filling or temporary filling ? 5 year old

[Hellobell]

hi all,

so we took our 5yr to the dentist for the first time and they did an xray and said he had 3 cavities, the dentist did 3 temporary fillings as it was his first time, when i asked if these were enough she said its better to have proper fillings, so i took him the following week to have one, and now i need to do the other 2, hes worried this time (i hate the dentist so i get him) and i dont want to put him under any worry or stress for nothing, on the last visit she said the temporary fillings could last until the teeth fall out (then he gets his adult teeth) so I'm not sure what to do !

Any dentists or anyone been in any similar situation ?

Also we do brush teeth morning and night but i was using fluoride free toothpaste for 5 years now i have switched to fluoride.

What is his diet like and what does he drink? 3 cavities at 5 is quite concerning. I’ve just had my first filling at 32.

We dont have fizzy drinks, he eats good home made meals lots of fruit and veg BUT he does have sweets sometimes 2/3 a week (its bad and we have cut it down it was more)

Are you brushing his teeth or does he? I’d get the proper fillings personally and really double down on brushing to give him a fighting chance with his adult teeth. You really are responsible for his dental health at this age.

No juice, no squash and certainly no fizzy drinks. No fruitshoots or any of that rubbish. Milk and water. Fruit juice is especially damaging to teeth.

Yes i brush his teeth myself, he never brushes them by himself, we also do no fruit juices or squash its basically water/milk like you said, the dentist told me it was probable due to me not using fluoride toothpaste for all his life but maybe she was just being kind to me !

Thanks for the tips, i wasn't sure about the proper filling or the temporary one since they will eventually fall out and i felt so bad watching him have his first one, he was a champ but i could tell he was very scared and uncomfortable.

I’ve had a temporary filling and there is no way it would have lasted the length of time it may take until a five year olds teeth fall out.

It could be years!

Are they his baby teeth or adult teeth?

all baby teeth he has no adult teeth yet.

The teeth he has now will have to last until he is ten or twelve . There is no way a temporary filling will last that long.

The lack of fluoride toothpaste will be the main culprit but also what he eats and drinks inbetween meals and just before bedtime. Not just sweets , biscuits , fizzy drinks,squash , cake but also fruit juices , smoothies , yoghurts, flapjacks , raisins, oat milks,soya milks etc.

It doesn’t matter what he eats or drinks at meal times it’s what he eats and drinks inbetween, even if his teeth are brushed afterwards , and especially just before bedtime.

At his age stainless steel crowns would give the best chance of keeping his teeth until 10 or 12. But he needs to have the treatment done, otherwise the only option is to take the teeth out when they , inevitably cause problems , probably with a general anaesthetic.

I don’t really understand why the dentist wouldn’t have given you the option of temporary fillings or proper ones to start with? My DD did only ever have temporary fillings in baby teeth but she was about 9 or 10 so obviously wouldn’t have baby teeth for much longer - quite different from a 5-year-old.

However I had a temporary filling myself that lasted for around 10 years.

Unfortunately , as part of the consent process, the dentist has to go through every option, including doing nothing. Just because they put it as an option doesn’t mean it is a good idea L

No I totally get that, that’s what I’m saying, that the dentist should have given options. OP makes it sound like the dentist just went ahead and did temporary fillings without giving options.

Dentist did temporary fillings because it was child’s first visit. Has since returned and had one permanent filling, needs the other two doing.

Hall crowns would be my choice.
www.cuh.nhs.uk/patient-information/stainless-steel-crowns-hall-technique-a-parents-guide/

yes she did temporary fillings so we can come back slowly to get the fillings all done, hes having the 2nd one on Monday and then ill go back and get the 3rd one done soon .

Sorry i made two threads for this post as i deleted one because of spelling error and realised this morning it was not deleted !

I feel for him and went through this with my DD. She had most of her baby teeth extracted but had a general injection hospital. She is now an adult and never needed a filling in adult teeth which is a relief as I thought she was doomed.

Have you got an electric toothbrush if not I would get one. We used to use the kids pronamel toothpaste.

oh gosh, im glad shes doing great with them now though ! im hoping to avoid any more issues with some changes we will implement.

