to think a dentist will take my child's bad breath seriously

[pingu2209]

My son who is nearly 10 has dreadful bad breath; it could strip wall paper. I brush his teeth for him, used the all the mouth washes under the sun. We are now using a new one out called CB12.

His mouth is full of blood when he brushes his teeth and he says his teeth hurt when he brushes them the way that I insist that he does - ie for a long time and as well as possible. If I don't oversee his teeth brushing he would not do it or would do it so badly that you can still see lots of food in his teeth.

We have gone to the dentist 4 times already about it. I am really worried about bullying once he is at secondary school. He is alreayd being bullied at primary. I don't blame the children, his breath is terrible. The teachers have asked me what I am doing as the other children don't want to sit next to him.

The dentist says it is gingivitis and that he needs to brush properly etc. However, we have done all of that. But his gingivitis is so bad that he won't brush his teeth properly by himself because of the blood/pain. I have 2 younger children and it is not always possible to get him in a head lock.

Seems young to have gingivitis so I would agree with those saying go to GP for opinion. I was also once told by a dentist that almost all bad breath not food related (ie garlic etc) was caused by sinus problems.

Ds had bad breath due to repeated sinus probs, he used RETARDEX ORAL SPRAY it was briliantly effective.

Thanks for all your feedback.

My son has SEN but it really shouldn't affect his ability to clean his teeth properly.

He is lazy primarily so can't be bothered to brush his teeth - even with the comments at school, which you would have thought would have encouraged him to do something about it.

I do get him in a head lock and do it myself but probably only once or twice a week. I only brush them a little bit and the foam turns red with the blood and he cries because his teeth hurt.

He has over crowding on the top and bottom set of teeth and they are all over the place, which makes it very hard to properly clean his teeth. He went to a orthadontist to see if he could have a brace, but he has too many baby teeth still. They reckon he will need one, but not for a few years yet.

Has he ever had a deep clean ? The hygienist can apply local anaesthetic paste so it won't hurt as much. Until they are properly cleaned he will struggle to make improvements with brushing alone.

Have you tired oraflam? I had pregnancy related gingivitis and it really helped

Has he tried Corsodyl ? Perhaps ask for a referral to paediatric dentist but rule out any other potential infections (adenoids, sinus, tonsillitis etc) with gp first

I brush reluctant DC teeth by sitting on the toilet seat (lid down of course, pants up!!) they lay back wards into my lap and open their mouths. They are surprisingly obliging at that for some reason. I pretend I'm like a dentist. Maybe that might help if you haven't tried it?

Is he lactose intolerant? I asked my dentist about my sons's awful breath when he was about 7. She said her daughter was the same and it was lactose intolerance.

It was like the scales fell from my eyes. All his feeding problems as a baby (bottle, wouldn't bf) were probably caused by his lactose intolerance but it was never picked up or suggested.

He can deal with milk on cereal occasionally during the week although he'll start to smell the next day, but give him yoghurt and oh my god! He's stinking within 20 mins.

dentist here

unfortunately though have not seen your son it would appear he says severe gingivitis, this really can only be sorted by rigorous oral hygiene the dentist/ hygienist can only do so much, though they should be very helpful in demonstrating technique and helping you and your son develop a cleaning regime that will work

it takes at least 2-3 weeks of proper brushing before bleeding will stop, so completely ignore the quantity of blood for this period in reality it is a tiny amount

you need to see hygienist to get shown a more effective way or brushing your DS teeth I am sorry but once or twice or week is going to see a slow deterioration not an improvement, there are other rarer possibilities juvenile periodontitis, being a mouth rather than nose breather at rest; stomach problems

do as gobbin said and brush teeth from behind with head in lap as if you were a dentist; it is virtually impossible to do good dentistry from in front of the patient

electric toothbrushes used properly for correct length of time but used incorrectly are worse than brushing by hand, flossing probably needed but do not attempt until standard brushing is happening correctly twice a day for 2-3 minutes

about 92% of bad breath is dental hygiene related

Maybe consider a special needs toothbrush? www.colliscurve.co.uk/site/1.asp