10mo with enamel defect

[2boyzmama]

I noticed a discoloration on my 10 mo's upper tooth that is just erupting. We have a really good dentist here, one of only two that does tongue ties, has come to LLL to speak, is a breastfeeding supporter, etc. I took Gavin to see this dentist when he was a few weeks old because of a palate defect, so I took him back today.

The dentist said that it is an enamel defect, possibly caused by a course of antibiotics I took when I was 12 weeks pregnant (I took a z-pack for a bad sinus infection) No way to know yet how many of his baby teeth are effected, or if his adult teeth are effected. He said that it is possible to avoid decay, but it will be more difficult than my other kids.

Great.

I don't know much about enamel. I asked specifically if there's anything I can do to reverse the problem, or encourage better development of the adult teeth, but he said no, that the damage is already done, all I can do is brush well and hope for the best.

Is this true? Are there any foods/supplements/etc that I should encourage or avoid? Is this enough of a reason to encourage night weaning (not yet, but sometime in the future, perhaps sooner than I night weaned his brothers)? I don't know how to deal with weak enamel!

[JaneS]

See Curing Cavities with Nutrition thread.

What is the palate defect?

[2boyzmama]

He has a bubble palate, a mild labial frenulum (lip tie) and a mild posterior tongue tie. We haven't done anything about the lip or tongue tie because they are mild and we managed to resolve our feeding issues without having to have them clipped. His palate is causing some trouble with solid food, he sometimes gets food "stuck" in the bubble, but he's learning.

Interestingly, and I guess this showcases the pure chance of it all, my middle son (3.5 years) is special needs with a genetic syndrome, he had horrible feeding issues, had five labial frenulums (yep, five! his entire upper lip was connected to his gumline) has a high arched hard palate and a submucous cleft of the soft palate. He's been on antibiotics more times than I can count, he had severe reflux that was heavily medicated until we resolved it with dietary changes. Yet his teeth, so far anyway, are just fine.