15 Month Old Has White "Stains" on His Teeth

Might be due to too much or too little flouride. Check with a dentist or pediatrician. If this is what it is then it won't go away, but it does no harm either.

I had stains like this on my teeth as a child (they are still there, actually). It wasn't until I was in 6th grade a dentist finally told us it was because I had a high fever while the teeth were forming, thus causing the discoloration. Turns out I had scarlet fever at age 2 when my adult teeth were forming. Did your son have a high fever early on, or were you ill during pregnancy (while his first teeth were forming)?

I am sure there could be other causes as well, but this was the cause of mine. It isn't too early to take him to a dentist to check it out - in fact some peds are starting to recommend a visit when the first teeth come in...

Hi R.,
I'm not sure about the stains but I would try my kids' dentist in San Jose, Aldolfo Barerra. He is excellent! He even gives a well baby check for free (but I'm not sure if it's for 12 years and under so you would have to check). He's on Moorpark by VMC.

Good luck!
K. N.

It sounds like it could be decalsification, it's the way the teeth developed and there is not much you can do for this or if you give him fluoride he may have had to much fluoride which can cause this....Has he been seen by a dentist yet? I am a dental Assisant for a children's office and you should start to bring your child to the dentist 6 months after there first teeth come in....I hope I have been some help

It could be too much flouride. Is your son taking vitamin supplements with flouride? Or he may be swallowing too much flouride toothpaste, or drinking too much water with flouride. Maybe he is getting flouride from all three sources and together it is too much. I know that flouride helps prevents cavities, but unfortunately health professionals' views is that it is cheaper to bleach teeth discoloration than fill cavities so they do not warn you about getting too much flouride! Also, your child may naturally have enough flouride. My Swedish dentist friend said that in Sweden flouride is never ingested, only applied to the teeth.

Hope this helps.

M.

Hi R.. I am a Dentist, and I believe the white marks are probably decalcifications. The enamel goes through demineralization (slightly breaking down) and remineralization (getting hard again) every day. Chances are your son's teeth started to decalcify (another word for breaking down), which can leave white spots on the teeth. Sometimes these white spots can stay a little soft and lead to cavities, but usually they harden up and have no long term consequence. These white spots can sometimes be seen on kids that have had braces where the plaque sat on the teeth for a while and started to demineralize the teeth. It would be best for a dentist to take a look and make sure the spots are nice and hard.
I saw a lot of people mentioning Fluoride and fluorosis. Fluorosis is a condition that is caused by too much Fluoride, but it generally requires huge amounts of Fluoride for the condition to exist. Even then, it is usually seen in permanent teeth. And it causes the teeth to stain brown rather than white. Hope this helps!
- N.

It sounds like he is getting too much flouride(sp?). If so, the staining does not go away. I think there can even be staining on the adult teeth. Check with his dentist for a definitive answer.

Hi R., my kids are much older now, but when they were younger, my daughter had stains on her teeth. The dentist said it was due to too much floride. At the time she was taking vitamins with floride in them. I didn't give my son the same thing and his teeth are fine. My daughter is now 24 and still has signs of staining. Things have changed so much since my kids were little. I would check with your dentist to see if there is anything they can do. Good Luck

I just read an article in Babytalk magazine about flouridated water causing this and how it is now recommended to use bottled water in areas that have flouridated water for baby's first 6 months. I don't know if Los Gatos has flouridated water or if you ever used it on your son (to drink, make formula etc...), but that could be a cause. If you check with your pediatrician it is called fluorosis.

has he been to a dentist? you can always try a pediatric dentist I'm sure they can help.

C.