Any dentists about? AIBU to be worried about 18 month old’s yellow teeth?

[Hallomother]

18 month old DS has lots of teeth now, but the bottom four seem to be yellowing. I brush as best I can twice a day, tiny smear of toothpaste at night and water in the morning.
He doesn’t have chocolate, sweets, crisps, but does love fruit.
He also has baby packet snacks sometimes but not loads most food is prepared by me.

They look really bad to me and I was wondering if it’s something to do with the way I’m brushing or an enamel issue? I’ve booked him into the dentist but they can’t see him for five weeks so although I know
People can’t diagnose on here I wondered if anyone had had similar and had any advice, or if you have dental knowledge if you can help.

The only thing I can think of is he had amoxicillin for an ear infection when he was teething recently but these ones were already through so I doubt it’s that

Anyone?

Why aren't you using toothpaste on his teeth twice a day? Or have I misunderstood?

Why dont you use toothpaste twice a day?

Do you give him vitamins? I’ve noticed with syrup vitamins a lot of my charges get tooth staining. I make sure to brush teeth after vitamins and it helps a lot

Dentist told me not too previously said to only do it once at night.
I have been using syrup vitamins yes but in his juice not by the spoonful if that makes sense

@Nanny2many was the stain from this permanent?

Er....weird advice from your dentist, NHS says: "Start brushing your baby's teeth as soon as the first milk tooth breaks through (usually at around 6 months, but it can be earlier or later). Parents or carers should brush or supervise toothbrushing. Brush teeth twice daily for about 2 minutes with fluoride toothpaste"

Just to clarify by juice I mean water we just call it juice
@YouJustDoYou to be honest I never checked nhs I just went with dentist advice :( so maybe it’s my fault. I will switch to toothpaste both times. I definitely don’t manage to brush his teeth for two minutes though even when I manage to pin his arms it’s more like 30 seconds as he hates it.

I thought maybe it was build up but it almost looks like it’s in the tooth if that makes sense

I feel terrible about it :(

It tends to wear away/fade but I’ve given the teeth and gum lines a little extra attention each time we brush. The dentist told us to not do vitamins after brushing so the syrup isn’t sitting on the teeth

How often does he have juice? Ie throughout the day in a cup? Or as part of the meal? I would try to only do water in between meals

He mainly has water apart from when it was really hot and he was refusing to drink and I gave him watered down squash. He just has water now and it’s offered between meals and with meals so he can drink as much as he likes as he’s not a big drinker

Did he have antibiotics as a baby? My ds has yellowing on these teeth and the dentist said it's from that, nothing to do to remove it but may need a fluoride treatment when older.

He didn’t have antibiotics when he was a tiny baby no, he had them when he was a bit older but I’m pretty sure those his two bottom teeth were through by then. It’s them that are slightly stained and the ones either side which look completely yellow

@meow1989 did they say whether it would affect his adult teeth also?

@meow1989

Did he have antibiotics as a baby? My ds has yellowing on these teeth and the dentist said it's from that, nothing to do to remove it but may need a fluoride treatment when older.

That’s interesting your dentist said that as the research is now showing it isn’t the antibiotics but is instead due to the fever/high temperature.

Did you have any antibiotics during pregnancy? There is a link to antibiotics having a negative effect on the first set of baby teeth.

I do agree with brushing twice a day with toothpaste though. I also think that by 18 months I was definitely using more than a smear of toothpaste, not a huge amount but more than a smear as he did have a lot of teeth.

I've also been concious to always brush his teeth after his morning/evening milk, not before.

@meido that’s interesting, we suffered a couple of months of recurring fever after he was hospitalised with a viral infection and then it continued with teething. He had a low grade fever when he was teething prior to that too.

I’ve always hated my teeth and have tried to be as fastidious as I can with him and just feel terrible like I’ve already failed

@Curiosity101 thank you. Not that I can remember. I’m pretty sure I didn’t.

I’ll definitely switch to toothpaste both times - I use enough to cover the brush but he tends to try and suck it off and chew the brush so not sure how much actually goes on the teeth.

I was hoping it was build up and I’d be able to clean it off but it doesn’t seem to make a difference
I read using adult toothpaste can help but thought he was too young

Is the water fluoridated where you live? If it isn't, definitely need to be using toothpaste twice a day. And check that the toothpaste brand you are buying contains the right amount of fluoride too.

You want that toothpaste sitting on the teeth after brushing, so you dont want to encourage water drinking for half an hour or so after brushing.

Thanks for the advice is it terrible I don’t know?! I’ll look now. I’ve been using aqua fresh milk teeth toothpaste, it’s listed as a fluoride toothpaste. I just hope I haven’t caused irreversible damage. It’s why I’ve been using a smear as that’s what it says on the back for children under 3.

He doesn’t eat or drink anything at night after he’s brushed, in the morning I do it after breakfast but he actually has his
Morning milk after that as he has it a bit later

It’s really hard to tell from the picture but they definitely aren’t decayed. I have some many parents convinced their child’s teeth come in like that when it’s that they have decayed as they erupt. Anyway they could possibly be a little bit hypoplastic or just the natural colour of your LO teeth. You are doing all the right things, I don’t know anyone who gets to brush their toddlers teeth for two minutes! As long as you get the toothpaste in and try your best.

Is your dentist non UK trained by any chance? Some areas of Europe have water fluoridation or fortified foods so that might be why your dentist said only brush at night with toothpaste, almost out of habit from their training. The brushing at night is the more important one to allow the fluoride to sit on the teeth overnight.

I really wouldn’t worry you are doing all the right things.

Sorry my message isn’t clear I wish there was an edit! I mean I have some children with decayed teeth and their parents tell me they came in like that rather than decay as they erupt. Your LO does not have decay at all!!!!

Thank you! I think I’m so worried as my teeth have always been off white - not as yellow as his at all - and I’ve always been conscious about it and it was pick up on at school by other kids for a while, so naturally I want to avoid that for him.

Yes my dentist is non UK trained so maybe that explains that.

I’ll keep trying to brush them as thoroughly as I can and hopefully it will fade a bit

I had antibiotics as an infant many times due to ongoing ear infections. My teeth came through yellow with transparent enamel. It's devastated my confidence so it's good you are trying to do something about this sooner, for your child's sake.

@Bewareoftherabbits I’m so sorry :( did it affect your adult teeth too? DS has only had antibiotics twice both due to ear infections and I wasn’t told anything about it possibly affecting his teeth. But if he needed them he needed them.

Were you able to do anything with yours?

I also don’t know how to tell if it’s an enamel problem but they weren’t yellow when they came through which makes me think it isn’t?