Help! What to do about toddler w/ decay?!?!

[twilight girl]

If anyone can help me sort this all out, I will be forever indebted to you:love

My 17 month old has some decay on her front teeth, and I can already see precursos white spots on her new molars. The weakness (I assume) in the front teeth has already lead to a big chip in one front tooth.

The dentist we saw prescribed fluoride drops and paint on gel. The pharmacist suggested going with one or the other but not both. She uses Tom's Silly Strawberry w/fluoride.

We live in Costa Rica, the water here is not fluoridated, but we drink spring water anyway. I guess I could contact the water bottler to see if there is naturally occuring fluoride. Anyway, she doesn't eat canned food, and her juice intake is about 1/3 to 1/2 sippy cup juice filled the rest of the way w/water. She does still nurse.

I've just finished reading the article that was on Mothering.com regarding ECC, fluoride, homeopathy, etc.

Now what do I do? I haven't started giving her the fluoride yet. Should I give it maybe every other day, or twice a week instead of every day? Should I increase her consumption of fish to remineralize the teeth? Does green tea have fluoride?? Should I give her some tea in a sippy cup instead of "juice"? She seems to like cold Chamomile tea, is that good?

Smilemamma if you're out there, please help!

Judi

[malamamama]

The big question and important answer is how often do you brush her teeth???
For starters, check out this thread called Diet & Remineralization for Healthy Teeth.http://216.92.20.151/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4382&highlight=diet
And this one too.http://216.92.20.151/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3687&highlight=diet
As I understand, flouride is most effective applied topically. It will not stop the decay, it can slow it tho. You need to lower the bacteria levels (s.mutans) in her mouth, so brushing after every meal is important. Its important to get the food and residual off the teeth. Sozobe has experience with the flouride gel. My dentist won't give it to me...Is it once a week to use the gel, or once a day???? I think if it is used once a day then you don't use flouride toothpaste. I am sure the answer is in the archives somewhere. I'll see if I can find the correct and accurate answer.
I brush dd's teeth with flouride toothpaste in am and pm, and non-flouride at other times.
Are you waiting to do the work? Have you read thru the archives? Smilemomma has addressed your concerns before, so if you type in key words, it will take you to the appropriate threads. :)

[twilight girl]

Ah, yes, toothbrushing. I forgot to mention that. She "brushes" her teeth at least once a day, usually twice. When I try to brush them well when she is finished playing, she gets into hysterical crying fits, and clamps her mouth shut.

After every meal poses a problem for us too, because dd is a nibbler, not a mean eater. She is very picky and eats very little at one sitting, preferring to nibble throughout the day. That's why I try to get her once in the a.m. and once in the p.m., and try to keep a sippy cup of water around all day so she can at least be rinsing her mouth out a little with water throughout the day.

I'm going to check out those links you posted.

Thanks!!

[twilight girl]

Sorry if this is a repeat post. I have tried scrolling through the archives, the problem is that I work at home, and get very little time (naps and short periods when daddy gets home) when I actually get to work. Scrolling through is very time consuming. I also realize that answering the same post over and over again is very time consuming for smilemamma!

I'm just kind of at a loss as to what to do, given that I cannot get dd to let me in her mouth with the toothbrush (so I imagine that paint on gel would be nigh impossible--although she's funny with what she will allow and what she won't, so who knows!).

thanks!
Judi

[malamamama]

I know what you mean! Something I do when I am looking for answers is......I go to the specific thread and then just look for Smilemomma's posts. This saves you reading other's experiences and takes you direct to the answers. Then if you find Smilemomma's answer not relevant to your situation, you can move on.
Maybe if you approach her with the "fun" idea of painting her teeth and let her "paint" your teeth too....???
The foods that help fight the bacteria are grapes, apples, cheese nuts, wholegrains. (If she's having a cracker, make sure she has some cheese or apple too.)
In your situation, I would try to eliminate the juice and go with straight water. Tannins which are found in black tea, possibly green tea too also fight the bacteria.
I hope this helps. Just know that the difficult, highly, resistant period does pass. Eventually, she will be able to understand reason, and give in to your wishes and needs. And then there's just a little resistance:D
You are in the same situation that I was in when dd was that age. Unfortunately, our ped knew nothing!!!!! And told me not to worry. Since I knew better, I knew I needed to do something, so I started painting an OTC flouride mouth rinse on her teeth. Unfortunately, I was not aware of this forum and its wealth of info. We didn't get her into a dentist (for a number of reasons) until she was 27 months. So Dd ended up with 4 capped teeth, two of which had to be extracted because of absesses....all before she was 3!:(
I would highly recommend some kind of treatment so they don't get worse. What did your dentist recommend besides the flouride?
Did you read about the Calc. Phos. homeopathic formula for strengthening the teeth?

[twilight girl]

Isa,

thank you! I took her to a dentist for the chip, and recommended the oral fluoride drops and paint on gel, then the pharmacist said that was too much fluoride. So, I might go find the gel, and start painting that on at night, if she'll let me. The dentist said to call him if it got worse.

the other problem is that we are living in Costa Rica, and I won't be back in the U.S. until probably February for her to go back to the dentist. I can try to find one here, in fact, I have braces and my ortho is great, maybe he can recommend a really good pedi dentist for her.

Poor thing :(

Fortunately, she loves cheese! Is yogurt also good? because she will drink yogurt too.

:LOL I was also scrolling through and just reading smilemamma's responses!! I guess I needed more than info, I needed someone to hold my hand a little :crying , I try to get dh to help me with this and he only hears the part when I say raisins are a bad snack. I ask him what he thinks about all this and he says "well, don't give her raisins anymore!" :rolleyes: Looks like I'll have to take care of this one on my own!!

And I need to remineralize her teeth, the front ones have what looks like tartar, and from reading smilemammas posts, this must be demineralization :(

:crying can a dentist fill cavities on a baby this age???

thanks!!!
Judi

[malamamama]

:hug :hug :hug :hug :hug :hug :hug :hug :hug!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know how hard this is dealing with your dd's new, little teeth.
February isn't too far off. And the good thing about demineralization is that it can be turned around with flouride. In that respect, decay can be stopped. However, beyond that, when it goes beyond the surface then it needs treatment.
Yes, they can work on 17 month olds. Most dentists opt to give them anethesia and go in there and do all the work. Parents sometimes choose this option, some don't. It's kind of scary. However, in some cases, its better than waiting when the work will be even more extensive. There are other modes of treatment that vary from dentist to dentist. There is yet another thread...:D called "Treatment Options".
When dd was in need at that age, I couldn't find one dentist in our insurance plan that would even put her under until she was two. When I finally found a specialist in our plan who would, we were in the midst of a move, so decided to wait until we did move. And then by the time we got set up with insurance and found a dentist, she was 25 months already.
So the point is....I would start looking there in Costa Rica. See what you find, then also check your US options too. It sometimes takes a while to find the right one and a treatment that you are comfortable with. It doesn't necessarily need to be a ped dentist. Smilemomma is a general dentist.
I think you are making a wise decision about the flouride gel. It can really help those demineralization spots if you get right on it! Try making a game of it and letting your dd do it herself with a teeny bit. Sometimes that helps if they can do that. Just stand in front of a mirror and ask her to do it like you are doing it right on those front teeth and then sneak in there and spread it where needed.......or something like that.
I know what you mean....I have always been the designated tooth brusher..........:rolleyes: :toothy
PS. Yogurt is perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!