Born with No Enamel

My husband's family is like this. ALL the kids on his side of the family essentially have to have their baby teeth pulled as they come in. If not, within 6 months they have massive systemic infections from abscesses (they used to have a really high rate of infant mortality... more than half the babies in his family tree died by 18mo). My neice and nephew got off the "lightest" in that side of the family. The only had to have about half their teeth pulled, and the other half they got caps on.

Looks like my BILs genetics "helped" with some of the dentin production. They all have fairly healthy adult teeth, but are very prone to cavities. They all have *excellent* oral hygeine. It's just bad genes.

My daughter was born premature. Almost two months to the day she was supposed to be delivered, they took her out of me via an emergency C-section. When her teeth finally started coming in, the top two front teeth were a little discolored and thin looking. We took her to the dentist and he said that sometimes when a child is premature they suffer from Enamel hypoplasia.

"Enamel hypoplasia means there is a lack of enamel (white coating) on the outside of the teeth. Premature infants have enamel hypoplasia four times more often than term children. The left upper front primary teeth are twice as likely to have enamel hypoplasia than the right. It can be found on the permanent teeth, however the problems are generally less severe. Causes are intubation and mechanical ventilation, as well as a lack of certain nutrients in the NICU. Children with enamel hypoplasia are more likely to develop cavities in these teeth and will need careful, routine brushing and close monitoring by the dentist."

She didn't get silver caps but instead the dentist brushed a sealant on them and gave us a prescription for fluoride.

Your ex told you the reason was because "he was born with no enamel but only on his two front teeth" Who, "he"? Your ex or your son? Like was this a preventative thing for the son? What did the dentist say? Sorry--confused.

I thought they put on those silver caps when kids had baby bottle mouth, basically that their front teeth rotted away because they were allowed to fall asleep with a milk bottle. I never heard of kids being born without enamel but I am no dentist, I would check with a pediatric dentist. Your phrasing is curious - is this your child you do not know this about that is already 4? Either way, hopefully dental care is better now and the permanent teeth will be nice and white.

I have a friend whose daughter didn't have enamel on some of her teeth. I don't remember her needing solver caps, but it was awhile ago, so I could be wrong.

bottle rot is more likely, but the enamel can be inherantly soft, reducing more easily, my daughter had 3 teeth effected by it, no bottle at night fr her,

Why don't you ask your dentist?

I have 4-year-old twins, and one daughter's teeth were fine at their first dentist visit (a year ago, at age 3). The other had 3 cavities, one in each of 3 of her back molars. Because we treated our daughters the same in terms of diet, brushing, etc., I knew it wasn't anything me or my husband did, but it was genetic.

The dentist said the enamel didn't form properly on her back molars, though the rest of her teeth are fine. We had those cavities filled, and she's been back to the dentist twice since then with no additional problems.

I had this...one of my eye teeth (baby tooth) came in with no enamel and had to be capped. My mother chose not a silver or gold but a closer to tooth like color that was still slightly more yellow than my true teeth. You can see it in all my pictures until that tooth fell out, oh second or third grade.

So yes, it can happen...and I hate to admit but my 5 year old had 4 cavities at his first dental appointment. We brushed twice a day and he never had a bottle in his crib ever.

It can just be bad dental genetics...

It can be genetics. Do others in either side of the family have this problem? Lots of cavities, root canals, caps?

Sometimes, their baby teeth will not have enamel but the adult teeth will be fine . You need to speak with your childs dentist dentist to figure out what the deal is.

I think I get the general idea of your question. My husband and 2 of my 3 kids have genetically weak baby teeth. They come in with defects right from the beginning. My 22 month old has had 2 cavities filled in teeth a couple months ago that she only had a handful of months (we're talking less then 6 months!) My oldest son has a crown on 1 tooth and has had fillings in pretty much every tooth. My second child has had a total of 3 cavities his entire life. It's not from poor dental hygine, not from what we're feeding them. The dentist told us that it's a combination of bad genetics (my husband had teeth just the same and my MIL said she went through just as much as we've gone through to keep his teeth healthy whereas his brother had no issues with his baby teeth) and weak teeth enamel. It is possible his 2 teeth have this defect.
The best place to ask is your son's dentist though as he's seen the teeth and had the training to know what is going on. I would highly recommend getting sealants on any teeth that they are able to so you can prevent any further damage to any of his other baby teeth.
He needs them for his jaw to form right and for all of his other teeth to come in correctly. Some of his baby teeth he won't loose until he's in upwards of 12 years old. Taking care of them now can save you from costly braces later.

From fitst hand experience, yes. I cleaned and cleaned my daughters teeth and by the time she was a year her teeth were chipping and breaking. Mostly the front top teeth. I put it off because I was so worried but she had to be sedated and had all but 4 of them capped. We were told the same thing. No enamel and that her teeth were that way since birth.

Both my boys had that problem but my girls did not. My oldest had two round areas on his two front teeth that looked funny but never got a cavity. My younger son's teeth were far worse and ended up with a mess of silver teeth. Both of them their adult teeth are perfect.

It is some genetic thing but I really haven't studied it much.