[ilex]

My 29mo dd has had a discoloration of one of her front teeth for awhile, which has been progressively getting worse. I took her to the dentist for a look and she said that it is not a cavity but a decalcification of her tooth, which could of happened in utero. She said just to be careful of it, and to keep it very clean and brush with flouride, because it is more suceptible to decay than the other teeth, but that it is fine. Is this the same as a demineralization? Her tooth is brownish and it looks awful. Is there any way I can stop the decalcification? We brush at least twice a day and always have, she nurses a lot, which I am afraid is part of the problem. All of her other teeth are bright white and beautiful. I searched for decalcification in the archives but nothing came up. Should I get a second opinion?

Thank you for any advice.

 

[Smilemomma]

 

[sozobe]

If I may comment quickly, THANKS for the info on remineralization. This explains a thing or two with dd's teeth. She had white lesions, then we started using fluoride, and she had brownish (really more like light tan) spots right where the white lesions had been and it gave me several heart attacks. Each time they have been checked the bill of health is fine, but I have always been really worried about the tan/brown. That makes perfect sense, now.

bellasmum, good luck!

 

[Smilemomma]

 

[grumo]

We also have 2 brown spots. We took dd to the dentist and he said that it was decalcification as well and not to worry. He wanted us to use Crest instead of Tom's because he wasn't sure that Tom's was approved by the ADA (which I later checked is).

My question for you is, should we be giving her floride drops in light of this decalcification? We had elected against it.

 

[ilex]

Smilemomma, thank you so much for your reply. I poked and scratched at my dd's tooth just now, and it is very hard, I was even pushing a little to see if it sunk in at all, but nope, it is very hard. I couldn't scrape any off either. It looks like it is within the tooth, within the core of the tooth if that makes sense. It is an area rather than a spot, I think this is why it looks bad. That area did start off whitish as soon as it came through, and eventually turned this light yellowy brown color, which it is now. I had a better look at it when I was poking it and I may have been wrong that it is getting worse, it doesn't seem to have grown really, but maybe her tooth is just coming out more and so the tooth is bigger and hence the area?

I may still get another opinion, but what do you think? And if it is a decalcification is there anything else I can do to protect it as well as brushing with fluoride? What is the best way to harden these areas?

Thank you so much again, and let me know what you think!!

~Holly

 

[Smilemomma]