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

When you say fruit….raisins?
Dried fruit are terrible for teeth.

There are so many things that can be done for adult teeth if they are hypoplastic and by the time you LO is ready there will be even more, if they even have more yellow/hypoplastic teeth adult teeth they could come in perfectly and there is no way to know until they erupt you can’t see it on radiographs. Lots of treatments are really non invasive and if not available on the NHS not expensive. Long gone are the days when it would be crowns or veneers. As an aside the Instagram turkey rows of heavily prepared teeth for “veneers” fills me with horror!

Antibiotics are one theory as to why enamel may not form or it could be the illness that required the AB or a list of a hundred other different theories, we don’t really know definitively a cause for poorly formed enamel.

Honestly please try not to worry! I know it’s hard when you’ve had your own experiences.

I think that often a fever and taking antibiotics go hand in hand, so I can understand why the mottling used to be attributed to antibiotics.

Thank you

No he doesn’t have raisins, he mainly has bananas, berry and mango until recently when he decided mango was evil

Hi OP my son was like this, he's 10 now.
We go to the dentist every 6 months and I mentioned it every visit from the ages 3-5 and every time they reassured me it was fine.
He now has adult teeth and he does have to use the whitening stuff otherwise the bottom ones stain yellow and look unbrushed.

All his other teeth are fine though?

In fact I even posted about it on here about 8 years ago!

Antibiotics wouldn’t have any effect on front milk teeth, which develop during pregnancy. The antibiotic that used to cause discolouration in permanent teeth was tetracycline which is rarely used now for childhood infections.
It is used for acne so we occasionally see its effects in wisdom teeth that start developing in early teens when treatment is used.
It may be colouring from vitamin syrup but this tends to stain plaque left on teeth from inadequate brushing. Have you tried a finger brush, they are much easier to use on a wriggling child/baby. Also sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you and lay your baby on his back with his head nearest to you, you’ll find it much easier to access his mouth and you can distract him by holding a toy in your mouth. He’ll naturally tip his head back to see what you’re doing making it easier.

So far yes they appear to be and they definitely weren’t yellow when they came through

Mine stain easily and his dad has stained browning/ yellow on his front teeth from when he was a kid (they aren’t sure why) so maybe it’s genetics as well!

My DS has lovely teeth- but if he eats anything with tomato paste, turmeric or other strongly coloured food, they do yellow quite a bit - wears off after a session of extra vigorous brushing, but it’s really pronounced. Do you eat lots of foods like that? Perhaps it’s just staining?

@Hallomother

Yes unfortunately it was my adult teeth as well. The NHS won't pay for treatment but I paid to have them privately whitened. This helped temporarily but the transparent/bright white spots are very obvious and the enamel is also very weak, leading to fillings.

I'm saving up for veneers of some kind but they're very expensive. I'm 25 now and it will be some time before I can manage it.

I think it's great you're going to see a dentist now. My parents didn't ever pursue what could be done about my teeths appearance early on, and I really wish they had.

Oh that’s interesting we do eat things with tomato based sauces and sundried tomato paste occasionally. He loves raspberries. And things with Moroccan spice which is an orangey colour.

I think they just look a bit unbrushed rather than stained? My DD tends to dodge evening tooth brushing or do less than 2 minutes and I can tell straight away. As soon as I make her do the full 2 minutes on a timer they improve immediately. I know it’s hard with a wriggly young one though!

@meido ah perhaps that's it, dh was the one who took ds so might have misheard, he had the antibiotics at the same time as a high temp.

Fruit particular oranges have acids that break down tooth enemal, its recommended that you wait at least 30 mins after eating and drinking before brushing teeth as the enaml is soft. And it is true certain medications can cause yellowing teeth.

We are obsessed with white teeth. His teeth don’t look stained or over yellow. What does the dentist think?

It is a weak enamel problem. My daughter is the same and there's really nothing you can do until they're about 16/18 and can have whitening professionally done. It's such a shame as her teeth are otherwise perfect - no decay or fillings. But I worry it gives people an odd idea of her dental hygiene.

My sons did that too. I wouldn't worry but I would definitely use under 6 toothpaste morning and night. And no juice, ever

Why is he having extra vitamins ?

He’s dairy free and it was advised he have extra vitamins. It’s also recommended children under 2 have vitamin D.

That’s what I was worried about - weak enamel but I was under the impression they wouldn’t have come through white initially if that was the case.

@NeverForgetYourDreams was the staining permanent for your son?

DC1's teeth stain easily whereas DC2's don't at all. I started brushing DC1's more than twice a day really vigorously and it got rid of it.

It's only his baby teeth. They will drop out and his adult teeth will come through. Just brush twice a day with some toothpaste

Yes I was just concerned it was an enamel problem that might benefit from early intervention

I have booked a dentist appointment but they couldn’t fit us in for ages

Can anyone recommend a good finger toothbrush? He really cries when I brush his teeth at the moment, it actually made me wonder if it hurt but I think he just hates it like most toddlers!