Toddler Teeth

Hi A.! My daughter, who is 3 now has had brown stains on her 2 front teeth since they came in. I just recently called a pediatric dentist, who told me that they like to see children for thier first visit when they are 1 yr old. (i never knew that) Anyway, I took her in and found out that the stains on her teeth are actually a defect that she was born with. He told me the name of it....but there is no way I could even try to spell it. He said that from eating sugary foods, and drinks that the teeth could eventually chip, break and cause other problems. They are going to go in and seal and bond them, kinda like a filling. They are not going to give her any anesthesia, he said that it wont hurt her, but may scare her because of how loud the tools will be in her mouth. The first visit went great though, they had lots of toys for the kids to play with and brushed her teeth with fluoride, which only took about 3 mins. I say take her to a pediatric dentist and have it checked out, I sure am glad that I did.

1 mom found this helpful

i would consult a pediatric dentist anyway just to see what they think it might be. i am not so sure they would have to put her under just to look at her teeth. i took my daughter to the dentist at age 2 and she did fine( sheis very shy and reserved). pediatric dentists are used to dealing with children and seem to have great ways of helping them deal with the process. better safe than sorry so I would consult one anyway.

My daughter has this too. It's just from too much iron. My dentist described it as her teeth were rusting- no permanent damage- they just scrape it off with one of those little hooks. I took my daughter at 2 and she has regular check ups. I even take my 1 year old to the dentist. Most pediatric dentist offices can give kids check ups without putting them under. I'm in Jonesboro, AR if you want the name of the guy we go to. He's great!

The first thing that comes to mind is you have got to use a water purifier ASAP. It sounds like the stains caused from too much iron (or other mineral) in the water and it will eventually affect her permanent teeth! Probably not much you can do for the baby teeth 'stains', but a dentist using anesthesia at her age isn't really common. You just need a pediatric dentist and give her time to warm up. I had to take mine in literally seven times before she would even let someone look in her mouth, and she only did it then because she saw a kid with a silver tooth and she wanted one. But seriously, use anything to get your water cleaned up. Even the water you cook with can be too high in metal contents.
B.

A., this has happened with many children. Please call and ask the dentist as many questions necessary to give you some solution to save the teeth of your child. Find a pediatric dentist is possible. They are more prepared to handle the squiggling around and fears of the little ones. Then prepare your child for what will come in the way of the strange man who likes to look closely at teeth! If you are calm, she will be calm. Remember the babies sense our fears! So If you have fears of anesthesia, dentists, etc. those fears will be transferred to your innocent child who up to this point is fearless!

Good Luck, Don't wait until she has permanent teeth to see a dentist. Sooner the better....

take care,

D.

Hi, I'm a dental hygienist. If you take your daughter to a dentist, they will do a consultation before anything else. If you can, go to a pedodontist. They like to see kids from very early on. It may be worth getting checked out though, in case it is decay. Be sure to brush her teeth in the morning and at night, and not to lay her down with a bottle.

Hello A.,
My daughter had a cavity that I had noticed when she was almost 2 and I was weary about taking her to the dentist also. When I talked to the dentist, I was informed they do not put them under, they simply let my daughter straddle her legs around my stomach while she layed back in the dentists lap. The dentist talked gently and lightly stroked her teeth with the tooth brush as she checked them. It was quick and painless. Best of Luck!!

A.
Take her to the dentist and let him check them. My daughter went to the dentist for the first time at the age of two and did have the laughing gas. It absolutely did not hurt her. We filmed it and have many hours of good laughing, because she really did act silly and actually had a good time being silly.
She is now twelve. Your daughter could have some root damage or just had something to eat or drink that stained the lower teeth. The dentist will have the answer you need.

S. Miller

A dentist does not have to put her under to look at her teeth,lol. I havew been taking my kids to a dentist cince they got their first tooth. It sounds like nerve damage that is one of the reasons teeth turn browish. Did she ever bump her teeth on anything? But dont go by what i say ofcorse i am no dentist. Just take her they will get it figured otu.

Has she been on a lot of anitbiotics? If so they are the culprit & there's nothing you can do but wait until they fall out.

Hi A. - My son was younger than your daughter is and we had to take him to the dentist for what we now know was plaque on the bottom teeth. We found a pediatric dentist who knows how to handle children and they have very friendly offices and the dentist looked right in my son's mouth and was done very quickly. I really don't think you have to worry about her being put under.

If she had to take alot of antibiotics when the teeth were forming it could be that.

You really need to take her to a PEDIATRIC dentist, one that specializes in small children. My son had incomplete enamel formation on his baby teeth and needed quite a bit of dental work. Dr Brackett was so great with everything.

Take her to a pediatric dentist for a consult. They won't need to give her anesthesia just to look. If they are kind and spend some time with her first, she will likely open up her mouth for them to see what is going on. If it requires many dental work - that might require anesthesia, but you can make that decision after hearing how serious the issue is.

drink lemon juice and water. will remove the stains, with the added benefits of being good for ya!
Do research on flouride before you allow that on your child's teeth. Flouride BREAKS DOWN your teeth, making them very brittle.
Besides that, there's enough flouride in the water these days.
It's a poison to teeth...

if they are dark brown stains that look like dirt, they could very well be cavities. not all pediatric dentists put a child under anesthesia just to look in the mouth. you need to call a few pediatric dentists and discuss the issue and let them know you are not excited about anesthesitizing your child. as a side note, if they do have to put your child under to repair the teeth, it isn't that bad.

possibly antibiotics that she's had to take, tetracycline is really hard on developing teeth~

I took dental assistant a few years ago and depending on the stains and in my book it says that stains can be caused by foods, chemicals, and chromogenic bacteria. Without knowing the actual color I am unable to give you any more details. Also my daughter started going to the dentist since she was 19 months due to her previous medical problems that caused delayed teeth development. But the doctor is very nice and so are the ladies in there working with him. The name is Dr. Jerome Miller he is located at 5818 Nw 50th just off of Macarthur. The phone number is ###-###-####. Hope everything works out for you.

