What to do about DD's teeth?

[ScootchsMom]

DD will be 3 in June. I took her to the dentist about 4 months ago because she was complaining that her mouth had a boo-boo. She let the dentist look and there was nothing wrong. The appointment went well, and she stopped complaining after that. (I think she may have had a cut in her mouth that had already healed by the time we went in)

So, while brushing her teeth 2 weeks ago, I noticed a brown spot on her molar on the bottom left. I finally got her into the sentist today and it was a nightmare. The assistant insisted on doing x-rays first, which DD patiently sat through repeatedly, as DD kept pushing the little plastic piece with her toungue and the x-ray kept getting messed up. Finally, DD had enough, and clamped her mouth shut. She refused to let the dentist look and we left with no answers. He said to come back another day and to just walk in when she is in a good mood and we'll try again.

She let me look at home, and there is the one spot that looks pretty bad to me on the molar, and she has another spot on her front tooth that looks like a pin hole. I'm guessing its the begining of another cavity. I had horrible teeth as a kid, numerous cavities at every appointment, despite brushing 2-3 times a day, using a floride rinse, getting cleanings every 6 months and floride treatments every 6 months. DP has terrible teeth too. I feel horrible, I try to brush her teeth every day, but it is a nightmare. We've tried every suggestion I've ever read here on Mothering.com, and they work for a couple of days, then its a fight again. I had to hold her down tonight and brush them, but I hate doing that to her.

So, we ordered those xylitol candies for her, I am committed to brushing her teeth at least 2 times a day even if I have to hold her down, and she is no longer allowed any candy other than the xylitol ones. What else can I do? I do not want to put her through getting these cavities fillled at this young of an age, and we won't do general anastesia (sp?).

Has anyone had any luck with the xylitol stuff at least delaying any further damage until she is at an age that she could deal with the dentist better? She isn't in any pain, thank goodness, but I'm especially worried about that front tooth now that I found that hole on it.

Liz

[lindberg99]

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Did you go to a general dentist or a pediatric dentist? I think going to a ped. dentist can make a huge difference with young children. So if you went to a general dentist, maybe try a pediatric one.

My 3 yo had a brown spot on his molar last fall. I don't think the dentist even tried to take x-rays...it was a pretty obvious cavity, dark spot and tooth even chipping away a bit. He also had another one on the other side, not as bad though. And I never noticed either, they were on the top and I guess I wasn't looking closely enough. Anyway, she was able to fill them both in the office and the one even needed a crown. She just did it in 2 appts., each was like 25 - 30 min. So don't feel like your child is going to need general anesth. for this if she does need a filling.

Since the fall, I've been brushing DS's teeth twice a day and giving him the xylitol gum/candy and also brushing ACT fluoride rinse on his molars. He's got two shadowy spots on his bottom molars but so far they are staying the same and the dentist just wants to keep watching them. So I think the xylitol is really helping to keep them from progressing.

Good luck with everything!

[ScootchsMom]

Thanks. It was the family dentist, not a pediatric one. He said he would refer us to a pediatric dentist that takes our insurance, but that they would tie her down if she didn't cooperate, so no way on God's green earth is she going there. We're going to try taking her one more time, not letting them do any x-rays and only for the dentist to look at the teeth and figure out what to do. Hopefully I can get her there when she is in a good mood and she'll cooperate long enough to let him look.

We're moving to PA in July, and changing insurance, so if this doesn't work with this dentist, I'll wait until the new insurance kicks in and take her to a ped dentist there.

For now, I'm waiting for the xylitol candies, we're brushing after everything except water, I'm making bone broth to make soup for her (she loves soup) and we're cutting out all candy and sugary stuff. She has been getting way too much of that lately, and I think that is why this is starting now. I'm also trying to find the CLO with vitamin A and D in it, but its kind of $$$$$$.

She also still night nurses, but I don't think that is causing the problem. She's been nursing the same way for almost 3 years, and the problems are only starting now after a very cold winter with a lot of time spent in doors, and after her regular food has started to not be so healthy.

I'm determined to correct all of our diets too. We've been eating garbage and are all paying for it with our health right now.

[daisymama12]

i don't have any recommendations regarding the cavities or preventing further decay, but something we've done that seems to be helpful re. dentists is to schedule appointments in the morning, when our ds is well-rested, good spirits, etc.

hope this helps

[Pookietooth]

Big to you. We are dealing with a similar situation. DS had four teeth pulled at two, and will need another pulled because it became abscessed (it was filled, too!). There are several threads here about healing cavities with nutrition. Xylitol hasn't been enough for us, but maybe we weren't doing it enough. DS was eating the gum and candies but not several times a day. We were using the Spry gel daily, but not always twice daily.

[flowmom]

Sorry you're dealing with this . I've posted what we're doing below.

