HELP!! holes in front teeth 16 mo

[moon_goddess]

my son has 2 teeth with holes in them. what is this? they are clear and white no brown, yellow or black spots. i feel like a horrible mama cause teeth brushing hasnt been rigorous. he wont let me in his mouth and i try but then easily give up. help me please.

[moon_goddess]

anyone care to share?

[paloma]

It has been like pulling teeth for me, too. I bought dd abook abot toothbrushing, and one of those little tooth mirrors. It worked well. We play dentist. When I took her to the dentist, I was told that her front teeth needed to be pulled because usually fillings do not hold on to their baby fronts as they are so thin. The alternative is that she might someday have an abcess. Might. Hmmm. And they pull teeth under general anesthesia. Hmmm. Yours might be a different experience. DD is 4 y.o. Yours?

I am thinkin' that a nice tea tree toothpaste and maybe some other herbs (neem?) (Chapparal if it gets REALLY bad?) I have not yet researched.

Oh, I let her watch Telletubbies and the vacuum, nosy noonoo, is like the dentists mouth vac. Perhaps that could be used with the idea of a waterpik? Mayba a homemase rinse could get between and into the teeth better than something more mechanical.

I am in the same boat.

[3_opihi]

Hmmm...I'm not sure what the white spots could be, maybe calcification?

I had to get crowns put on my oldest sons two front teeth when he was 16 months It was awful, and if I knew better then , I would have just waited. He ended up going back to a different dentist at 2yo for a brown spot on his other teeth, and that dentist said his fron teeth porbably didn't even have cavities, just staining He also said it was probably caused from a tooth infection I had when I was pregnant, that I took antibiotics for. What a relief, when I had three other dentists telling me it was from nursing.

Anyway, know that its not from nursing, or not brushing teeth (although its probably a good idea to start that) Most likely its a bacteria that is passed from mother to child during pregnancy.

And if you go to the dentist, make sure to get a second opinion.

[Kathryn]

Are they holes or spots? If they are actual holes then they are cavities.

[mamaofthree]

My #2 DS has a hole in one of his front teeth. We went to the dentist, it is a cavity. I bush and everything! UGH. BUT my father has really bad teeth, the dentist said it might just be his luck. Poor kid.
Anyway, not that that helps, BUT I am in the same boat. I have to have his tooth filled next month.

H

[baileyandmikey]

Originally Posted by leximom

huh? How's that help?

um yeah that. what in the world? anyways, they may be small calcifications, which means brush more often, dd had major dental work done at 2 years, long story. if they are actually holes, then it is cavities. good luck, see if you can find a good ped. dentist just to check it out, sor4ry nak

[malamamama]

I agree. Anytime there is abnormalities, they should be checked out by the dentist. Are you talking pits or holes?
As for extracting teeth. It is definitely not necessary to use GA. The baby teeth, especially when decayed and absessing, come out super easy. No need to take the risks associated with GA. It takes all of about 10 minutes!

[paloma]

My decision is to do nothing about them. Nothing, nohing, nothing! I will just look for an abcess, and probably never see one. Her teeth will fall out - like all the other kids' when they need to.

Now how to convince my 4 y.o. that when her teeth fall out she will not be a baby again.

And you, Moon_Goddess?

[baileyandmikey]

you are too funny!!! When they fall out, there will be nice new teeth under them as long as those teeth haven't been decayed. My dd can't wait to loose her teeth and get her big girl teeth!!!!

[moon_goddess]

we have an appointment next week to see whats going on. i try to brush his teeth several times a day with xilitol kids teeth cleaner. we'll see what happens.

[malamamama]

Also moon goddess, in addition to the several times a day, just make sure you get his teeth as clean as possible just before bedtime.
And if you are not comfortable with your dentist's treatment plan, know that different dentists will be willing to go to different lengths to work on such a young one's teeth. Some will only do it with GA, others will patiently work with the child in his/her office. There will be options based on your needs, so don't feel like the first plan is the only plan.
I speak from experience. The first dentist we saw would only work on dd's teeth with GA, the second, in his office. Unfortunately the span of time was about 9 months as we made a major move in between and the decay progressed rapidly.
So just be sure to stay on your cleaning routine in the meantime and don't be too hard on yourself. I had no idea at the time that these baby teeth were so vulnerable with barely more than breastmilk as food. The information about teeth is not so readily available as the other health concerns of our babes. Fortunately that is slowly changing. There's a lot of support here from mamas who have been there. Keep us posted!