Hi A..

I had stains on my front teeth when I was that age, too. My mother was told it was due to a high fever I had before the teeth grew in. My permanent teeth are fine. Just to be sure, I would have the dentist take a look at her. I hope this helps. Good luck.

A.

A.,
Sounds like your daughter has floride stains. Its from not getting toothpaste off well enough. Don't think there is anything you can do about them now. Go ahead to the dentist, they won't put her out just to look.

P.

Have you taken her to a pediatric dentist? My middle kid had some of his baby teeth that were yellow/brown. Turns out he had poor enamel on those teeth. Thankfully, he has now lost them all and the big teeth are coming in just fine.

Did you take antibiotics while you were pregnant?

Ask your dentist. Don't you think putting your child under anesthesia to look at stains on teeth you can reach with a tootbrush is a bit extreme? This doesn't make sense!

Call the dentist to find out. You can always say "NO" if he says he has to....

Always a Pediatric Dentist!

My kids go to a pediatric dentist and have been going since 18 months, they never had to put them under any anestesia except when they did a filling on my 5 yr old. Call the dentists around and ask. Ours is great, the kids love him.

I took my daughter to a pediatric dentist starting at age 2, and she even had sealers put on her back teeth a few months later and no anesthesia was used. Our dentist actually has TV's on the ceiling and headphones for the kids to watch TV while he checks their teeth. I would definitely bring your daughter in and have her teeth checked.

my daughter whom is now 3 years old had that same problem i tried to brush her teeth everyday when we were staying in texas the dentist i took her to gave me floride and told me to brush her teeth with that. It did not work when we moved back to new orleans i took her to the dentist it was a bad experience because she didnt know him to make a long story short she had to have surgery on her two bottom teeth and caps placed on her two front teeth. the dentist told me that it was calcium growing on her teeth i ask him why he say her boddy just produced too much at the time when her teeth were growing. she's great now.

I dont know about the anestesia part of it - thats one I've never heard of. But "dirt" under the enamel is a sign of an infection inside the tooth. My oldest had one as early as 1yr - she had a heart condition and for some reason that and bad teeth go hand-in-hand. "Dirt" on top of the tooth could be a sign of a dietary issue. You should definitely get it looked at in any case. My whole fam goes to Dr. Steven Strange on Broadway in Edmond. I have a VERY long history in the dental chair and he's the best I've ever experienced - completely pain free. He also has young kids of his own and is wonderful with children. Just tell them J. sent you :}

If she is taking liquid vitamins with iron, the iron could be doing that. If so, it will eventually fade. Her doctor can tell.

Pediatric Dentist's are EXPERTS on baby teeth. They have all the resources and options for all little dental needs. These teeth need to be x-rayed. If it is decay and they become abscessed then the infection can go to the child's brain or heart. It can also damage their adult teeth.

I took K to Dr. Jason Lee on N. Portland in OKC (more info below) and K had a broken tooth due to a fall and a few cavities. She had her procedure done at Children's Hospital, again every professional there is an EXPERT in treating children. We had a great experience and I fully intend to continue seeing Dr. Lee for all my grandkids dental needs.

As a result of her experience, K looks forward to going to see Dr. Lee, she runs in to see him when her turn comes up and she leaps into the chair and opens her little mouth. She hugs him bye and wants to go see him all the time.

I didn't like the idea of her having her mouth drilled on while awake, I don't like going to the Dentist. When I was in Jr, High I had one put his knee on my chest and hold me down while he drilled on an abscessed tooth that wouldn't go numb and as a teen another dentist rubbed his arm on my ever growing busts when I had my wisdom teeth exam in preparation for having them pulled.

When K came home from her Mom's with the broken tooth I took her to Ocean Dental in Stillwater and they wouldn't even touch her teeth to clean them at the time. They gave me a list of Pediatric Dentists who took Sooner Care, an insurance program through the State. I am raising 3 of my grand children and they have medical cards through the state because we are on Disability and need the assistance for their medical needs.

I chose Dr. Lee's office because his receptionist was the only person answering the phones for the Dentist's on the list who could explain to me what a Pediatric Dentist was. I also chose him over his partners because he chooses to use WHITE filling material, it is so sad when little kids go around with silver teeth. If that is the only choice someone has then they still need to get the fillings.

Pediatric Dentist's are Experts on baby teeth, they treat children under anesthesia as a general rule because it is too traumatic for little ones to get shots in the mouth and have loud drills and foreign objects in their mouths for any length of time, they work with little bitty kids all day, every day.

These spots could be anything from stains to decay but only a Dentist and an X-ray call tell for sure.

I know I am opinionated on this topic but I feel strongly that their teeth experiences as little children will effect them even into adulthood. The risk is minimal with anesthesia and their teeth are worth it.

Why would they put her under anesthesia? Have you tried a small dab of tooth whitening toothpaste? Is she drinking a lot of soda? They are her baby teeth so she will get new ones in about 5-6 yrs so unless they are rotting I cannot imagine why the dentist would do anything to them.

Our 2 1/2 year old has been to the dentist 2 times for checkups and once to look at a tooth that he hit on something (I think children are supposed to see the dentist starting at around age 1 for regular checkups). They NEVER made mention of anesthesia, and the dentist was so good with him each time. They aren't going to do something to your child without your consent anyway, so just don't agree to it if they suggest it. Be sure to take her to a reputable pediatric dentist.