AIBU to get my toddler a scale and polish?

[SpoonyFox]

Hi, my LO is almost 2 and unfortunately has plaque already. This we believe was caused by having milk in the middle of the night. We have now stopped this and it’s been a few months but despite us always brushing LO’s teeth twice a day every day and having a good diet (no sweets or chocolates but does like a lot of fruit) the plaque just isn’t shifting. I’m considering booking LO in for a scale and polish. My husband think I’m being absolutely insane and that LO is far too young for such things but I’m worried that leaving it will cause her teeth to actually decay! Also it doesn’t look nice. I do have a tendency to obsess over things so and I am a highly anxious person so I was just looking for more opinions from others on what they would do? Thank you

Get an electric toothbrush ordinary ones do t clean as well .

I personally hate a scale and polish so much that I wouldn’t put a toddler through it, but speak to your dentist. It may be that they have a recommendation of something that will work but is less invasive.

This may sound kind of random…but I found toothpaste containing Neem actually helps reduce plaque. Might be worth trying that. You can find it on Amazon, I still need to see a hygienist but for much shorter sessions now and longer periods between.

Our dentist actually gave DC1 a mini scale / polish during a check-up a few years back (DC1 was about 10). Dentist didn't make a fuss about it, just said she was going to give him an extra clean. Teeth are now perfect and we've had 5 check up's since. No cavities, no plaque, no concerns.

He was much older though.

I have to have anaesthetic to have my own teeth done, not a chance I would expect a toddler to go through this! The scale bit is excruciating on the gums.

Oh wow really! I have it done every 3 months I don’t feel any pain what so ever

Depends on the country! Totally normal in Canada, not really a thing in the UK.

OP you may not find a hygienist willing to do this though - we went to a specialist paediatric dental practice in Toronto.

DS used to get plaque build up. The dentist said it was likely due to chewing. He always had soggy cuffs

This is also a good shout - DS has had an electric toothbrush since was about 4, and it makes it so much easier for him to brush his teeth properly.

If you’re having a scale and polish every three months that suggests you too are one of the 10% prone to a build up of calculus and it’s definitely genetic. It seems your daughter’s inherited the tendency. I find the scale part of the process really hurts in some parts of my mouth.

I agree with this. I have a scale and polish every 6 months and the hygienist often says that I have very little plaque build up. There's a good chance that it is just entirely natural and she'll have to be extra careful when she's got her adult teeth.

For now I'd just do what you can - you're doing everything right. I prefer a sonic toothbrush over a regular electric one, so they might help more. They are a weird sensation though, so she may not tolerate it.

In terms of a scale, mine doesn't hurt as such when it's done, and I don't have any gum problems generally, but I still bleed every time. I definitely wouldn't want to do it to a 3 year old.

Most oak milks have sugar added to them because they are quite unpalatable and drinking anything during the night that has sugar in it is a bad idea as saliva decreases during the night so the sugar sits on the teeth all night.

Any milk,drinks or snacks inbetween meals should be sugar free . It doesn’t matter what they have with a meal, inbetween is what matters. Greek yoghurt on its own is fine but what is it flavoured with?

Plaque is soft and easily brushed away. Tartar is plaque that has been left , undisturbed, for at least 24 hours and becomes hardened. If a toothbrush gets there at any time then the plaque is brushed away and hasn’t the chance to harden .

No dentist will scale a child of this age but you do need to make sure that all milks overnight are unsweetened and that you brush right down to the gums on all surfaces of the teeth.

They won’t do it. My toddler had staining due to grooves on the teeth and they refused to even use a bit of trophy paste. They won’t do a scale.

Did it just go on its own?

She doesn’t have the milk anymore we stopped it was we realised she had plaque but seems the damage has already been done now. She just has plain fage 5% Greek yogurt. Apart from giving her Greek yogurt for every snack though I struggle to find things that are sugar free, I mean even the Greek yogurt isn’t sugar free. Any ideas?

DD’s dentist did, but it was tiny bit of plaque though and she just whipped it off and gave her a quick polish. She’s a paediatric dentist so was very experienced with keeping kids engaged long enough to do what she needs to do. Plus DD adores her so she was inclined to be helpful.

Toast and butter, cheese , rice cakes with eg peanut butter but check rice cakes as some have sugar , also check peanut butter as some has sugar , whole fruit in moderation (whole fruit has sugar but as it is contained within cells in moderation is not a problem, dried fruit , smoothies and juice are as bad as sweets and coke) , mini cucumbers ,cucamelons , crudités with cream cheese or peanut butter to dip .

The yoghurt should really be kept to meal times as it’s a sugar attack and you want to limit those to three times a day .

The main thing with Tartar is to get the toothbrush right down onto gums to stop any more forming . Plaque has to be completely undisturbed for at least 24 hours before it starts to harden .

My son (now 9) has always had plaque build up around his lower front teeth. From a v young age the dentist would scrape it off when we went for check ups (from 1 year or so onwards, every 6 months). But they never suggested an official hygienist appointment. They could see from my other kids teeth that there were no major dietary issues at play, as their teeth are fine, and said that some people’s saliva means they are more prone to plaque. And overall his teeth seem weaker than his brother and sisters. A bad fever at a young age (e.g. chicken pox v young) can cause that, but isn’t the only cause. Under dentist advice we always floss around his most affected teeth which also helps keep it at bay. So I’d book another check up and ask your dentist for advice on managing it and whether they will remove some for you.

Make sure she gets plenty of vitamin c in her diet (without going overboard). That will help her own immune system to manage germs and in turn plaque build up.

Skim read the title and was going to suggest that a toddler was a bit young for a manicure 💅 😂