Advice regarding my toddlers teeth (he has enamel hypoplasia)

[ReadAlong]

Hello,

We have recently been told by the pediatric dentist that our 2.5 year old has enamel hypoplasia - it’s on his top 2 molars and 2 of the bottom molars. The top 2 molars don’t look great and the dentist said he will probably need to have them extracted in the future. They are not causing him issues but we just need to continue to keep an eye on them ( we see dentist every 3 months)

The dentist just said to keep using a toothpaste with 1450mg of fluoride, but that’s all we can do, really, besides the obvious brushing twice a day, good diet, low sugar etc.
We do all the above, he has zero juice and sweets. Drinks water and milk. We let him have a little ice cream as a treat occasionally and crisps are kept to a minimum too.
We are limiting snacks now too, on the advice from the dentist.

My son hates the dentist and cries every time we go ( he is also currently seeing a consultant from the ENT dep for enlarged tonsils and other related issues, he gags quite a lot and up until about 5 months ago , was vomiting almost daily, this has massively improved, thankfully, but I think that has contributed to further weakening his teeth)
he still fights getting his teeth brushed (but is getting better) despite this, we always brush his teeth twice a day. It’s non negotiable.

The rest of his teeth, fortunately have no issues at present, it just seems to be some of the molars on either side.

Is there anything else we can do to help strengthen his teeth? Have any other parents experienced this with their children?
Can you recommend a better toothpaste? We just use a kids strawberry one ( fluoride 1450mg) at present.

The dentist didn’t seem overly concerned, it was more of a case of ‘let’s wait and see’ and monitor approach due to his young age, but I can’t say I’m really satisfied with that and it’s playing on my mind. I would be grateful for any further advice.

Thank you in advance.

My daughter had this on some of her baby teeth. She is now 8, the affected teeth have fallen out and her adult teeth are absolutely fine. Just keep brushing as advised and if the dentist isn't concerned then I wouldn't be too concerned either. My dentist wasn't concerned about her teeth and said the adult teeth are probably fine, which they are.

Thank you @TwilightAb

Did they ever put fluoride varnish on your dds teeth?

My son had this with a couple of his molars. The dentist did fluoride application regularly and capped both teeth as a preventative measure so that they don't get pulled as taking them out can effect future spacing/movement of their other and adult teeth. This is a private dentist. The cost of each cap was £80 and that was inclusive of X rays and the 2 appointments needed for the procedure which was quick and painless. He is 7 and is luckily ok with the dentist.

My eldest son had this as a small child affecting his baby teeth molars. Some were removed, and the ones that fell out felt different to my other children’s baby teeth- kind of ridged and powdery. Fortunately his adult teeth were fine and aged 27 has had no problems.

No they didn't. It was lockdown times though. They The have talked about it since but are reluctant as she has hayfever and they dont like to offer it to kids who have allergies. The dentist just advised to use an adult toothpaste although I wouldn't necessarily follow that advise and follow the advise of your dentist. She chipped one of her teeth when she was two and that made it a lot worse but now her adult tooth is absolutely fine.

@uptomyeyes @texmex243 @TwilightAb
thank you for sharing.
i will just carry on what we are doing. We are seeing the dentist every 3 months, which is good.
Hopefully ds will get used to going the more we go!

My son has it, probably caused by medication he has taken repeatedly for breathing difficulties.
Unfortunately two of his adult teeth have come through the same, but with the same measures you are also taking, he hasn’t had to lose any baby teeth early or had any filings.
Take him with you when you go to the dentist (as long as you are calm). This will normalise it.

My son had this. It was never an issue, we had never gone down the road of juices or squash thankfully and he pretty much still only drinks water at home, will have fruit juice if we’re out. His adult teeth have come in absolutely fine. Didn’t bother with different toothpaste, just made sure he brushed regularly.

I had that as a kid - had 4 molars affected. I had a few fillings as a kid and then one tooth had a root canal when I was maybe between 10 or 13, then it had to be done again and had to have a pin put in it to hold the filling as so much of the tooth had gone. Then eventually it was taken out and the matching one on the other side was too to keep things even. Still have gaps back there but no fillings at all now as an adult, my teeth are totally fine (all those that were filled have been taken out when I was a teen)
I remember a fair amount of toothache as a kid, clove oil helped! And solpadeine.

Our dentist always puts fluoride varnish on all of my kids’ teeth even though they have no dental issues 😵‍💫

Ask your dentist about xylitol and whether it would help in the case of your LO.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34932666/

My 3yr old son has this on a large amount of his teeth. The dentist has given very little advice. She said his adult teeth shouldn’t be affected and said they don’t use the varnish until they are over 5.

He was at his 6 monthly appointment last week and I was hoping for some further advice but she just repeated what she said at the last appointment when I asked more questions 😕

@PissedOffNeighbour22
It’s worrying, isn’t it, but if the dentist doesn’t seem that concerned, I’m not sure what else you can do except the obvious continued brushing, reducing sugar etc.

My ds top 2 molars will probably have to come out, as advised by the dentist, but not till he’s a bit older.

The enamel has completely come away and showing signs of early decay.
I feel bad about this, but the dentist said there’s nothing we could have done differently.

@FadedRed
thank you for this.
His top 2 molars deteriorated quite quickly, they became quite chalky and worn down, I don’t want the same happening to his bottom ones.

@ReadAlong - it’s years since I had anything to do with dental practice, beyond getting my own teeth checked, so have no idea whether this could be something that might help in your DS’s case, but it can’t hurt to ask.

@ReadAlong it sounds like your son’s teeth are more affected than my son’s and just noticed you mentioned the vomiting too. Yes that will have affected it more - both me and DH vomited a lot as children and it’s really affected our back teeth. Mine are all crowned or filled at the back :(

We were told that it’s likely my son was ill at some point while the teeth were forming and that’s what will have caused it.

I hope your son can work through his fear of the dentist. It’s awful seeing them distressed

The dentist said that boys lose their teeth a little later than girls and the back ones probably won’t come out until he’s 10-11 yrs old. That’s a long time to have awful, potentially crumbling teeth ☹️

@PissedOffNeighbour22
The vomiting has been awful, bless him, he’s such a cheerful, happy boy, you wouldn’t think he was being sick most nights. We didn’t wean him onto solids till he was 10 months old as he kept gagging. The doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong, just said its probably ‘reflux’
Thankfully, he’s grown out of it now but the damage has already been done to those top 2 molars. Fortunately his other teeth are lovely and white, no issues with his other non molars. Just don’t want the same happening to his bottom molars as they have weak enamel too.

I’m hoping the more often we go, he will, maybe, tolerate it more. He’s probably built up a fear from when the doctors used to check & prod his to tonsils.

I looked at private costs to see if those top 2 teeth could be capped but tbh, I don’t think they can be saved and it will probably be more traumatic. They aren’t causing him any issues at the moment so I’m just being extra vigilant. I’ve bought an electric toothbrush as think he might like that more!

I hope your ds doesn’t have any more issues with his. It sounds like you are on top of it.