but I have another theory that I have come up with completely on my own. I don't think it is the breastmilk itself, but the all night nursing- when the baby is actually sleeping with the nipple in the mouth. This prevents those top four teeth from exposure to saliva which is constantly remineralizing holes in teeth. To me, if it was breastmilk then all of my baby's teeth would be decayed- not just the top 4. 

I would love to hear from other moms who also have had a similar experience, and I'm sorry you are going through this. What brings me comfort is knowing they are only baby teeth, and those adult teeth will be coming in soon enough.

[cameragirl]

I can't offer any help with the not-filling option, as we had our daughter's cavities filled as well. She eats well, gets plenty of sun, we brush twice a day...but she still has gotten a few pretty bad cavities. They come on very quickly, and get big quickly. All of the pediatric dentists around wouldn't even consider working on a toddler without a papoose. They wanted to use the papoose without any form of sedation, and I am NOT okay with that at all. Nice way to scare a kid off the dentist for life. We knew the first one had to be filled soon, so we told the pediatric dentist to sedate her but NO papoose. She was agitated after, and ended up chewing her tongue pretty badly. Soon after, she developed a couple more cavities. We ended up calling around, and finally tried my mom's dentist. He normally treats adults, but has kids of his own around the same age as our daughter. He was willing to treat her, and it went great. She did get nitrous, but sat very still and he did a great job. She likes going for her check-ups, and we're always welcome to sit with her. DH and I switched to him as well, and we've been very pleased.

We have fluoridated water, but we do not use fluoridated toothpaste. We've started giving her cod liver oil to up her D levels, especially since we can't absorb enough from the sun during Nov. - Mar. here. There seems to be an increase in cavities in toddlers and young children, but I've seen it attributed to bottle rot. We never let DD fall asleep with a bottle, and in fact, she was breastfed. I'm not sure why AP moms would have any more of an increase in cavities in their kids. I wonder, though, if low D levels has something to do with the increase in general.

[D_McG]

Originally Posted by Holistic 

If I could go back in time, there is nothing I would do any differently.

I am glad your son is doing better.

I have to ask how the quoted is possible though.  Knowing now that he was in such terrible pain. You still would have waited?  I just don't understand.

[Holistic]

Originally Posted by D_McG 

I have to ask how the quoted is possible though.  Knowing now that he was in such terrible pain. You still would have waited?  I just don't understand.

It was really important to me to wait until he was old enough to not have to have general anesthesia since the brain does so much growth in the first 3 years. And as I stated, I asked him constantly if he was in pain and always said no. I am proud of our decision to try and heal his teeth naturally, because in doing so other areas of his health were strengthened too. Regret, wishing to change the past, guilt, etc has no room in my life as a mother and I did the best I could with the information I had.

[kmamma]

Holisitc--I know the thread is very old, but I just wanted to say I think you should be very proud of your decision to wait it out. I'm glad that you finally found the path which worked for both you and your son. 

Also, I noticed your theory of why so many AP kids have cavities on the front teeth. I believe that's partially correct, nighttime breastfeeding. But children in traditional cultures who breastfed on demand (which included continuous night feedings) did not have rampant caries, or much of it all.

It's possible that AP kids are more caries prone because of their diet of whole grains and possibly the lack of saturated fats and calcium (many avoid high fat and dairy foods). According to Rami, whole grains is one of the top causes for tooth decay. When the teeth are not healthy, they are too weakened to withstand the constant presence of food on their teeth (any food, not just breastmilk, only thing is that formula fed infants don't have a bottle stuck in their mouths all night). Neither of my sons had the typical front teeth cavities, but the younger one has one canine that is spotted (and has been for a long time with no worsening) and it just so happens to be on the left side, where during nighttime feedings, the milk would likely pool as he sleeps on that side. 

My older son had most of his cavities on molars. Still has, as he hasn't started loosing them yet at age 10. I don't think he had much on the front teeth. But then both my sons have always been very solid sleepers, not waking much for nighttime feeding except the very early months. 

My oldest has had pretty bad caries since he was a toddler. I never met a dentist in the US who seemed surprised, but since we moved back to Sweden, where dental care is free for children, they all just gasp at the sight of his teeth. And they aren't really that bad, they're all fairly intact, but all in all he's had 15 cavities I think. 

We waited it out for a few years until he got an abscess at age 5 when we decided to get all his 12 cavities filled. I sort of regret it because I know understand that a filled cavity can't heal and it seems many fillings fell out. 

6 months ago we took him in for another cavity, which was so deep they considered a root canal. In the end, they filled it and said we could wait it out for 6 months. We're due to go back soon, but I definitely want to avoid a root canal, especially since he's had no pain whatsoever. I'm going to get some cell salts and see how that works. I'm also concerned about all the radiation exposure he's had by now. It's tricky, knowing what route to take. 

He has had some remineralization on his canine teeth, so we know it can happen. I think faith is a treatment that is a bit underestimated. I know I need to work on that, as I tend to get into panic mode easily. 

[eirual]

I'll chime in with our experience and you can take it for what it's worth.

DS (now 6yo) has a "brown-line of decay" along his top front 4 teeth (they came in that way and have decayed up to that brown line). I had made the decision to fix them then were sitting in the dentist chair and the dentist said "you know what, he's still really little, let's leave them" (this was just before he turned 3).

So, we left them.

They've only decayed up to that line and not past it. He never complains of them hurting and they're now super wiggly and getting ready to fall out on their own (the front two anyway).

He has had other cavities...we got one little one in a molar filled since he's not expecting to loose those for quite some time. He had another molar that got a cavity while we didn't have insurance and it got infected and needed to be pulled. Those front ones though since they're next in line to fall out we were comfortable with waiting them out...and I think breastfeeding helped...he nursed 'til he was 5.5.