what next, i think my DD(4) has cavity?

[chrstene]

Brushing my DD's teeth last night and I noticed a black spot on the very back molar. I guess it's relatively small, as if I drew it with a pen/marker.
I am assuming this is a cavity.
She does not complain of any pain. She has never been to the dentist.

I never brought her to the DDS because my family dentist doesn't treat kids until they are 4.....but I just recently learned of a children's dentist somewhat local.

What will happen when we go ? I really don't want to be forced into some unnecessary serious treatments. I keep reading about these young children with root canals, general anestesia, etc. I REALLY don't want all that for my little girl. Is there a chance they can just fill it ?

The rest of her teeth look good (to me) At this point she is great about letting me brush. WE use a Sonicare for KIds and just recently switched to a flouride toothpaste because I am confident she doesn't swallow. She even uses Listerine (not sure if that is a good thing or not) ? But prior to this (I hate to say this), but DH was in charge of night routines....and he is a slacker when it comes to his own dental needs. Once I realized she wasn't getting brushed regularly I took over ! But now I think it's too late !

Any experience or advice on what to do ?

[organicmidwestmama]

at age 4 she could probably have a filling simply in the dental office, using local anesthesia and maybe nitrous. children and adults don't necessarily get cavities just due to improper dental hygeine. in my opinion, it is due to lack of certain nutrients in the diet and other factors, but not just brushing or lack thereof. see the sticky thread Curing Cavities with Nutrition for further discussion of this. i personally would not use listerine on a 4 year old. it's filled w/dyes, alcohol and chemicals, and i dont personally believe that it's just germs on the teeth that cause decay...

[chrstene]

Thank you so much for your reply ! I'm just NOW learning about all of the nutiritional aspects of our teeth. Honestly, I feel stupid....we are so careful and mindful of everything we eat in relation to caring for our bodies, but I never really thought about the teeth !

I am going to read in more detail the stickies and start making some changes.

Thanks for your suggestions !

[organicmidwestmama]

my son had many dental problems when he was very young. i thought i was feeding him a very good diet and made efforts to spend my money on organic, natural foods. however, i chose some things that i now realize probably set him up for cavities- he drank packaged brown rice "milk" that was fortified w/calcium and vits, but very little cow milk because i thought cow milk might cause allergies and congestion. brown rice, if not preparred by traditional soaking methods has phytates that bind to minerals, making them difficult to absorb in the body. so not only was he getting an artificial form of calcium (because rice doesn't have much the manufacturers add it in to the rice milk), he was also eating whole grain 'milk" that made what calcium and magnesium he did eat, hard to absorb. we werent vegan but i did buy packaged vegan meat substitues, like vegan corn dogs, etc. these are made of un-fermented soy, which has never been a part of most human diets until recently, and also can be deminerilzing. we drank juice regularly, sometimes watered down but still, juice is essentially equal to soda in our bodies and for our teeth. it is almost entirely sugar and acidic to top it off, just like soda. these are just a few things i would have done differently if i'd known. we live and learn, right?

here's a good article written by a fellow mdc mama and phd on phytic acid in hwole grains and it's effect on our bodies -http://www.rebuild-from-depression.com/resources/book/Phytic_acid_final.pdf