DD's teeth awful - anybody had similar problems?

[Tweezerqueen]

Hi All

My DD, who is 6, has had decay in three molars already, as a result she has two crowns and they 3rd tooth requires a filling. She has never been allowed fizzy drinks or chewy sweets. She doesn't even have fruit juice now. I feel like the worst mum in the world and to make it worse she had to be sedated for previous treatments because she wont open her mouth when we are there.

Any advice gratefully received.

No advice I'm afraid but my teeth were very similar when I was a child. My mum tells me that the first time I went to the dentist he wanted to remove them all!!

He didn't and so I ended up with lots of fillings in my baby teeth - it seems I just had very weak teeth, nothing to do with brushing or diet.

My adult teeth are better though - well, I should say were better, pregnancy seems to be having an unpleasant effect ...

yep, same with my ds at same age. We don't do sweets in this family with small children. Think it may have been fruit juice though. He had abcesses and ended out having extractions under GA.

A few months later we found he was diabetic - therefore more prone to decay

My DS has problems with his molars and our dentist has said that it is due to a problem from or during birth with lack of enamel formation - nothing to do with his dental hygiene. He's had a temporary coating put on them a couple of times and is seeing the orthodontist tomorrow to see whether he should have them removed and a brace. Could you ask your dentist about the coating to protect her remaining teeth?

I will ask about the coating. She had sealant fissures put in all of the molars without the crowns but they didn't seem to help. Have any of your dentists indicated that this will continue with the adult teeth?

She has 3 adult teeth already and they look fine to me but just want to do as much as I can to protect them.

Does anybody know of any alternatives to IV sedation for children?

Tweezerqueen, I have 4 DCs, they eat the same things and all brush their teeth regularly. DD1 has had a filling when she was 8 and has a molar that has been falling bit by bit for the last two years.

two DSs are 5 and 8 they have no dental problem of any sort.

DD4 is 3 and already shows signs of having the same sort of teeth as her sister.

Dh is brushing his teeth, using nouthwash, tiny brushes, floss... the whole lot and have teeth problems.

I just brush my teeth after every meal with fegular toothpast and have no problems at all.

I think it has to do with your genes maybe, rather than hygiene. Of course hygiene is very important but not always the only reason.

bublerock, i had never heard of temporary enamel coating, can you run me through the procedure?

hum, that would be regular tooth past! and Dh uses mouthwash!

Mostly genetics, I've been told. dd1 is nearly 6 and has three crowns and two fillings...also needed IV sedation, and had whole lot done in one go. In her case, we were told to floss regularly as her (lovely looking) teeth are closely fitting..I would hever have thought of that in such a young child.

We've always done good toothbrushing, rare sweets, juice with meals etc...she did have dried fruit a bit as a young child, but dentist doesn't think it was that as the non-touching surfaces of her teeth are absolutely fine. Flossing a 2 and a 5 year old is hard work, but probably a good idea

dd2 has a more crowded mouth, and I'm hoping hard she has different genetics where teeth are concerned!

Hi yes my dd (8) has weak enamel and one of her front teeth has come through wonky. Been referred to a London hospital where she will be assessed in a couple of weeks time.

Our dentist recommended adult toothpaste years ago and we also rub toothpaste on her gums twice a week before she goes to bed although they have now said that we can go mouthwash everynight instead which she prefers.

I have been told it is due to a disruption pre-birth of the enamelling process in her teeth.

Good luck.

My 7y DD has some affected teeth towards he back - only on her baby teeth. They came through misshapen with no or little enamel. So they have a brown coloured appearance.

We had been doing really well, but next week she has to have a cavity in one of them. There was nothing we could do to prevent it sadly, and the dentist was suprised we had gotten this far without.

Fortunately, so far the 4 back teeth that are through (adult teeth number 6, top and bottom) do not seem to have the same problem.

I will be having her teeth sealed when through though.

my dentist said to be very careful with brushing teeth after fruit juice. You should wait a bit and it is best to always dilute it.

Something acidic like orange juice which is then straight away brushed can cause a lot of damage, according to him

Ds's back adult teeth came through bad.Our dentist kept saying bad diet, it really wasn't.
However the dentist he was referred to for the fillings said it was caused by flouridosis. The other dentist had advised us to give him flouride tablets when he was about 4 which would be when the adult tooth buds were developing and new dentist said this probably was the cause.

Another cause can be antibiotics at the wrong time.

My niece had similar problems with her back teeth

I have also heard that antibiotics can badly damage teeth. My dd had a lot of antibiotics when she was small, she had scarlet fever so often.

You can also buy a kind of fluoride paste (like toothpaste) which you brush on the teeth, leave on for a certain time and then rinse the mouth. It is supposed to help harden the teeth, make them less porose - just speeding up a process that should happen naturally I think.

Bad news - Ds has to have 4 molars extracted, the orthodontist said they would only get worse and it would be best to remove them now. I'm not sure exactly what procedures DS has had already as he goes with my Mum.

In some ways I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone with either the problem or that some of the children have also had sedation. My dentist recommended crowning the teeth rather than removing to try and protect the adult teeth underneath, anybody else heard this.

I'm going to register with a new dentist this week as have moved house, so we are no longer going to private dentist just for children, fingers crossed I can get DD to open her mouth and get the new problems sorted out. I'm also hopeful that her adult teeth will be ok.

Thanks very much for all advice and for sharing problems.

How did the dentist go? Probably too late, but I've must found this thread, and have had a similar experience as a child. Was told by dentist that my 4 back molars have no/very little enamel on, and have had two out, and another filled. Suggested possible cause being a traumatic birth, although my birth was supposedly easy. Our dentist also is wary of coating teeth for protection into adulthood, as if they're not cleaned properly beforehand, the rot can be caught underneath and become a worse problem. No extraction or fillings were done under sedation.

Hope this might help.

By the way, I also rarely had sugary foods and drinks.

A friend told me that problms with enamel on children's teeth can be due to the mum having had a virus or antibiotics during a certain stage of pregnancy. Sorry I have no more info on this but thought it was worth mentioning