3 fillings for a 4 year old? Am shocked.....

[HankeringForSun]

DS complained of toothache so I took him to the dentist. Was horrified to hear that he had three teeth with cavities which needed filling.

We've been brushing his teeth every day, he rarely eats anything with sugar in it and has never been allowed sweets at home or elsewhere. No doubt, now and then grandparents or friends have given him some and that's ok with me, but he's never shown much of an interest so we've not encouraged sweet eating. The only thing he has had, once or twice a day is organic, no sugar, fruit juice, heavily watered down. Would this be enough to cause the cavities? The dentist said that fruit juice is a major culprit but of course every child is different. I was so busy calming my son that I didn't get to chat to dentist much more than that.

Went back to dentist today after the filling that was done a month ago clearly wasn't right. After a bad night with DS complaining of toothache, he had some xrays done. There was no swelling to his face before the dentist appointment. She did nothing but look and take xrays. No cleaning or using apparatus at all.
He cried hard after the xray and no-one really knew why, he just said something hurt him. I'm mystified about the swelling and am wondering if anyone can suggest why this might be?

Dentist decided to give us anti-B's and painkillers and to see him again on Tuesday when hopefully the nerve will have calmed enough to tolerate the deep filling and anaesthetic he will have :(

Have given him plenty of probiotics tonight and will continue to do so until dental appointment occurs. Anti-B's are a last resort but will certainly give them to him if he shows signs of infection. So far only the swollen cheek but no other infection symptoms.

Anyone with experience with such young children? I'm a first timer when it comes to kids dentistry though my younger daughter fell and broke a tooth a year ago...been told there's nothing to do.

Anyone got any tips about any of the above concerns? Swelling.... How come 3 cavities?..... experience of fillings or extractions?

The swelling may come from her prodding a tooth that has a problem around the gum causing it to become sore (like prodding what feels like a spot which turns it into one) Fruit juice is a big cause and the advice is to let them use a straw which helps lots of juice bypass the teeth. Does he clean teeth after cerial or crisps as they stick in teeth quite badly. There are some good childrens mouthwashes that may help.
(does he sneak cookies when yr not looking?)

It might just be bad luck, my son is nearly 4 and we don't restrict sugar (sweets, chocolate, fruit, juice) at all , he cleans his teeth 3 times a day, morning & night at home & they also do it in the day at nursery as a group and has no problems.
Growing up as 1 of 4 kids eating same stuff and same dental habits - I had (and still have) perfect teeth, my brother had a mouth full of fillings by 16, youngest two loads of orthodontic problems but no fillings.
All you can do is to keep up with good practice, try to check how he cleans his teeth and when he's a bit older introduce him to flossing & mouthwash (can use from 6 I think) .
If he's having problems from dentists appointment then I'd be going back & bugging dentist til I was happy. Sometimes it takes making a bit of fuss to be actually heard (well I presume that it's the same in dentistry as medicine in that respect... I'm a vocal long term out patient at hospital & learnt from experience 'shy bairns get nowt')
Hope he gets sorted soon

I think fruit juice is a big culprit for tooth decay, fruit being full of fructose. our dentist recommended that ds2 uses a fluoride mouthwash as he is in danger of developing cavities. I only found them for age 6 plus in Boots but maybe they do something for younger children too? Might be worth asking the dentist . Also our dentist did check that DS was using an adult toothpaste as the amount of fluoride is better than in children's toothpastes

Be careful of using too much fluoride LMG - it can damage teeth too.

i thinkits a combo of the juice and his teeth just seem more suseptable.poor thing

filling are never nice.if finding it all vey traumatic couldnt have them done under a general?

are you still cleaning his teeth? I let them do the first brush themselves and then go over it yourself to give them teeth a 'final polish'? twice a day?

use straws to that the juice doesnt hang around the teeth too much?

fruit on its on has lots of natural sugars , perhaps snack time might need more veggie stuff?

and what sort of teeth does your family have? am sure theres a genetic factor to this all.

What a shame . I think that like some adults have problematic teeth (my dh being one of them whereas mine are great) it's the same with kids. My ds is nearly four and has no problems and eats sweet stuff most days.

My ds (9) complained of a sensitive front tooth recently. The first thing the dentist said was, 'does he drink juice?' So it must be a big factor in decay.

(He has never had juice btw, and there was nothing wrong with his tooth.)

I am v v paranoid about my kids' teeth as I have a filling in every molar. Can they just inherit slightly substandard teeth, regardless of preventative measures?

Try offering cooled herbal tea rather than fruit juice. Twinings do a strawberry &mango and a blueberry one. Dd loves them both.

I had fillings in my baby teeth, what happened was our dentist told me not to brush my gums. Problem was, I didn't know what gums were and figured they were my back teeth....

Might be as simple as something like that! I would suggest finding a child friendly dentist who'll explain everything directly to your little one (and to you of course). We didn't have a child friendly dentist and even my parents admit to being a bit horrified by some of his practices. Naturally I developed quite a dentist phobia that took some work to get over.

My DS1 had to have a tooth out because of an abscess. I felt awful - really guilty and crap, like I'd done something really wrong. He eats normally for a small child; we don't disallow sweets etc but he's allowed one treat a day and that's it. Watered down fruit juice, not too much fruit... The dentist (who is a dentist with a paediatric speciality and practises in the paediatric dental ward of our local, major hospital now) explained that weaknesses can occur in milk teeth for any variety of reasons. You could have had a cold or been a bit under the weather at the point in the pregnancy when those teeth were developed or he could have had a high temperature and been ill while they were still developing (these are the reasons I remember.)

He was sedated during the work and has no issues with the dentist at all now.

I still feel dreadful that he needed a tooth out, and a filling in another, but I know we are doing the best we can for his oral health. We also invested in an electric toothbrush for him and it's been brilliant. There have been no more fillings/abscesses since!

Does he have raisins?