Yep, as I suspected, my little man has a cavity. It isn't bad, but he needs to get it filled at 18 months of age. I'm very bummed.
He's a huuuuge night nurser and nurses a lot during nap. I know that a lot of research says that nursing does not lead to tooth decay (we do brush very regularly and always before bed) but it seems like in our case we were destined to get it I guess. He has two concave areas on the back of his teeth (their natural shape...sort of like a "divet" in the back of each tooth) and the ped. dentist we saw said as the teeth are breaking through and the gums are puffy, plaque so easily gets trapped.
He was supposedly one of the more BFing friendly ped. dentists in the area from what I had read here. I didn't find him very BFing friendly at all. His feelings are that DS's night nursing means his pH in his mouth is too low too long from the milk and that the saliva isn't getting a chance to bring the pH back up. He suggested really "spreading out feedings at this age" and "feeding only at scheduled times." DS is still very much fed on demand and is not a big solids eater. I understand what the doc is saying but it is frustrating...I didn't think it would be much of an issue w/ BFing.
DS eats virtually no sugar other than fruit and very few carbs (not much of a cracker/bread/etc. eater). No juice ever. Dr. handed me a paper on avoiding juice and brushing regularly, which was annoying since we always HAVE done those things. Ugggh. It made me feel like a cr@ppy mom, kwim? Oh, and he told me this situation is "more prevalent" when kids stay at home with mom as they aren't on a schedule like with daycare. WTF? So I guess I'm crappy for staying at home too If this guy was "BFing friendly" I'd hate to see the not so friendly pediatric dentists.
So, in 3 weeks or so L. is scheduled to have one tooth filled and the other tooth sealed to prevent buildup in the deep concavity behind that tooth. I'm trying to read a lot on MDC as I'm not big on Bisphenol A and I know that is in a lot of sealants. I have to research more about that and xylitol. The dentist wants us to start w/ flouride 2x per week but I'm not thrilled w/ the idea. We did have flouridated water up until our recent move and obviously it didn't prevent L's current situation.
So they are telling me they are going to "strap him to a board" to do his fillings and he'll just have novacaine and a topical anesthetic. I can be in the room with him but they said it might be more upsetting for him that way. I can't imagine leaving him though so I'll probably stay. He said, "oh, its like when he was circ'd in the hospital." Umm...my son is intact...he didn't have to experience that
Oh, and this is OT slightly but we were in a large room with lots of dentist chairs all in one room. There were several kids getting treatment, etc. Two kids were running around with little stampers and playing. I thought maybe they were a hygenist's kids because of the way they were talking to them. In any case, the one kid comes over and "stamps" Logan with a peace sign stamp as the doc is talking to me. I kind of smile but am trying to figure out who he belongs to, kwim? Then he says, "oh, he liked that (ummm...no he didn't)" and proceeds to stamp him 2 more times with red peace signs on his legs. The doc doesn't say anything. As the kid walks away (probably about 4 years old?) the dentist says, oh, they are my kids...our nanny is getting her teeth cleaned right now. Hello???? He made no effort to say one word to his kid while he was stamping my son. None whatsoever. I had no idea it was his kid because he didn't say a single word to him. Ugggh. How rude.
Okay, sorry for the rant...I'm just very bummed that my little guy has a cavity already when we eat so healthy. I guess I never worried about night nursing as everything in the BFing books I read said it wouldn't cause cavities. I am going to look into xylitol and try to get DS to nurse a bit less at night but have no plans to nightwean regardless.
I am so bummed, but then I think about Jen and Samuel (from Mom and Me) and realize we're fortunate to be dealing w/ tooth decay vs. what poor Samuel is going through.
Anyway, his appt. is scheduled for 3 weeks and in the meantime I'm going to research things heavily. I do not enjoy the idea of him strapped down, but I don't know how else they could work on an 18 month old? General anesthesia has its risks as well even if they doc would offer to do that. I'm wondering how other dentists in the area would handle this case? I'm debating the sealant on the opposite tooth (to seal this concave area). Not loving Bisphenol A at all, but I'm not loving the idea of another cavity. I have sealants myself and while they helped prevent cavities, I hate that I have them because I have PCOS and my endocrine system is already out of whack.
Is there a way around the papoose board issue? I would hate to subject DS to that
But putting him under with general at such a young age is scary too (doc didn't offer that as an option anyway). What kind of filling/sealant should I be asking for? He said tooth colored would be used for the filling but I know they have their downside usually as well.
Also, from the front his tooth looks fine for the most part. You have to tilt him backwards to even see this cavity behind his tooth. Once it is filled, will it likely continue to worsen or should this stop it before he has any cosmetic issues from it?
