Tooth Decay on My 20 Month Old

Hi, H.,
My daughter, who is now almost 4, also has some tooth decay on one of her front teeth (I noticed it first when she was about 2). The pediatric dentist has no idea why...all of her other teeth are perfectly fine and healthy. They say it could have started in utero. In any case, because they don't loose those teeth until the age of 6 or even 7, they recommend filling it. I'll be taking her in a few weeks to get it filled, so let me know if you want to know how it goes!
Good luck,
A.

I just took my 2 year old to the dentist for the same thing. He said just watch the sugary drinks - limit them to meals and give water inbetween. He advised me to wait about a year and then they will fill in the decayed areas. The bad thing is they have to be put to sleep at this age. The reason is probably from an illness when he was really young - which he had terrible ear infections. Dentist said it should not effect his permanent teeth though. Hope this helps!

My neice had to have all of her teeth removed by the age of two because of tooth decay. The dentist said bottles and pacifiers can cause these decays. Also if brushing doesn't work on a child they say to use a warm wash cloth with some tooth paste on it to clean their teeth. But usually at such a young age they just pull the teeth instead of fixing them. But there are some dentists that will put fillings in baby teeth.

You may want to verify that it is indeed tooth decay. I saw something similar to what you are desciribing when my daughter was her age. What it turned out to be was that she had no enamel on her teeth in that spot. The result was discolored bone no matter how often we brushed. The dentist said this was not uncommon and happens when the teeth are formed in utero. There was nothing that needed to be done, and her permanent teeth came in perfectly.

Take her to the dentist!!! Go to a pediatric dentist. They see that all the time. I'm a dental hygienist but don't deal w/ kids that much, but it sounds like "baby bottle caries." This happens when food/drink is in contact with the teeth more than it should be. They call it that because mothers used to give babies juice or milk or something watered down to sip on all day or to go to bed with. Just give water. Brushing with plain water is good too, with a fun tooth brush, or with a wash cloth. Have two fun tooth brushes and have her choose which one. She'll still feel like she has a choice, but she does not have the option of NOT brushing:)

It could be something developmental though, like when the teeth were forming, or could be stain, or could be discolored calculus (tarter.) Who knows, I don't know and it sounds like you're not sure, so go to the professional! Baby teeth can hurt too. They are also needed to be space maintainers so the permanent ones can come in. Get it checked out; poor baby:(

Hi H.,

I have a friend who is going through the same thing.

We have an awesome dentist in Clearwater (not sure where you are at if this is close to you or not) her name is Dr. Jill Hagen at Northwoods Dental. ###-###-####

Tell them C. Eisenman sent you and they will take good care of you and your daughter...Dr. Jill is sooooo great with kids...my kids beg to go see her!

They will send you a referral card before your apt. and it gets you a free consultation and xray so you can see if you want to continue to go to them or not...it's great!

Let me know if you need any other questions answered on this...I just went through taking 3 of my 4 kids to her and it was amazingly painless all around!

Hope this helps.

C.

My Daughter was a dental assistant and is now a dentl hygenist.
There are pediatric dentists but some regular dentists also work on the young. Call your dentist and talk to them. They may do the work or they may refer you to someone they know is good.

S.

Hi H.,

My son, who is now 24, had tooth decay due to iron supplements I had to take while I was pregnant. The iron decayed 18 of his baby teeth. The dentist had to put silver caps on the decayed teeth. Even though they were baby teeth, the dentist said when they eventually would come out, the permanent teeth would also decay. Today, my son has beautiful, white teeth. I would definitely have your daughter checked out to make sure all is well.

Have a great day,
Caterina

H., Have you been to a pediatric dentist? Are you sure it's tooth decay and not just discoloration from flouride or something else? My daughter had some cavities in her molars at age two. We were shocked. We're natural foods and health oriented and didn't give her candy or sugary drinks. The dentist told us the biggest culprit is all the goldfish, pretzels, teething toast, cheerios, etc. us moms tend to give our kids for snacks. They are all simple carbohydrates that our bodies must turn into sugar in order to digest and use. All those carbs get stuck in the teeth and turn to sugar.

When they put in the fillings the dentist did then put a sealant on the molars that she had in to prevent further damage. A.

Hi! I'm sorry you're dealing with this at that age...

My daughter fell and chipped 4 of her baby teeth when she was about that age, and it started to decay. When she had just turned 2, I found an awesome dentist in Sarasota who did the work with no sedation, no novocaine, no drugs of any sort, and no tears! She is wonderful, and I highly recommend her, if you are anywhere near Sarasota. She is worth the drive (I drove about an hour to get to her). Her name is Glori Enzor, and she's on Rt. 41 near Bee Ridge.

My daughter is 5 now and her teeth look beautiful.

Good luck!

Talk to your pediatrician about flouride supplements. Also limits the sugary drinks. Try a tooth brush that has lights or music, tooth tunes is one. Try brushing your teeth with her. Also look into mouth wash, and again try usin mouth wash with her. All these should help prevent decay on more teeth. Good Luck. I do not know what to do about the ones she has now. Look into a pediatric dentist. http://www.wheresmilesbegin.com/ is the web page for Oliver Favalli in Fort Myers. He is the best.

I just had something similar with my 2 year old boy and was really scared it was permanent tooth decay. We took him to a pediatric dentist (awesome group in Lakeland - Shirin Yasrebi on Edgewood) and his teeth just needed cleaned. They recommend dental check-ups as young as 1 and I'm really glad I went. Those two front teeth are the hardest as kids tend to curl their lip over them and make teeth brushing a real challenge!

Dear H. -

Do you feed your daughter any juice, or let her fall asleep with a bottle of anything other than water? I found out from my dentist last week that this is something that happens much more frequently than it should, because parents aren't made aware of the situation.

She said that juice is especially harmful, even for adults, and can cause cavities in a second because of the high sugar content (even natural fruit sugars, not just cane sugars and corn syrup). If you drink juice, you should follow it with water to wash out your mouth. However, even milk and formula, when allowed to sit in the mouth, feeds the bacteria that help cause tooth decay and cavities. Many children will fall asleep with their bottle, leaving that last gulp in their mouth to sit. She recommends that you give them a sippy cup instead, and have them fall asleep with water, a pacifier, or nothing (if you can get their okay).

Hope this helps!

Morning H.,

I had a similar experience with my daughter when she was 2 years old. I panicked thinking a lot of what you are i'm sure. I brushed and flossed her teeth, we don't keep junk food in the house, why was this happening. I took her to a pediatric dentist, and found that it was actually a prenatal development issue. He specifically asked if i had been sick when i was pregnant and that many times that causes poor development of the baby teeth. Her adult teeth came in fine, at age 15 she has beautiful teeth. But yes they can cap them or pull them and give them a mouth piece as they did with my friends son who also had to go through this. Good luck hope this helps,

L.

ps. My child's dentist did not have to put her to sleep to do this work. Simple laughing gas did the trick, i suppose it really depends how much work needs to be done, but i have NEVER heard of anyone having more work than my child had done, and she was awake the whole time. I strongly recomend
Dr. Petinato (if you are in the Tampa area) He is amazing !