My 7yr old needs a filling!!! Where am I going wrong???

[SignFeet]

I am mortified but also, really confused.
We are annoyingly particular about what our children eat, and their health etc. they have the odd treat if going to a party or something but we don't have chocolate, sweets, fizzy drinks, fruit juice, cakes, biscuits in the house etc. We avoid process food and make 95% of our meals ourselves (even rearing our own meat and growing our own veg). They are both very healthy, fit children.
They both brush their teeth for 1min each twice a day and we follow it by us brushing their teeth for another two minutes. DS's and 7 and 5.
DS1 needs a filling and dentist accused me of neglecting his teeth, but then DS2 has 'the most perfect' teeth he had seen in a 5 year old. After seeing DS2's he backed off his parenting rant and said he had never seen two siblings with such different teeth - even asking me if DH and I were separated and the children lived in separate houses?
Where am I going wrong with DS1 - I've been looking at enamel problems or am I missing something health wise? Feel absolutely mortified today and like I failed my child!!

You're doing nothing wrong. Some people just have crappier teeth than others. Dentists seem to be unique in believing that a poorly functioning bodypart is wholly due to neglect. really pisses me off.
I had the same and got a telling off everytime till i insisted on a dental hospital appointment where a scan showed his adult teeth which hadn't even emerged yet were hypermineralised

Are you using an electric toothbrush? My son is older and notoriously bad at judging how long 4 minutes is when using a manual brush. (The electric one tells you when 30 seconds is up do you can change quadrant. )

If one child has great teeth and the other needs a filling, this surely means enamel problems though?

The dentist was just being a patronising arsehole unfortunately some people just have weaker teeth than others making it more likely for them to get fillings. So don’t feel bad about yourself as there’s not much you can do about it.

Me and my sister were raised the same. Allowed to eat and drink sugary crap all the time. As I got older I curbed the sweet stuff but she still eats like she is 12. My teeth are awful, hers are perfect!

My youngest has enamel problems, he had a filling at 9. Fissure sealant on his other molars.

The dentist said it is likely that I had some kind of virus while I was pregnant and that has affected his his enamel developed. His teeth look brown at the back but he is fastidious about brushing. My eldest however can be a little tramp sometimes 🙄 but hasn’t needed any dental work.

Agree some people just have shit teeth. My sisters just crumble away (literally) whereas mine are strong and white and huge like Mr Ed.

You're doing nothing wrong. And the dentist is a twerp.

Dental decay is caused purely by diet.
@vandrew4 hypermineralisation is totally different to 'routine caries'
@SignFeet the key think is what is being eaten and drank between meals, this is what causes decay. Has your dentist suggested any causes?

Dental decay is caused purely by diet
Hmmm. I had sweets once a week, supervised brushing twice a day when I was a child. All my first teeth needed filling. I had to have several removed. When the same started to happen to my adult teeth, the Dentist gave me fluoride treatment and it stopped. Never had another filling.
I don’t think it’s just diet.

Dmacka75 - no he didn't once he looked at both children he suggested my older one had genetic problem. I agree decay is caused by diet, but from my reading children are at different starting points - for example having weaker enamel etc. I'm not being defensive when I say I genuinely think my children have a superb diet - we live very self sufficiently and they basically only eat what we grow, unless when at school that is. But school have a good diet with lunches etc.

My dentist said raisins are worse for teeth than sweets/fizzy drinks because they stick to the teeth and there are lots of sugars in them!

He also said when you have a sugary treat, you're better off eating it all in one go than having a little bit every now and again

Same as my two, the eldest has hyper-mineralisation and has had three teeth out and four fillings. Don't know what I did wrong as I was so careful with eating very healthily etc when I was pregnant. Second child has perfect teeth... Both have their teeth brushed for the same amount of time, same diet etc.

Can only suggest an electric toothbrush as well, if you are not already using one. Also continue to brush their teeth yourselves for as long as they will let you, youngest is nearly nine and I still brush his teeth after the trauma of the first one's fillings etc.

My two dds have different enamel too. The dentist has recommended fissure seals to protect the enamel of one's teeth but not necessary for the other. Same diet and same brushing routine.

My brother and I both have awful teeth which mortified our parents but they were looked after meticulously. Poor genes. I do feel for you though, I worry about this happening to our DC.

@SignFeet sorry not meaning to be confrontational, often times people dont realise things that would cause tooth decay, eg raisins are seen as a healthly snack but in tooth terms, virtually the same as a sticky sweet.
Has your son had early medical interventions as a baby, antibiotics etc, this can cause enamel weakness,

Any chance at all that your child has a lot of fruit/acidic foods? Smoothies? Raisins/Dried Fruits? Lemon?

Dmacka75 - thanks - his main treat are dried apples - which we slow dry in the oven. He does eat a lot of fruit (but not raisins) and quite a lot of natural homemade yogurt. DS1 had a number of operations when he was a baby and yes was on antibiotics 3 times as a result. I also had strong antibiotics (X2) and steroids in pregnancy with him. Could that have impacted?

Shady - yes he eats lots of apples and pears - at least one or two a day - but so does ds2

What about allergies is your ds on any antihistamines which could lesson saliva production- just a thought. Or does he suffer any acid reflux.

@cardibach primary dentition (first/baby teeth) may be more prone to decay/caries, but there still must be a factor to cause this. Permanent dentition/adult teeth may be more prone to caries/decay if an underlying factor causes hypermineralisation, however there still needs to be a trigger to this eg sugar between meals

One thing that I only learned recently.
The acid from food can weaken your enamel. So if you brush your teeth immediately after eating you run the risk of damaging weakened enamel.

Brush teeth when waking up, then after breakfast either wait 20 minutes before brushing or have sugar free gum around 10 minutes later. The same goes for other meals.

Brush before bed.

Cut out the dried apple treats especially between meals. Just don't snack between the 3 main meals. But if there must be snacks between meals, stick to cheese, hummus, fresh veg sticks, fresh fruit, bread butter, plain crackers, cheese spread.

I really believe it's luck, good luck & bad luck with teeth!

Dd9 & ds8 have perfect teeth - dentist said so & congratulated me as the dc told him that I still clean their teeth.

He said carry on for as long as they will let you. Also always use adult toothpaste but in small quantities etc.

Then he looked at ds6 - he has decay :( no fillings as yet but I was so upset! Dentist just said keep doing what I'm doing & they'll tackle problems as & when.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed his adult teeth will be stronger.

All have the same diet etc but youngest ds has asthma & I've heard the inhalers can cause damage but that's only general people saying that not medical professionals (obviously breathing is more important!)

P.S all my dc can clean their teeth & do sometimes but either I or DH do them 99% of the time.

Dental decay is caused purely by diet
no it's not

Is he possibly having sweets or fizzy drinks from a friend at school?

JurrasicGirl - does your dc clean their teeth after using the inhaler? They should.