1 yo doomed like her brother?

[eternamariposa]

I am seeing those white spots that develop into carries in my daughter, almost one now, and it is freaking me out!  My son had four extractions along with four stainless steel caps put in soon after his second bday.  It was a horrible situation to deal with.  His teeth rapidly decayed and despite the six opinions we sought out nursing was blamed.  I really think that our constant battle with thrush is to blame for very acidic little mouths, maybe even silent reflux, but I really don't 'know'.

We have been brushing with xylitol granules since my daughter was a few months old.  We started just rinsing and wiping her gums then progressed to xylitol with the first tooth.  Since I noticed the white spots I am giving her the MI paste as well since we still use it for my son and it was available.  I also bought some good probiotics for each of us to take.  

How can I keep her teeth healthy and you know, in her mouth?!

[EviesMom]

DD had 4 caps, 1 crown, and 2 additional fillings by the age of 3.5. DS had none until 3, and he now needs 1 fairly small filling. I realized that with DD doing better, I had fallen off the super-brushing regimen, and I think that really does make the biggest difference.

Something I found very sensible with DD and that makes sense with both kids that her dentist told us is that night nursing per se is not the problem. The problem is a) you rarely get everything off the teeth during brushing for a very young child, and b) constant liquid on the teeth all night long, even water or breast milk, doesn't let the teeth remineralize. Her dentist's perspective is that the teeth need at least 5 hours during a 24 hour period without anything on the teeth except saliva.

We have genetically problem baby teeth based on me and my other siblings, some of which nursed for a year and some of which nursed for only 2 months and weaned well before any teeth came in (thankfully adult teeth all seem to do fine).

DD was an all night nurser, and DS is much less so. I think that's the difference in major work versus minor work. Brushing well 3 x a day, a small bit of flouride toothpaste once/day, and xylitol toothpaste twice/day is my plan and what worked to stop further decay for DD. I also encourage them to drink water *before* toothbrushing rather than after, and likewise to nurse before for the nursing child. 

[eternamariposa]

I have actually been considering the merits of using her big brothers "natural dentist" tooth paste that does contain flouride.  If there is anything we can do to nip this in the butt early, I am all for it.  

[organicmidwestmama]

A lot of studies do suggest that flouride applied topically can remineralize teeth, but I don't know, my son had cavities practically the minute they erupted and It couldn't be due to lack of flouride because most people don't apply flouride gel to their 6 month olds teeth, right? I assume he just had weak enamel, perhaps due to an inherited defect,my diet lacking vitamin d and other important nutrients and then his milk not having enough of those nutrients. Or maybe the regular dentists are correct and he simply caught caries causing germs from me. I'm not sure what to believe, but my daughter has normal, beautiful teeth and i'm grateful for that.

[Pookietooth]

You might want to look at absorption issues as well -- if the minerals required for teeth aren't being absorbed, they aren't there to remineralize the teeth. This includes calcium, iron, magnesium, boron, etc.

[organicmidwestmama]

Can you please explain specifically how one would ever know if they have absorption issues?

[EviesMom]

Originally Posted by organicmidwestmama 

A lot of studies do suggest that flouride applied topically can remineralize teeth, but I don't know, my son had cavities practically the minute they erupted and It couldn't be due to lack of flouride because most people don't apply flouride gel to their 6 month olds teeth, right? I assume he just had weak enamel, perhaps due to an inherited defect,my diet lacking vitamin d and other important nutrients and then his milk not having enough of those nutrients. Or maybe the regular dentists are correct and he simply caught caries causing germs from me. I'm not sure what to believe, but my daughter has normal, beautiful teeth and i'm grateful for that.

I presume that DD had the same enamel issues as my youngest brother--both had caries early, DD nursed but my brother barely did. She had one tooth that came in with a dark spot. Brushing like mad, including with flouride, helped through. Instead of constantly spreading cavities, they stopped. I was brushing a heck of a lot more with DS from the second his teeth came in. He has very little issue, although not perfect. At 3.5 he has a filling in one molar. At the same age, DD had I think 7 of them. Brushing and less constant food/milk I presume. DD was an all night nurser and an all day snacker. DS is more of a fill-up-and-go kid. And his cavity popped up when he was in a preschooler-can't-sit-still-to-eat-snack-all-the-time phase.

With less constant food (maybe including breast milk) on her teeth, and hyper brushing, maybe DD would have only had the 1 tooth that was a problem from the second it came in. It is, strangely enough, or maybe it's telling, the exact same molar that DS needed a filling in and that came in dark on DD. Maybe that one is genetically weak for whatever reason. I think it's a combo of genetics, brushing/flouride/remineralization, and cavity-causing bacteria from adults/other kids.

I just do the best I can with the kids and it'll have to do. I think because DS was in the hospital as a newborn, with intense medical procedures, I've mellowed on the guilt. The best I can do will just have to do on some things. Or a lot of things. Dental is one of them.