Hey that's the list I was talking about
I haven't been reading much or posting but I get the digest.
My son had 8 cavities filled and he sat in the chair and we did our best to distract him and ask for his cooperation. He was 3 1/2 at the time. It took 4 visits to do since he also had sealants on 4 other teeth.
Some thoughts:
-brush before bed and then night nursing will help protect and remineralize teeth
-peppermint essential oil kills s. mutans, the bacteria that causes decay
-birch essential oil strengthens enamel and fills tiny crevices in the enamel
-flouride applied topically, only can help but other things can also help. it's not the only answer. it also blocks mineral absorption so use sparingly
My dentist was fine with me not using a flouride toothpaste or flouride treatment in her office since my son will swallow anything you put in his mouth. I did get a small bottle of flouride mouthwash and used a qtip to apply it to his teeth, but that was too much work and I quit. Instead, I use a flouride free mouthwash which contains peppermint and get their toothbrushes wet with it before adding the toothpaste. I then add one drop ONLY of birch oil and then put the toothpaste on top. We use Jason's Nutrismile C toothpaste since vitamin C also helps combat tooth decay. It is flouride free.
Any foods that stick to teeth can contribute to decay. Raisins and other dried fruit can be just as bad as candy. I try to give my kids water in sippy cups throughout the day to rinse their mouths after snacks. We brush immediately after waking and right before getting in bed. I don't brush more than that. Saliva also helps fight cavities. But, at night, the mouth dries out and that's when the germs do their dirty work and break the teeth down. So we make sure to brush the germs off first thing in the morning and make sure there is no food on the teeth for them overnight.
It IS ok to wait on cavities. As long as they are not in permanent teeth and don't cause infection, you can wait it out. My dentist never really mentioned that until she just couldn't get the last tooth done. We tried everything in the book short of general anesthesia. We even tried the mask. He wanted nothing to do with it. It's late and I'm sure I've forgotten something. But those are some of my thoughts.
Oh yeah. I went ahead and got the ones between his two front teeth done because I thought those would be very sensitive to hot and cold and be harder to keep clean if I didn't have them fixed.
