any way to notice major dental probs on my own?

[sparklemom]

dd1 is 4 yrs old (in one month) and dd2 is 26 months old. we've never been to the dentist. dd1 is terrified of doctors---freaks out in a major way when they even try to weigh her. so i've put off the dental visit.

anyhow, is there any way for me to see problems developing in their mouths? are there any tell-tell signs i should watch for?

we've been night nursers (26 month old still is)... eat healthy but do have our sweets from time to time ... are 'grazers' (eat throughout the day rather than at set meal times)... and brush but not as often as we should (once a day, but sometimes even that gets skipped). my husband has never had a cavity, but i've had many.

anyhow, i'm somewhat paranoid about their dental health and am just wondering if since we haven't been to the dentist yet if there's any way i could tell if there were any major problems.

[simonee]

Brown spots are the dead giveaway for trouble. If you don't see any of those, and neither any obvious discolorations in other colors and/or irregularities on the teeth's surface, you're very likely home safe.

I guess swollen gums and/or weird spots on the gums in non-teething times could also spell trouble. As could pain, of course.

Most "bad" stories here start with a parent noticing something brown, either on the back of the top front teeth, near the gumlines somewhere, or in the "folds" of molars.

If they look perfect, they probably are ~ at least close enough. Though I would probably consider taking dd1 to the dentist sometime. My dd goes crazy at the doctor's, just like yours. She was vaxed initially :( so I think that's where it comes from. When we visited a ped dentist, she was fine.

Remember that they have NO REASON to connect a doctor to a dentist ~ only we know that they're similar in some ways. A dentist can be presented as someone who looks at teeth and tickles them, and then gives a present. S/he is only a "white coat" armed with needles and paid through your hmo because you have that knowledge, to a child it's a whole different type of business.

[sparklemom]

thanks so much for taking the time to respond!

my dd1 was also initially vaxed---and i too have wondered if that's the origin of her fear (seems very logical that it would be). dd2 wasn't vaxed and she has no fear of the dr.

good point about how the dentist doesn't have to be seen as a dr to dds---i can keep that knowledge to myself.

thanks again!