Any dentists about? Flourosis advice

[captncrunch]

Hi all

Posted a few weeks back about my DD (7) because I was worried about tartar build up ok bottom teeth, we were constantly cleaning it off and it would build again. Anyway, took her to dentist today and he was lovely, said it was nothing we were doing wrong and teeth were overcrowded so hard to clean but that it was likely the composition of her saliva and that we would just keep on top of it etc etc. Felt a lot better and said kids teeth were all fine. Then in last 2 mins of the appointment he said 'do we swallow toothpaste?' and I said 'yes, probably most of the time' and he said 'you need to stop that immediately, stop today'. I was a bit alarmed and he said DD had mild flourosis on her front adult teeth. They do have a sort of marbled appearance though only really noticeable up very close (he probably just noticed as had been cleaning the bottom teeth). I said I hadn't realised that this was so much of an issue and if we stopped now would it be OK. He looked at me really sternly then and said "well, no, the damage is done when the teeth are forming but it's better stopping now than never because she still has lots to cone through and in some cases they can actually come through brown".

I'm now terrified and feel absolutely awful. I am quite neurotic about teeth as I have seen a lot of severe child tooth decay through my work. So I've always been really careful about the kids teeth. I can't believe that through swallowing the toothpaste I could have caused DD a problem, I know it's just cosmetic but I know the appearance of teeth is really important for self esteem. I've encouraged spitting but never enforced it as they're rubbish at it and usually swallow as they're brushing.... And I didn't realise it was actually harming the teeth not to.

I suppose what I'm asking is, how bad could this be? What is the likelihood the others will come through worse than the front ones? She still has the lateral incisors on the top to lose, all the canines and all the molars.

I'm also frustrated because I've taken the kids to the dentist every 6 months since they've had teeth, pay a fortune because there is no NHS dentists in the area, and not once as a dentist ever mentioned the risk of swallowing the toothpaste. Feel like such an idiot for not knowing this crucial information! 😔

Is it flourosis or hyperplasia?

He said flourosis @Beanbagtrap

Probably not going to come thru brown tho, given you're going to get her to stop swallowing tooth paste now

Doesn't it actually make teeth stronger?

Your dentist should have been a bit more sensitive! Its barely noticeable on the ones already thru and may not be noticeable at all on the next ones

Try not to get upset, you weren't to know and I think it's pretty common

Dentist here.
Sounds like it is fairly mild if only feint white spots. Brown patches happen with even greater levels of fluoride.
For a few weeks, supervise the amount of toothpaste that DD puts on the brush (just a smear is fine) and make sure she properly spits out after brushing. Don't rinse out at the end (that washes the lovely fluoride out of the saliva). Supervise long enough to develop new habits.
Adult toothpaste with 1450ppm fluoride is recommended at her age provided there is not added fluoride in the water supply (ask your water supplier)
HTH

Thanks very much @PC20
We use Aquafresh kids toothpaste which is 1450 and according to our water supplier website the flouride level isn't adjusted. We'll be careful with the quantity of toothpaste and I'll make sure she spits every time now.

It's more like lines on the teeth than spots. I'm just really concerned that the teeth still in the gums will have more damage as I got the impression that this happened before they erupted and obviously they've had more time in the gums to absorb it? Is that how it works?

Having said that, I don't think the lines on the front teeth were visible until very recently, she's had those teeth since July and I didn't notice when they first came though.

And thank you @Tilllly for your support. There's always a new reason to feel the mum guilt!