Crowns on My 4 Yr Old

My daughter (3 and 1/2 at the time) had to have 3 crowns and a sealant on another molar because her back molars didn't develop enamil like they should have. It's nothing you did. I got a second opinion before she had the work done. If we wouldn't have done the work, she would've been in a lot of pain. Don't second guess at all. You did the right thing. A lot of it is genetics.

I think a lot of it has to do with genetics. I have had fillings and crowns my whole life. My husband, now 40, has never had a filling ever. His teeth look perfect and he doesn't floss either! I have always taken such good care of my teeth. One of our kids has my teeth and one of our kids has his teeth. We brush their teeth equally the same. Don't beat yourself up to much. You get a second chance with his adult teeth that will push out his baby teeth. He may just be one of those kids who has to brush and floss after every meal and you will have to stay on top of it. Good luck!

When I was 4 years old, I had 4 silver caps put on my bottom molars. I know that I was given a watered down juice bottle at night because I can remember having one. (ouch) So, thats what happened to me. Just throwing that into the mix, lol

No. Wrong. Not normal.

You need to start giving him Magnesium- it will harden his teeth. Too much milk intake might be your culprit and not necessarily sugar or not brushing.

Milk is 8 times the calcium to magnesium ratio. You must have equal amounts of each, otherwise the calcium does not get absorbed, and the teeth weaken. Taking more calcium is NOT the answer- taking magnesium is the answer.

Good luck.
ps- my 9 yr old has half his baby tooth missing and the dentist never asked to fill or cap it. baby teeth fall out. baby teeth dont have roots.

I, too, am surprised that they did all that work in one day! I'd consider a second opinion next time...especially since it was the first time he'd been to the dentist. He'll likely start losing his teeth within 2 years anyway.

Decay in children has definitely been on the rise, but it sounds like you're doing what you can to combat it. I can only assume you've been doing it since his teeth started coming in.

I am not anti-fluoride, but I'd honestly think you could be overdoing it. Drinking tap water and brushing with a fluoride toothpaste should provide what is considered sufficient levels for good dental health. It should be a case of "if a little is good, then a lot would be better."

That all being said, genetics does play a role. My younger brother and I ate the same foods, received the same preventative care, brushing supervised in the same way...I've never had a cavity...he continues to be plagued into adulthood. My mom has terrible teeth, exacerbated by poor nutrition during childhood, my dad has teeth of steel.

This doesn't sound remotely normal to me. Is this a reputable dentist? Crowns on baby teeth? Sounds crazy, but I'm no doctor. So sorry your son had to go through this. Did they just spring it on you and do it all in the same day? My hubby had to have a crown done and he had to make an appointment to come back to do it. This sounds fishy to me! So sorry!

I know you have already dealt with this issue but I have a strong opinion on children's teeth so bear with me.

Children need to go to a Pediatric Dentist. Not a Family dentist. Small children need to be spared the experience of the drilling, the smell of the decay, the pain of the shots, holding their mouthes open for hours, everything that is associated with dentistry.

A Pediatric Dentist will put the child to sleep and do the work quickly and painlessly. They will do the procedure in the hospital or out patient surgery center where anesthesia is used regularly. It will be a gas and the kids are at little risk of side effects.

We found ours through regular children's dentist office. They knew the benefits of using a Pediatric Dentist instead of a Children's Dentist. It is so different. I can't express to you what a difference it makes to the kids. K had fallen and broken a tooth and needed a cap. She ended up having cavities too.They were all fixed, using white material, and she was awake in less than 1 1/2 hours and we were back in the car.

My best friends child had a cavity in her front upper tooth that their family dentist found, she went with me to the Pediatric Dentist but they didn't take her insurance so she canceled the appointment. She took her daughter back to her family dentist and he filled the cavity, it fell out a few weeks later, he filled it again, it fell out about 2 months later, he finally decided to pull the tooth because he didn't know how to fill it where it would stay. She was 4 and just got her adult tooth in the empty place at 6 years old.She endured the shots, the drilling, the pain of it hurting, the ugly filling material, all because the family dentist had no idea how to treat a baby tooth.

You are receiving way too much advice from misinformed people. I understand that everyone thinks their advice is helping you but it's not! I was a pediatric dental assistant before I became a SAHM & unfortunately this is not an uncommon situation. Decay has nothing to do w/magnesium, vitamin D or the amount of fluoride that you are using. And, yes baby teeth DO have roots saying that they don't is just silly. How else would they stay in your child's mouth? The roots of baby teeth absorb in order to allow the baby tooth to fall out to be replaced by the permanent teeth. This happens just months prior to losing the tooth.

Ultimately it gets down to the fact that you did the right thing. I'm assuming that this was a reputable dentist that took bite-wing x-rays prior to doing treatment. It is not "normal" procedure to do treatment the same day that a patient is seen for their initial exam. If your son's decay was on his molars & it was large enough & into the roots it is necessary to perform a pulpectomy (a baby root canal). If this was done then a stainless steel crown would have been placed. When you have a large amount of decay removed from a molar & you try to bond a "white" filling to that tooth it will not be as strong as would a stainless steel crown and the filling could fracture. Your child will have his baby molars until around age 12 not age 6 as pp stated.

Yes, I'm sure it was very expensive but well worth it. You would really be beating yourself up if your son was crying out in pain if you would have waited longer. Yes, I would have taken him sooner than age 4 for his 1st appointment. I had my kids seen for their 1st exams at age 2 but I was also in the field so I was more informed than most. Some people don't take their kids to the dentist until they are told to do so by their pediatrician, you are not alone in waiting until age 4.

I apologize for making this so long but I want to give as much useful information as possible. Now that treatment is complete you need to figure out what got you here in the 1st place in order to ward off any future cavities. Does your son eat gummy snacks, fruit snacks, a lot of crackers, pretzels, raisins? Anything that gets stuck in the grooves in your teeth can cause decay. Does your son eat or drink anything after you brush his teeth before a nap or bedtime? Does your son sip on milk or even diluted juice all day long? I would stick to H20 throughout the day & the milk or juice at meal time only. That way he is not constantly bathing his teeth in sugar. Every time you take a sip of a liquid it stays in your mouth for approx. 30 minutes & if he takes sips every now & then that could be your cause. Make sure you brush & floss his teeth before bedtime & you can place the fluoride rinse on his teeth w/a Q-tip that way you don't have to worry about him swallowing it & I would not include the fluoride rinse in your nightly activity possibly weekly.

You're obviously very concerned about this so don't second guess yourself. The more educated you are the better. If you have more questions you should call the dentist office & ask that you be able to meet w/the dentist to ask him or her some ?'s or ask that they return your call when they are available.

Take care!

My grandson had to have two caps on baby teeth and several baby teeth filled last year. It seems to be fairly common now a days. I hadn't heard of it until I took him for a check up. Since then I've heard of it often.

It is important to preserve baby teeth so that adult teeth come in straight and where they're supposed to be. My grandson was having pain in the teeth that were capped.

I suspect that genetics plays a part in tooth decay. Nearly all of my permanent teeth had cavities when I started having to have crowns. My three brothers have hardly any fillings.

My mother said that she didn't take enough calcium when she was pregnant with me but she did with the others. So that might also be a contributing factor.

You do need magnesium and Vitamin D for your body to utilize calcium. I suspect some of us are able to process these minerals and vitamins better than others of us.

It is pretty normal, and unfortunately, I think a lot of it is just genetics. We know a man who has almost the same story as you, and his pediatric dentist told him that some children are just more prone to get cavities than others. Sorry to hear about your little guy!