No he dosnt have an electric one, ill have a chat with the dentist on Monday to make sure i get the right one for him and we are using a toothpaste called VITS which the dentist had recommended the first time we went

I wouldn’t say 3 fillings is “ concerning “ especially with how hard it is to even register with a NHS dentist there days. Also alot of it is also genetics, my nearly 6 year old DD has had to have 4 fillings in total, all back teeth, and chipped off half her front tooth by falling over which broke the nerve and that one tooth has rotted to almost nothing, despite best efforts from us and our dentist. As she’s almost 6 dentist won’t do an extraction as there’s no infection/pain.

Can I state this is with no fizzy drinks (aside from at a part where she’s aloud sparkling water and cordial ) , chocolate only right after dinner. And mainly cheese and meat as snacks between. But again A lot of it can be genetics as told by dentist, I haven’t had one filling at all in my life, and I grew up in a very poor background where half the time there wasn’t a toothbrush.

DH grew up very privileged, and had had to pay to fix teeth and has had 7 fillings done, with one being capped. DD has had a temporary filling in now for a while, and it hasn’t came out, it’s just important that you are brushing the teeth for Dc as they really cannot brush them themselves, and if they brush too hard over the fillings there is a chance it’ll come out especially in the first day or two.

Thats really interesting to see the differences.
I currently need 4 fillings and desperately trying to save the £1000 needed, I can't believe I am having to spend this on 4 holes in my teeth😟

@Sunshineandrainbow

I know it’s insane! i think a lot of people don’t know that tooth/gum strength and durability is down to genetics too. I spent many nights crying myself to sleep over my DDs teeth until I booked privately with a paediatric dentist, and she asked if I’d ever needed work on my teeth, I told her no, which is the honest truth, I’ve only ever had to have my regular check up and clean every year, I’ve never once had toothache, and still at my age I don’t have any wisdom teeth! but DH has hand endless toothache, and as I say, fillings and needing a lot of dental work.

I think it’s always easy to assume child in need of dental work is just fed dairy milk and lollipops for breakfast lunch and dinner, but reality is it’s sometimes a lot more complex than that, and being a parent is already so hard, you don’t need others and yourself bringing you down.

I will say to OP what I got told by our dentist, you can’t reverse what has happened you can only prevent more damage, and when these baby teeth fall out, put your all into making sure DC’s adult teeth are looked after, because baby teeth you have another shot with, then that’s it.

yes this is basically me, i didnt want to say i had bad teeth myself growing up as i was worried that people would think i was making up an excuse for my son to have bad teeth. Ive made some clear mistakes so it could be its from them and not genetic i guess at this point i dont know.

I have really tried with a good healthy diet with my children, no fizzy drinks or juices, we dont have flavoured yogurts or cereal its either greek yogurt or porridge/egg on toast, but we do big with fruit and smoothies/acai bowels that they get to decorate and honey and stuff and no fluoride toothpaste.

I do feel awful about it as i remember hating the dentist myself as a child and didnt want my children to have to experience it but as you said i can't undo it now but i can do my best to give them the knowledge and a good routine with tooth brushing and regular check ups.

I'm will look that toothpaste up op, did you buy online?

My kids are very good at having a straw with drinks so it bypasses the teeth a bit.
I am also trying to research a bit about xylitol as I have read on here people use it to rinse around mouth to help with plaque. It's in chewing gum and I have bought a bag from Asda and adding a small amount to my coffee.

@Hellobell

at the end of the day OP, you knew something was wrong and you took your child to the dentist, you’ve seen the dentist and now you can move forward, there’s no point beating yourself up over it and I speak from experience.

my dds could’ve been genetic, it could’ve been bottle overuse, or it could’ve been the time where she went weeks only having a toothbrush in her mouth for 30 seconds as she’d have a meltdown and make herself sick, certain medications also shit on the teeth, movicol, gaviscon, antibiotics. But all that matters is your child isn’t in discomfort and the issue is being resolved.

as I said, fix these teeth, they’ll be out before you know it, and make sure they look after their big teeth! My DDs most affected tooth is her front tooth, again not caused purely by decay/cavities but all these issues above sure didn’t help it.

you’re not a bad parent if your child has a cavity, lessons are learned by having a child from a newborn all the way up until they’re adults themselves with their own children.

I hope you manage to get it all sorted, and wish you the best of luck in the future x