Can I scale my dd's teeth myself w/ no special training?

[momileigh]

dd 2.5 has got serious plaque buildup on the back of her bottom four front teeth. It forms really easily there. I just had it professionally cleaned off in mid-February and they were beautiful once it was done. But now less than 3 months later, it looks nastier than ever! (For the record, we brush twice a day, almost never miss a brushing, and I floss her every evening. She has no decay or other dental issues, except for being a serious thumb-sucker while she sleeps.)

I really don't feel like paying $100 to go to the pediatric dentist again so soon. (We got them cleaned right before me moved, so we'd have to re-establish care and pay for the exam and cleaning. We have no insurance. Plus, we're moving again in the fall, so we'll have to re-establish care and get another exam at the new place too.) But I don't think this stuff should just sit there. I've seen the hygienists scale teeth and it doesn't look like rocket science. Can I just buy a scaler-thing and try to remove it myself? Or do I risk damaging her enamel or something if I do it wrong?

dd#1 had this SAME ISSUE at this age. I had it professionally cleaned off twice, and it never came back after the second cleaning. I'm hoping that the same thing will happen here, that if I can just get them clean again, the problem will go away.

[tanyalynn]

I took my son in for discoloration on two of his teeth that turned out to be tartar. The second dentist actually suggested (since I'd just told him that we were already brushing 2x/day and flossing those teeth because they're so close) that we buy a scraper-thingy (not sure of the exact word) and scrape off the tartar ourselves. I also had a college roommate who did that very thing, she built up tartar very quickly, so I guess this isn't a radical idea (even on a little kid). I haven't done this yet, so no advice on technique (or where to buy the scraper-thing) though.

[momileigh]

Well, I bought a "scraper thing" at Walgreens for $6 (came w/ a metal pick and a mirror) and went at it this morning... and it worked beautifully! The build-up came off in flakes and chunks. There was quite a bit of it. I did it in three sessions so dd wouldn't get too fidgety. Now her teeth look really good! Dh is very impressed.

[tanyalynn]

Really? I had no idea they were available at Walgreens, but just a couple days ago I really looked closely at my son's teeth and the tartar is worse. I guess I will try this, and I hope to report results as good as yours!

[flowmom]

I would supplement with vitamin C (NOT chewables). I would not DIY dental cleaning - baby teeth enamel is thin. We are using a Sonicare toothbrush with an ultracompact head - I think it does a much better job than manual in a very gentle way.

[momileigh]

Hmm, interesting about Vit. C. I didn't notice a proposed mechanism for a vitamin deficiency causing plaque buildup. It doesn't make sense intuitively to me that a vitamin deficiency would cause a buildup like this. But I do need to re-evaluate her diet for vit. C and will do so.

We're using an Oral B Vitality toothbrush with a sensitive head now. For $20 I don't think you can beat it. That's what we use twice a day (once a day if we're being really lazy). The problem was that the tartar (that's what it actually was, I believe) was too hard for toothbrushing to even touch it. But with the blunt metal scraper, it came off rather easily. It was like a hard but brittle covering over the backside of the teeth. Once it came off, there was beautiful tooth under it that I didn't have to further scrape.

So do you know how pediatric dental hygienists manage to not damage enamel? Or do you think that they DO damage it? I just don't think I buy into the idea that you have to go to school for 2 years in order to clean teeth, even when it requires more than brushing and flossing. There is either a set of rules about it, or its just an industry-fueled myth.

That said, I don't plan to do this on a regular basis at all. I HOPE this tartar doesn't come back again. After all, that's how it happened w/ my first daughter... it came back once, then it was gone forever, and we didn't change habits at all.

[tanyalynn]

I think nutritional things can definitely be involved in early tartar build-up. Our dentists (the two I saw when I was concerned this was a cavity) mentioned it's mostly calcium build-up, and, well, long story short, we've got some health things going on and I supplement the kids with a lot of stuff. Calcium regulation is really closely tied to fat-soluble vitamins, and I think for a while I was giving too much A&D (CLO) and not supplementing K2 to balance it. The tartar started for us during that time despite 2x/day brushing _and_ daily flossing (just of those teeth, the close ones, not all!). But, unfortunately for us, it's continued since then despite what I think is an appropriately balanced supplement plan. If I get it really thoroughly cleaned off, then maybe we can start from a clean slate and see if this is enough to prevent new build-up.

And older thread mentioned lack of bile salts as related to tartar. I don't think that's it for us, but I also don't know how to correct that except as a straight supplement, and I'm not interested in looking farther yet.

VitC isn't our solution, but I hope it's the solution for some. I give the kids bowel tolerance vitC every day anyway, for other stuff.

Since it was one of the dentists we saw that recommended I buy a dental scraper, I'm not too worried about the risks, but I've been wrong before, maybe this is yet another case. I am hoping that within a year or so, everything is more normal, health-wise, and this is a non-issue (knock-on-wood).

[momileigh]

I don't doubt that nutrition plays a part. It just *seems* like tartar would come from too *much* of something, not a lack of something... kwim? It fits in w/ the idea of too much calcium. We are huge milk drinkers (more than we need, I'm sure) and I am now wondering if that is a factor. I'm going to look up the bile salt thing.

[flowmom]

How calcium is used by the body can be influenced by vitamin K2, as mentioned by a pp - not just a matter of too much or too little. Also, tartar buildup may be due to a high mouth pH. You can get litmus paper to test for salivary pH. Too high is much better than too low, though, when it comes to salivary pH .

[tanyalynn]

Ksenia, pH is interesting and something I haven't read much about. Got any recommendations on a good range, or something I can read? Thanks!

Momileigh--dentist #1 mentioned calcium - phosphorus balance, not as a too much calcium (in our case) but as possible too little phosphorus. But we're omni, we eat meat and animal products, so that didn't seem like our answer. But I'll throw it out there too.

Oh, and I may have had an ah-ha moment at the park this morning. I was wondering why my son's nosebleeds came back--he has a tendency to get them, and I eventually figured out that they're a sign of imbalance between A&D and K2--I got them to go away for a long time, many months, by starting to supp k2 in addition to the CLO, but he had two again this week. I _think_ I remember, from the vitamin k yahoo group, that fish oil (DHA supps in general, I mean) work the same cycle as A&D, so the need for K2 goes up. And just recently I added in a couple DHA supps that I should've been giving all along, but I was just slacking on. So I think that's where our newest tartar is from, the k2 is being used up. I bet this helps no one but me, but I'm going to go off and do a bit more reading. The vitamin k thing (an extra-high need, I mean) seems to run in my family--lots of nosebleeds in the family, and I wonder if the early osteoporosis of a few people is related.