Her teeth are chipping away!

[amyandelle]

Azaliah (16mos) has two teeth that are chipping away very fast! You can sort of see it in the pic http://i863.photobucket.com/albums/a...melamy/056.jpg , they are the top side teeth. We have had her to the dentist. He said it is decalcification (?) and that she needs to see a specialist. We have an appt this Wednesday. I am freaking out though because they are chipping so fast. I know they are going to blame it on breastfeeding at bedtime but I honestly don't feel that is the cause. Our oldest had tons of problems with her teeth (15 cavities fixed at age 3) but nothing like this! Our middle dd has gorgeous teeth They all breastfed. They all also have had/have food intolerances and I honestly feel that has alot to do with it. The only other thing I can think of is that we give Azaliah tap water and never did with our other girls. Could it be the flouride? I am not educated on the whole flouride debate.....

Any feedback will be welcomed!!

Thanks,
Amy

[fruitfulmomma]

I absolutely believe that our town's tap water is a big problem for my kids teeth. *Everyone* my husband grew up with in this neighborhood has a mouth full of rotten teeth. One kid we know moved here from somewhere else and had good teeth, now they are rotten. We were using spring water for awhile and it seemed to be keeping problems at bay. Now that we've had to go back to tap they are all getting bad again. I don't know if we have fluoride. I do know we have chlorine. I can smell it when they treat it.

I've always night nursed and the ones that have issues are the ones that are weaned. The dentist peaked in the nurslings mouth a couple of weeks ago and didn't notice any issues with her.

Anyway, there is a book called Cure Tooth Decay - http://www.curetoothdecay.com/ - that would probably be helpful for getting some nutritional/supplemental advice. I think there is a tribe around here for people using his ideas with their kids. They would be a good source for you.

[giraffee]

We started using xyletol tooth paste and MI Paste to fight off the dental issues. I hear that cod liver oil - 1 tsp daily is a great way to maintain dental health. Certainly filter out anything they say about BFing - the milk doesn't even touch her front teeth when you nursing at night, the nipple goes far deeper. HTH

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by giraffee

We started using xyletol tooth paste and MI Paste to fight off the dental issues. I hear that cod liver oil - 1 tsp daily is a great way to maintain dental health. Certainly filter out anything they say about BFing - the milk doesn't even touch her front teeth when you nursing at night, the nipple goes far deeper. HTH

unfortunately that is not necessarily true. There is a very pro-breastfeeding dentist that is teaching about why we are seeing so much decay in breastfed babies with the increase in incidences of tongue tie-especially of the labial frenulum which creates pockets that collect milk. This can adversely affect the teeth from what he says and I have no reason not to believe that. The evidence is quite compelling. His answer isn't to stop breastfeeding, by the way.

[Panserbjorne]

I would certainly look into cell salts for the decalcification! You can also consider addressing this nutritionally and using other home remedies like clay-but I'd not pass up the cell salts.

[2xy]

I have no advice on the teeth, but that's one cute baby!

[deditus]

My dd's teeth did that - it was from malabsorption because of her food intolerances (gluten, dairy, soy, and egg). Once she got off those foods, she started absorbing nutrients again and her teeth remineralized! Her dentist said that her teeth looked just like those of his patients with celiac disease (she was blood tested for celiac and it was negative). We have been actively working on healing her gut (and mine) since then and her health has improved tremendously and the secondary dentin on her teeth is smooth, glossy, and white! She did have to have about 5 small fillings but we worked with a wonderful pediatric dentist who did them in his office, very quickly, with dd on my lap.

[ema-adama]

Originally Posted by Panserbjørne

unfortunately that is not necessarily true. There is a very pro-breastfeeding dentist that is teaching about why we are seeing so much decay in breastfed babies with the increase in incidences of tongue tie-especially of the labial frenulum which creates pockets that collect milk. This can adversely affect the teeth from what he says and I have no reason not to believe that. The evidence is quite compelling. His answer isn't to stop breastfeeding, by the way.

My DS had TT, which we cut. However, I have been noticing first on one front tooth, and now both, yellow marks. It does not look like decay, as in the tooth is smooth with no 'missing bits'. Today I looked, and there is a tie between the lip and his gum between the front teeth.

I have recently pretty much nightweaned him.

But I do want to know if it would be a good idea to look into having this clipped too?

DS has massive phobia of people touching in and around his mouth, making teeth brushing an issue. I manage the odd wipe/swipe, and he does his own brushing (FWIW). I am putting off taking him to the dentist as I just don't know how he will take to the idea of someone looking in his mouth, or any treatments that might be needed. .

Sorry OP for taking this OT. I am really curious as to PB's opinion on clipping the frenulum between the lip and the gum. For DS and for the baby due in Dec if he/she has TT.

[Panserbjorne]

given how much I've read, evidence that's been presented in seminars, workshops I've been a part of and what I've personally seen in the clinic I'd be fairly proactive about clipping if it were necessary. There are long term implications that are well known and documented in kids that are not clipped. Now, this research was not widely available when my dd was born and she's never been clipped (anterior and posterior ties lingually as well as tied labially.) She has not been clipped at this point. Ds was tied and was clipped twice to get the job fully done. I don't regret that at all. Any future kids would be evaluated at birth. It's so much easier (IMO) to deal with it right away before they develop compensatory behaviors. Just my two cents.

[ema-adama]

I appreciate your two cents. I find your posts very informative and helpful.

I think my questions were not clear though

DS (2 1/2) was clipped under his tongue as a newborn, but not for the labial tie (lip to gum tie). I only just saw the other day that he has this tie. Is there any point to going through the trauma of a labial clip for a 2 1/2 year old?

My next question, if my child to be born has both a TT and LT, should I clip both? I am aware of the benefits of clipping a TT, but I am not so clear on the LT.

If you have an opinion, I would love to read it, and if you can point me to any literature I would also love to read that.

Thanks

[Panserbjorne]

well, as you can see I still have not clipped my older child. If it was local it probably would have been done, but I need to travel to do it. This is an excuse, of course, but there it is. We worked on healing her so much in other ways that this has kind of fallen to the wayside. IN a perfect world, I would do it for the future health of her teeth.

You can always talk to a dentist. Aside from cavities the issue there is tooth spacing. There are people that do have it clipped later as a result (and that is more painful.) I do tend to think it's worth doing, but at that age I'd probably find someone who could do it with a laser.

IN terms of the baby, YES. I would clip BOTH labial and lingual frenulums were it necessary to do so. No question. If it was tied, I would absolutely do the labial as well.

[ema-adama]

Hmm, I guess I will go back to the dentist who clipped his TT. He was a very gentle person, so perhaps he will be able to explore in a non threatening way. So far DS has very well space, even teeth. The tie is not all the way down to his teeth, but close.

Thanks for weighing in on clipping both in a newborn. I now know to look out for the labial tie too.

I also won't be worrying so much about it this time around. It took me about a week to decide with DS, as pedis were saying no need and LC was saying yes need and it was all rather confusing. It was only when I read about midline issues here that I started to understand the importance of clipping TT.

Again, thanks