Need opinions - caps for 17 month old?

[smeep]

My son is 17 months old. About two weeks ago I looked at his teeth and noticed discoloration on four, one of which had enamel gone and I freaked out and made a dentist appointment (looking back there were signs that I didn't notice about a month prior to this discovery, but nothing before that). We saw the dentist on Wednesday and she said he'll need caps (silver caps? can't remember exactly what she said) on two of his teeth, and that he'll need white fillings in probably another two. She referred us to a specialist and we have an appointment to see the specialist on Wednesday.



I'm very curious as to how this may have happened. He eats extremely healthy, gets juice at most once every 1-2 weeks (always watered down), does not consume sugar, and is breastfed (I'm on the fence about whether or not this is a culprit, I'm still doing my research). Could this be genetic possibly? My family has never had a history of dental problems this young, but I'm unsure of his father's side (he's not involved, and I'm hesitant to ask his parents who are uninvolved as well).



My main question is this. Are caps really necessary? Are there other possible alternatives that I can at least look into? I'll do whatever I need to do, but if there are alternatives I would like to look into those. Every parenting and health decision I've made for him I've done extensive research into, and sometimes what is typically recommended is not what's right for him specifically, so my instinct tells me to look into this and get as many opinions as possible. Thanks!

[bizziedog]

caps

Hello! I just read your post and recently joined, and thought I'd tell you about my experience. My daughter also experienced enamel loss on her top 4 front teeth from VERY early on. We asked a family friend who was a dentist to check her out and he said yes, there was some loss, and at this point to keep an eye on it (she was about 18 mos. or so at that point). They didn't seem to bother her so we left it. When she was about 3.5, the enamel loss became more severe so we contacted a pediatric dentist. He examined her and recommended caps (white enamel). Since it was obvious they were starting to bother her, we went with the procedure. She was given a sedative (oral) and not knocked out, but did have nitrous oxide. She watched a movie and chatted during the entire procedure and recovered just fine. She loves going to the dentist and the rest of her teeth are in perfect shape.

Our dentist couldn't say for sure what caused it but said probably happened in utero during tooth bud development. It wasn't bottle mouth or something that was caused do to lack of brushing, etc. I was SO relieved because I was feeling a bit guilty! So far her 6 mos. checkups post caps have been perfect and no more decay.

Again, this is just our experience!

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first I want to say hugs to you.
I went thru this with my dc and it is hard not to blame ourselves.
We are told that if we brush your kids teeth then they will stay healthy. but sometimes that isnt true...
my story....
my dd showed signs of discoloration at 8m. We got 6 months of run around because the only medicaid dentist wasnt taking new paitients.....
THEN the wait for the apt, then the wait for the "operation"
All this time her teeth were getting worse. They wanted to wait till she was 2yo to do the caps... By then she ended up with 10 caps and 5 metal (mercury) fillings....
She had a major speech delay. I ultimately blame the 15 teeth in her mouth that have mercury in them... but thats a whole other story....
my second dd was born. we did the exact same thing. same diet, same brushing habits...her teeth never went bad, they are healthy and strong...
What is the difference??
My first dd is the spitting image of her father who had terrible decay at age 16. His father, 55yo has NO teeth.
My second daughter has my genes, looks just like me, Her teeth are fine...
My third child came along....as soon as he was born we knew he took after my dh.....we were instantly concerned about his teeth....
when his first two teeth came in we were exited he was just 3mo. Then about halfway thru the teeth was reddish brown. A few days later they chipped away... His front top four just eroded away over the course of a few months. At 12 he had the top front four pulled because they were eroded to the gum line, and nursing was hard because his teeth were like razors...
He has other decay and the dentist wont cap them (because he would go completely under (GA)) until he is 2yo...

The reason I am posting all this is to assure you that even if you do everything "perfect" some tooth decay is hereditary and unavoidable. It took years for me to get over my saddness and feeling of blame. now I brush as much as possible and do what I can....

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Originally Posted by smeep

My main question is this. Are caps really necessary? Are there other possible alternatives that I can at least look into? I'll do whatever I need to do, but if there are alternatives I would like to look into those. Every parenting and health decision I've made for him I've done extensive research into, and sometimes what is typically recommended is not what's right for him specifically, so my instinct tells me to look into this and get as many opinions as possible. Thanks!

I wanted to address your question too...
I cant say if they are necessary for you ds or not.
If you left them uncapped it may not get worse. He may lose the teeth when hes old enough and you have no other problems.
I think it depends on how severe it is, and how quickly his teeth are deteriorating.

[SleeplessMommy]

Just want to mention, the "caps" in your post are stainless steel crowns. They are pretty commonly installed in kids.

Be sure you tell the dentist "no amalgam". Amalgam, aka "silver fillings", contains 50% mercury by weight. About 50% of adult dentists (and some pediatric dentists) will still place amalgam fillings. :