DENTAL Q re: 21 mo. old.

[aimeemac]

hi all.
my baby, 21 months will need a filling for one of her molars, as it has a small cavity. we will then have her other molars sealed. we caught this early, as we didn't w/ her brother and he had a ton of problems at 3 yrs. she will have an iv sedation which we are comfortable w/, we know the dentist, the anesethiologist (sp.. wrong?), etc. she is very fearful of doctors b/c she had a head trauma at 16 months and needed 6 stitches in her forehead (fell on the corner of a wall).

my question is what the heck am i doing wrong??? my kid's have a great diet, no sugar, lots of fruits and veggies. i still nurse my 21 mo. old, which leads me to my next question.....

my 21 mo. old still night nurses, she will need to fast for about 5 hours (although i am having a conference call w/ the anesthiologist since she will only be slighty under and for only a short period). how do i not let her nurse at night?

i am trying to wean her at night. i have heard that her night nursing probably didn't have much to do w/ her cavity, as her tooth structure was the major problem. should i be hell bent on her weaning or night or should i do it slowly and gently? and next question....

any suggestion on night weaning?

thanks all for reading this.. and i do miss the dental boards so much!

Aimee

[toraji]

Hugs to you mama. This dental stuff is so hard, huh? My almost 2 y.o. developed full-blown "baby bottle" mouth even fully breastfed and with a "good" diet (no junk or packaged food, no sweets, etc). It developed quickly and we were very frightened by it.

We were able to stop the rapid progression of decay with a diet change, which was mind-blowing because we thought we ate so well. We were very strict whole-foods vegan. When we switched to a "Nourishing Traditions" style omnivorous diet except with much more veggies and low salt, then the scary rapid decay stopped (along with my "nursing brain" and PPD, we were apparently quite deficient!). We still needed to see the dentist to get options on fixing the damage but no new spots have formed and a previously demineralized spot on her molar has fixed itself.

What is your current diet like? Could you post an example day?

[aimeemac]

hi, thanks.
well, speaking of diet, my son who had the rampant decay earlier this year and last year, we found him to be sensitive to dairy and wheat w/ a systemic candidiasis infection. he was slow to talk and very grumpy most of the time. since the diet change, he talks and is less moody. he teeth have been fixed since july and seems fine. i think the diet change helped.

my daughter, whom i am talking about now, the 21 mo. old had bloody stools as a 4 month old, so i stopped dairy and soy and the bloody stools stopped. she has had a consistent eczema problem, which has diminished but has not gone away. anyway, she has had no soy or dairy since 4 mo. old and limited wheat.

our diet, typically......
lots of fruits and veggies:
bananas, apples, avocados, peppers (green and red), cucumbers, melon, berries, potatoes, spinach, spelt bread, organic eggs, organic turkey, organic chicken, chicken taquitos, rice and beans, applesauce, quinoa pasta, almond milk, water, and breastmilk.........

what is the nourishing traditions diet? i am always open to ideas.

thanks for your support and interest....
Aimee

[toraji]

Nourishing Traditions is a diet/cookbook by Sally Fallon based on the work of a dentist in the 1920's named Weston A. Price. He traveled throughout the world in search of traditional cultures who were free from tooth decay and degenerative diseases. There is a non-profit foundation partially founded by Sally Fallon called the Weston A. Price Foundation. Their website has loads of info: http://www.westonaprice.org
The book is available at bookstores or Amazon.

I have heard that gluten intolerance can cause tooth decay because of the irritated intestines being unable to absorb minerals properly. So if your son is not developing any more tooth decay that was probably the cause of it. However, since your daughter is developing tooth decay and has issues with eczema I am wondering if something else is going on. My daughter also has food sensitivities and is prone to eczema (she used to have it really bad but she is more resistant to it since our diet change).

Are you or the children taking any supplements? Lack of Vitamin D can also be a factor in tooth decay because the body cannot absorb calcium properly without it. Even being outside in the sunshine is not a guarantee of adequate vitamin D. So perhaps that may be something lacking in your diet.

Also, any grains and beans need to be soaked/sprouted/fermented to get rid of the phytates which inhibit mineral absorption, which could be another factor in tooth decay.

Your diet seems pretty healthy right now, so perhaps adding cod liver oil and either soaking/sprouting/fermenting your grain and bean foods may be the ticket to help with your mineral absorption. Probiotic foods (fermented foods) are also good for the gut and helps with nutrient absorption. Usually people take yogurt or kefir as their probiotic food, but you are dairy-free so perhaps including some lacto-fermented vegetables (traditional pickles or sauerkraut) would also be beneficial.

