to think this is a big deal?

[BauerTime]

Genuine ask as I don't know if this is normal or not.

Friends 4yo has 5 tooth cavities and has to have coatings put on their teeth. Seems to me like a lot but as my child is only 1 ive no experience apart from my own and according to my mum me and my siblings never had any.

A few days after the dentist visit she has been contacted by her hv calling her younger child in for a check up. Might be a coincidence but possibly linked?

I know kids dont have great brushing technique and its hard to get their teeth properly cleaned if they don't like it, and I know that 1st teeth dont need to last that long anyway so might not be that big of a deal but just wondering really whether its common or not for kids teeth to deteriorate by this age or whether its something you can prevent?

There may be an additional problem with their teeth I suppose. I'm 41 and have one filling, dd is 13 and has none.

It's not usual, but there may be genetic/medical reasons.

I had my first filling at 22 and I was devastated. I now have four fillings and a crown, even though I brush twice a day and don't drink sugary drinks. I have no idea what's going on

Maybe there's an underlying problem with the child.

Agreed - not normal but there may be some problem with the childs teeth.
I didn't have a filling until I was 15.
My younger sister doesn't have any in her mid 40's
Sometimes it really is the luck of the draw.

I don't think it's common,no.

There are medical reasons why some children's teeth are terrible.

For others, it's too much sugar.

Have you asked your friend?

There are so many sugars that it's easy to not think about: fruit juices, milk, raisins etc.
I know my DD had an enamel problem with her baby teeth, that may or may not have been caused by me having antibiotics while pregnant.

Was the child premature? Sometimes the enamel doesn't form properly! Don't be so judgey!

A HV calling a check up? And? Nobody has to attend or engage with a HV if they don't want to

My dd had enamel probs too.... The cause was never discovered

Some peoples enamel just seems harder than others. I didn't have a filling till my late 30s. My dentist says I have a very slow rate of decay so he can see a tiny bit on an X-ray but even a year later it's still not enough to warrant a filling.
But bad oral hygiene is also a concern and can be linked to general chaotic living. I imagine the HV wants to check that the kids have tooth brushes and they brush twice a day and avoid sugary drinks and acids etc.

Ds had teeth taken out . I was devastated.
Milk and fruit were the culprits . His Ds teeth however were totally unaffected - same dietary routine .
Be wary of judging - your child could be next ...

DD2 had one filled milk tooth, possibly perpetual BFing, but most likely she lied about cleaning her teeth.

I'm afraid I didn't feel preventing the odd filling worth explaining the bruises to SS. No way would she let you clean her teeth except by brute force.

My sons have a good diet and reasonable brushing technique. They see dentist regularly. DS1 is fine, but DS2 had 6 teeth out at the age of 7. They were decayed, but this was due to the fact the enamel never developed properly. This may have been my fault due to something I did or didn't do when pg.

His adult teeth are unaffected. And the others look good.

It was horrid seeing him after he came round from the GA, but he bounced back quickly.

It's a big deal, but don't judge until you know all the facts.

Some people have stronger teeth than others

Same as bones really

Undiagnosed coeliac disease can affect the formation of enamel on teeth. Just one of many, many conditions that can affect the propensity of teeth to be damaged.

Also, my dentist once told me (when I was talking about how many fillings my parents had compared to me with none) that there used to be a prevailing view that the slightest erosion of enamel required a filling, whereas now it's believed that slight erosion can repair itself and doesn't need filling. Some dentists may be more trigger-happy than others.

Oh, and my dentist also told me that the composition of your saliva differs from person to person - and if you have a more acidic/alkaline (can't remember which - maybe both?) saliva, that is likely to cause more tooth damage. My saliva is apparently perfect

I'm not judging, I just want to know as I have a child and just want to be more informed. At the moment we struggle to brush his teeth and he already has 16 at 13m which I know is alot for his age so they might have to last him a bit longer than those that get them later on.

The child in question was born spot on his due date so not premature and no known health issues AFAIK and we are close so I'm pretty sure that's the case. They do have what I would consider personally alot of sweets but I take the point that milk and fruit could be just as much to blame for tooth erosion so that's kind of irrelevant. I dont know about the quality of their tooth brushing though.

I know that she doesn't have to engage with the hv but that wasn't the point that I was making, just that the hv called after the appt which may or may not be related.

I think that sort of thing is luck of the draw/genetics.

One of my friend's ds had to have several fillings age 5yo. She brushed his teeth twice a day, he wasn't allowed sweets, chocolates once a week (and then they brushed his teeth afterwards) and water to drink.

I didn't have any fillings until I was 24, except one which came through with no enamel on. Despite (unknown to dm) spending about 2-3 years only brushing my teeth with water as I didn't like the toothpaste she bought.

My daughter has thin enamel, no fillings yet but only because our eagle eyed dentist saw a few white patches on back teeth, X-ray confirmed it and she has her teeth 'sealed' every 6 months.

The dentist suspects a viral infection whilst teeth were possibly developing could have stopped them forming thick enough. They look pearly white and perfect though!

I think it's good if the dentist and hv are linked though, I wouldn't mind answering questions to clarify her condition if it meant that a child on borderline neglect was helped through the same line of enquiry.

Ps- my dd had horrific chicken pox at 2.5- I think that could be the cause, she was very poorly with it.

Exactly eggy I'm not knocking the hv at all if this is why she called. I dont think the inconvenience for some to have a bit of extra pestering from them is a problem of it picks up a few families that might need a bit of help.

I'm not saying my friend needs any help, she is a great mum and has great healthy children.

I think this just shocked me a bit because I always think of kids as so pure and perfect that the thought of dental work when so tiny doesn't seem to fit in with that ideal. That might sound silly and I don't think I would have even batted an eyelid before I had one of my own, but that's just my thought process.

I was horrified that dd1 needs a filling at 6 and has decay on other teeth. She doesn't have much sugar, she does eat loads of fruit though, and I always brush her teeth every day with high fluoride toothpaste.

I hate taking her to the dentist as all I get is "no more sugar, brush more etc." They won't listen that she has few sweets, drinks milk/water/very weak no added sugar juice.

Then ds1 sits in the chair and his teeth are declared perfect. Yet he's only a year younger and eats and drinks the same as dd1.

Sometimes cavities and decay can be prevented but sometimes there's an underlying cause that can't be helped. My DCs eat and drink the same things and I brush their teeth the same way yet dd1 has decay while ds1 and dd2 don't.

Dental problems do run in my family as my mam's teeth crumbled in her 40s as did her mam's before that.

Was the child BF until quite late or nursed to sleep? Apparently there are simpler carbohydrates in BM and these break down much easier into sugars, kind of like lactose in cows milk. BF a lot or for comfort when the child isn't necessarily swallowing can apparently cause tooth decay as the bacteria multiply because of the sugar...

Or so I was told!

I bf DD until she was 3 - no tooth decay. I think it depends on the susceptibility of the child's teeth as to whether there's a problem. I always feel like this sort of thing is poking blame at parents, and rather unfair.

I am sure there are some neglectful parents who feed their children endless sugary crap, fizzy drinks, and never brush their child's teeth. But I don't think that's the majority of cases of tooth decay.

DD had same in first set of teeth and had to have coatings put on - DS with same diet had no issues
As 21 and 23 year olds DS has one filling in adult teeth DD has none
Wish my parents had had same access to modern dental services as I have quite a few fillings all of which I acquired as a younger person :-(

My four have no fillings, but my eldest two had mottling of the enamel on their front teeth which looked horrible. In the sixth form we shelled out for expensive bleaching so they look really nice now. It is frustrating though, when you look after your kids teeth and they still have problems.