How Do You Know If Your LO Has A Cavity?

[ladyleah]

Not to sound stupid-- but how do you know if your LO has a cavity-- other then an obvious huge brown spot on a front tooth or something.

I have read many posts where kids under 18 months have had major dental work!!!-- and I just want to know what the heck to look for. My dentist told me not to bring my son in to check his teeth until he is 2.

My LO is 16 months old and has 12 teeth (4 molars, etc.) and has had teeth since 4 months. I have always brushed them- first with a washcloth, and now a toothbrust but he HATES it. Hates, hates, hates it-- no matter what "tricks" I have tried. He is crazy about it.

So-- its hard to see in his mouth because he fights like a tiger if you try to inspect anything in it. Honestly- unless he is on the changing table and crying over something, I have been unable to see anything! And, if you stick a finger in he will bite you-- HARD. (but thankfully he hasn't done that to my nipple since 6 months....lolol)

Anyways-- I am looking for feedback. Thanks Mammas!

[Ldavis24]

Well I am in the same boat..DD literally has to be pinned down (arms and legs) for me to get at her teeth. Because of this she only really gets a brushing once a day most of the time

I took her to the dentist at 18 months (she is almost 2 now) and I knew she had a cavity because the first top front tooth she got (her first tooth ever) she immediately bit a rock and chipped it...Sigh, bad parenting.

So that spot has grown and I asked the dentist at the time and he said it was fine...OK, well it has gotten bigger since then and it is a little brown spot...Her teeth are more yellow than I would like so I am working on getting her comfortable enough to brush twice a day, every day, without her freaking out hysterically.

It sucks and I feel like a bad mom, I'm afraid her mouth will be full of cavities at the next appointment and I will win bad mom of the year award. However, the only comfort I can take is that all these teeth with fall out and I just need to work with keeping her happy during brushings..

The best thing to help with brushing is this (for us), I give her my toothbrush and ask her to brush mommy's teeth while I ask her if I can brush her teeth...This works maybe 75% of the time but she usually only lets me for a minute. I can never really get a good look in her mouth so I don't really know what is going on in there...I know lots of other mamas have experiences with toddler's and cavities, I am sure someone can chime in with more help...I totally empathize with you though..I am so right there with DD

[ladyleah]

Thanks so much for the info....it certainly stinks having this be such a fight!

I look forward to hearing other stories as well....

[hildare]

we do the same thing as ldavis-- the you brush mommy's teeth thing does work for just a second or two.  dd will attempt to brush her own teeth somewhat but then i have to (horrors) hold her down to actually do any real brushing.  i only started this recently after a friend's child had to have major dental work.  as far as looking, holding dd upside down kind of works a little.

i've also tried to embrace my dumb side and tried to make the show mommy your teeth thing a game, dd will imitate stupid faces to a certain extent, so we've been doing "dinosaur mouth" and "mad kitty" faces.  that's all i got, and i still haven't really examined her teeth at all.  she does the bite my finger thing too, the last time was hard enough that i had teeth marks beyond an hour later.  jeez.

[Rlin]

I am a really easy going, flexible, attachment parenting, gentle dicipline, "pick your battles" kind of mom, but brushing teeth well is the one battle that I do pick. Even if it means holding DS down and force it. He has phases were it is completely easy to brush his teeth with some playful parenting and then we hit a few weeks where we just have to force him. Sometimes with two adults and him screaming. I really don't like it but it is important to brush well, even with these non-permanent teeth.

Nursing also helps tooth decay, but the teeth have to be completely clean (no food residue) first. DS knows we brush teeth 3 times a day, we explain how food can cause cavities, that we need to brush to avoid this. To me it is a battle like strapping your child in a car seat or holding hands while crossing the street.

[redvlagrl]

Originally Posted by Rlin 

I am a really easy going, flexible, attachment parenting, gentle dicipline, "pick your battles" kind of mom, but brushing teeth well is the one battle that I do pick. Even if it means holding DS down and force it. He has phases were it is completely easy to brush his teeth with some playful parenting and then we hit a few weeks where we just have to force him. Sometimes with two adults and him screaming. I really don't like it but it is important to brush well, even with these non-permanent teeth.

Nursing also helps tooth decay, but the teeth have to be completely clean (no food residue) first. DS knows we brush teeth 3 times a day, we explain how food can cause cavities, that we need to brush to avoid this. To me it is a battle like strapping your child in a car seat or holding hands while crossing the street.

This. We took DD to a ped dentist for a checkup (she has been twice) and her teeth were fine. He mentioned that her teeth were nice and white and there was no visible plaque around the gumline, so I suppose those would be two things to look out for.

Brushing twice a day is non negotiable for us, as is hand holding while walking.

[Halfasianmomma]

My DD has enamel hypoplasia (weak enamel), almost as if she was born premature, except she was born at 42 wks. As of 5 months of age, I noticed her teeth were yellowish near the gum, and that they had an uneven texture. When she was 8 months old, I took her to a ped dentist because I saw what looked like a shallow hole in her front top tooth. Turns out she had 8 cavities total. I had been wiping her teeth, but apparently not very diligently. I felt bad when she fought me so I never forced her. I was told by the ped dentist that if we didn't address the issue asap, DD's teeth would eventually rot and they would infect the buds of the adult teeth. I was also blamed for nursing her on demand and told in no uncertain terms that it was all my fault.

ANYHOW.

After her surgery (which was extremely traumatic for both DD and I), we were taught how to hold DD down and brush her teeth (see the "knee to knee position" here: http://www.mollygunsaulistoday.com/knee-to-knee.html). I would factor in an extra 10 minutes in the morning and evening to deal with the chasing down of DD, subsequent tantrum, fighting and finally brushing her teeth effectively. In order to get her mouth open, I'd often have to slip a finger into her mouth on the side to force her jaw open (watch out when the molars come in...you get bitten). Sometimes it would go well and other times, DD would kick and squirm like her life depended on it.

As DD has gotten older, I give her the choice: make it easy and tooth brushing goes well, or make it hard, and she gets held down. She was about 20 months old when she started choosing the easy route. It just simply isn't negotiable. I don't ever wamt to go through the wake-up from general anesthetic again.

[ladyleah]

This has been very helpful, thank you all!

Yes- I am a pretty easy going, AP, BF'ing mom....but I too have to pin the little guy down which turns into a screaming, flailing, raging battle most times to get the job done. I feel bad, but his teeth need to be brushed, so we all just have to deal!  Going to try and electric toothbrush soon and see if that helps. We have had toddler brushes, brushes that light up, "big people" brushes, brushes with characters....nothing quite works. :)

Plus his gums are quite sensitive because his "eye teeth" are coming in right now-- so that makes the torture worse for the poor guy-- but we can't not brush for the few weeks it takes for these little suckers to come in! Sigh.

I am going to make an appt. with a dentist just to get him looked over, and I can't imagine how much fun that is going to be....

[carmen358]

You might be surprised that your little one will do fine with the dentist looking in his mouth. We had to take DD in because she has plaque near the gumline on the top teeth :( The dentist had me sit DD on my lap facing me and then we lay her back on the dentist's knee and she had no problem having a look. DD was very quiet and interested in what was going on! The dentist said we really needed to keep brushing and also suggested "MI Paste" which we haven't gotten yet but are considering it. And it may turn out that your little one's teeth are fine! A lot of it is genetic and being predisposed to tooth problems so sometimes kids with the best brushing still get cavities and the ones who rarely brush don't get any! Good luck! I know it can be very stressful to imagine your little one having tooth problems so young.