TIA-sorry so long.
He's a huuuuge night nurser and nurses a lot during nap. I know that a lot of research says that nursing does not lead to tooth decay (we do brush very regularly and always before bed) but it seems like in our case we were destined to get it I guess. He has two concave areas on the back of his teeth (their natural shape...sort of like a "divet" in the back of each tooth) and the ped. dentist we saw said as the teeth are breaking through and the gums are puffy, plaque so easily gets trapped.
He was supposedly one of the more BFing friendly ped. dentists in the area from what I had read here. I didn't find him very BFing friendly at all. His feelings are that DS's night nursing means his pH in his mouth is too low too long from the milk and that the saliva isn't getting a chance to bring the pH back up. He suggested really "spreading out feedings at this age" and "feeding only at scheduled times." DS is still very much fed on demand and is not a big solids eater. I understand what the doc is saying but it is frustrating...I didn't think it would be much of an issue w/ BFing.
DS eats virtually no sugar other than fruit and very few carbs (not much of a cracker/bread/etc. eater). No juice ever. Dr. handed me a paper on avoiding juice and brushing regularly, which was annoying since we always HAVE done those things. Ugggh. It made me feel like a cr@ppy mom, kwim? Oh, and he told me this situation is "more prevalent" when kids stay at home with mom as they aren't on a schedule like with daycare. WTF? So I guess I'm crappy for staying at home too If this guy was "BFing friendly" I'd hate to see the not so friendly pediatric dentists.
So, in 3 weeks or so L. is scheduled to have one tooth filled and the other tooth sealed to prevent buildup in the deep concavity behind that tooth. I'm trying to read a lot on MDC as I'm not big on Bisphenol A and I know that is in a lot of sealants. I have to research more about that and xylitol. The dentist wants us to start w/ flouride 2x per week but I'm not thrilled w/ the idea. We did have flouridated water up until our recent move and obviously it didn't prevent L's current situation.
So they are telling me they are going to "strap him to a board" to do his fillings and he'll just have novacaine and a topical anesthetic. I can be in the room with him but they said it might be more upsetting for him that way. I can't imagine leaving him though so I'll probably stay. He said, "oh, its like when he was circ'd in the hospital." Umm...my son is intact...he didn't have to experience that
Oh, and this is OT slightly but we were in a large room with lots of dentist chairs all in one room. There were several kids getting treatment, etc. Two kids were running around with little stampers and playing. I thought maybe they were a hygenist's kids because of the way they were talking to them. In any case, the one kid comes over and "stamps" Logan with a peace sign stamp as the doc is talking to me. I kind of smile but am trying to figure out who he belongs to, kwim? Then he says, "oh, he liked that (ummm...no he didn't)" and proceeds to stamp him 2 more times with red peace signs on his legs. The doc doesn't say anything. As the kid walks away (probably about 4 years old?) the dentist says, oh, they are my kids...our nanny is getting her teeth cleaned right now. Hello???? He made no effort to say one word to his kid while he was stamping my son. None whatsoever. I had no idea it was his kid because he didn't say a single word to him. Ugggh. How rude.
Okay, sorry for the rant...I'm just very bummed that my little guy has a cavity already when we eat so healthy. I guess I never worried about night nursing as everything in the BFing books I read said it wouldn't cause cavities. I am going to look into xylitol and try to get DS to nurse a bit less at night but have no plans to nightwean regardless.
I am so bummed, but then I think about Jen and Samuel (from Mom and Me) and realize we're fortunate to be dealing w/ tooth decay vs. what poor Samuel is going through.
Anyway, his appt. is scheduled for 3 weeks and in the meantime I'm going to research things heavily. I do not enjoy the idea of him strapped down, but I don't know how else they could work on an 18 month old? General anesthesia has its risks as well even if they doc would offer to do that. I'm wondering how other dentists in the area would handle this case? I'm debating the sealant on the opposite tooth (to seal this concave area). Not loving Bisphenol A at all, but I'm not loving the idea of another cavity. I have sealants myself and while they helped prevent cavities, I hate that I have them because I have PCOS and my endocrine system is already out of whack.
Is there a way around the papoose board issue? I would hate to subject DS to that
But putting him under with general at such a young age is scary too (doc didn't offer that as an option anyway). What kind of filling/sealant should I be asking for? He said tooth colored would be used for the filling but I know they have their downside usually as well.Also, from the front his tooth looks fine for the most part. You have to tilt him backwards to even see this cavity behind his tooth. Once it is filled, will it likely continue to worsen or should this stop it before he has any cosmetic issues from it?
TIA-sorry so long.