Definitely find the right dentist - go to your Find Your Tribe local thread and ask about dentists. We've been to two who were fantastic with 23 mo dd. Don't settle for a practice that doesn't understand children, whether or not they specialize in children.

I've posted below how I force dd to have her teeth brushed. A good twice-daily brushing is no longer negotiable around here. Using the Sonicare helps to make it fast AND thorough.

With the xylitol, you have to use it 5-6 times per day to have any dental benefit. Xylitol is totally worth doing, but IME dd's decay was still active after doing a lot of stuff for 2 months. We think the HealOzone has finally turned things around though.

It sounds like your dd might not have been getting enough Vitamin D during the winter? Definitely start supplementing with that if your dd is not getting enough from sunlight (remember that sunscreen and covering up prevents vitamin d synthesis).

good luck


-----------------------
Dd (23 mo old) is my second child and she has severe Early Childhood Caries (ECC), with decay on 9/16 of her teeth. The decay is into the dentin in six of her teeth, but so far the pulp is not yet affected. My first child is 4.5 yo and has no dental problems.

This is what we are doing about it:

Stopping decay:
---------------
* we've had the first of three HealOzone treatments

Remineralizing:
---------------
* frequent cheese
* we are currently using the HealOzone/CurOzone remineralizing liquid between HealOzone treatments (contains a tiny amount of fluoride) applied via Qtip when dd is sleeping
* when we are not using the above liquid, we apply MI Paste (without fluoride) via Qtip while dd is sleeping

Xylitol:
--------
* the whole family is getting 2 Spry Mints (Berryblast) 5x per day for a total of 10 per day (they do not taste like mint)

Diet:
-----
* stopped all dried fruit (dh was feeding it to her regularly before)
* cut back sugar treats (they were occasional before)
* reduced refined carbs (haven't stopped completely because sometimes we just need her to eat)
* increased meat and cheese (we had reduced our intake because of a serious health condition that dh has)
* increasing frequency of bone stock
* dd almost never had juice and still doesn't

Supplements:
------------
* high vitamin cod liver oil - dd takes 2 Natural Factors Super Cod Liver Oil capsules (400 IU of Vitamin D)
* X-Factor Gold High Vitamin Butter Oil supplements (I am taking 3 capsules per day and hoping she is getting it via my breastmilk)

Hygiene
-------
* brushing 2x per day using a Sonicare electric toothbrush with an ultracompact head
* in the morning we use Spry Infant Tooth Gel (sweet but otherwise tasteless)
* in the evening we use PerioPaste (minty, dd doesn't like it)
* when I have to force dd to brush her teeth (songs/games aren't working), I lie her down on the bed and I sit down with my legs in a "V", her head goes between my legs and I pin her arms under my legs - this is a gentle way of getting the job done as quickly as possible
* we watch a fun video after brushing

Breastfeeding
-------------
* we are breastfeeding on demand from sunrise until bedtime
* we recently nightweaned ... although I do not believe that breastfeeding causes ECC, I have reluctantly concluded that once a child has ECC, nightnursing could contribute to making the decay worse
* dd is probably making up for the reduced nightnursing by nursing more in the morning

Our plan is to get dd's teeth treated ASAP if she starts to have any dental pain. We would go the GA route as I have safety concerns about
in-office use of chloral hydrate as recommended by dd's dentist. I don't think that nitrous oxide would be enough for the amount of
treatment that dd would require.

Ciao, Ksenia

Links
-----
HealOzone:
http://www.ozonedentist.ca/treatment.php
MI Paste (contains milk protein):
http://www.gcamerica.com/mipaste.html
internet source of MI Paste:
http://www.dentist.net/prospec-mipaste-recaldent.asp
local source of MI Paste:
http://www.vedderdental.ca/
Spry xylitol mints:
http://www.xlear.com/spry/dds/
Canadian source of Spry mints:
http://www.aviva.ca/shop/products.as...3924&catid=145
Spry Infant Tooth Gel:
http://www.dentist.net/spry-infant-tooth-gel.asp
PerioPaste:
http://www.bioprodental.com/PerioPaste.html
local source of PerioPaste:
http://www.naturesdesigndentalspa.com/
Natural Factors Super Cod Liver Oil:
http://tinyurl.com/2fcblm
X-Factor Gold™ High Vitamin Butter Oil
http://www.drrons.com/x-factor-butter-oil.htm
Canadian Source of X-Factor Gold™ High Vitamin Butter Oil:
http://www.familyherbalclinic.com/gp...st_May2008.pdf
Sonicare:
http://www.sonicare.com/brushes/default.asp
we bought our Sonicare at the local Shoppers Drug Mart, but ordered the ultracompact heads from dentist.net
Crawford the Cat toothbrushing video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdhptrhn2tM