Another thing to think of is that many people who are sensitive to dairy are actually sensitive to pasteurized commercial dairy, and do fine on grass-fed raw dairy. I get mucusy from pasteurized dairy but did fine on raw goat milk.

Sometimes people with gluten sensitivity need to cut out all grain foods because of cross-contamination, so that may be something to think about as well. If you decide to go grain-free, then The Garden of Eating Diet is a good book for this. http://www.thegardenofeatingdiet.com

Good luck! If you are interested in talking about Nourishing Traditions-type diets, we have a few threads over in the Nutrition forum under the title "Traditional Foods (NT) Mamas".

[aimeemac]

thank you for all of the great information. i ordered the book, "nourishing traditions".

yes, we started cod liver oil about 8 months ago. anna's eczema has cleared some, you can't see it, but can feel it. i have started to add some dairy, butter w/ vegetables, that sort of thing.

do you know if fermented foods can be eaten by those w/ problems w/ yeast? i can't find a definite answer on that.

your information is great......i will look into the forum you suggested. thanks again.
sincerely,
aimee

[malamamama]

FYI...Breastmilk is considered a bodily food, not food or drink. She can actually nurse up until the time of the appointment. Most med people don't distinguish breastmilk as such.

Night weaning.....I did so between 20 months and 2 years, very gradually.
As for the reasons this is happening....What are your tooth brushing routines???

[aimeemac]

that is so interesting about bm being a body fluid and being able to nurse up until the appt. when dd was younger she had reflux and would spit up hours after being fed. do you know if this could happen during the procedure?

our brushing habits, well we are religious teeth brushers! after every meal, before bed and when we wake up. i know it makes no sense. BUT, i guess i wasn't all that religious w/ my dd until my ds had all the problems he had. So, dd didn't get the religious tooth brushing until she had those molars for about 6 months. I suppose that could have done it.

You guys are so helpful. thanks so much.

Aimee

[malamamama]

Originally Posted by aimeemac

do you know if this could happen during the procedure?

Well.....how is her digestion now as compared to then?

If you have ever shared food, utensils, kisses....those smutans bacteria can be spread easily.....unfortunately. Foods that will help neutralize the acids, fight the bacteria are cheese, nuts, nutbutters, whole grains, grapes, apples.

Did you have the procedure yet???

[aimeemac]

hi, i would say her digestion is better b/c we eliminated those foods that upset her, but she still has somewhat of a weak stomach. ie: she had stitches in april (in her forehead) and was so upset she threw up (she hadn't eaten for about 3 hours).

wow, didn't know the s.mutans could spread like that, so could it just spread throughout our family indefinitely until we stop sharing things? that seems impossible.

no, the procedure is scheduled for october.

thanks malamamama for your helpful and thoughtful advice.
BTW: miss those dental boards!
Aimee

hi, just wanted to add......does anyone know if it is okay to give rescue remedy before a procedure involving sedation? she calls it her, "happy medicine".

[malamamama]

The deal with smutans. It's in all our mouths at some level. It is when there is decay that the numbers skyrocket. So once you get the fillings done, stay really diligent with your brushing routine and up your bacteria "fighting" foods, then you will hopefully reduce those numbers and be able to maintain healthy levels with routine maintenance. Although, just after the fillings, that bacteria is going to start "looking" for new "host" teeth, so constant cleaning is crucial!!!!

I am also giving dd, who is now 4, xylitol gum in between meals, not to replace brushing, but in addition to brushing to clean her teeth.

Rescue Remedy, because it works energetically, should be fine with sedation. I give it to dd and did so with oral sedation for fillings. No problems.

Do you give your dd probiotics too?

How's your ds doing with his dental issues now?

[aimeemac]

i was just talking to my husband re: probiotics for dd, we don't currently give her any, ds gets it, but i think i will start dd, too.

my ds is doing okay w/ his teeth. his procedure was done in july, he had 5 fills, 1 cap, a pulpectomy and pulpotomy. his mood improved dramatically afterwards, no pain. he has to see the dentist next month for a check up. we are moving soon and dreading finding a new dentist. it took us 5 tries to find one here in DC that would let us be w/ dd and ds during procedures.

again, thanks so much for all the great info and advice!
Aimee