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Original poster

5 Year old has a filling?????????

40 replies

Lems · 31/07/2006 14:22

Am I over reacting or is this more common than i know? An old school friend who I see for only birthdays and christmas told me last week on a visit that her DD 5yo in oct had to have a filling at the dentist!! DP and I were appalled! surely this isnt right? she puts it down to her DD drinking alot of 'pop' through the night aswel! Please tell me I'm not alone in my shock horror!!

OP posts:
corblimeymadam · 31/07/2006 14:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

anniediv · 31/07/2006 14:43

Please don't be too judgemental though. Dd2 had problems with unexplained, uncontolled vomitting from birth to 3 years. As a result, her milk teeth rotted in her mouth due to the acid in the vomit. Now, age 4, she has had her front 2 teeth removed (they were taken out when she was 3, just little painful stumps were left when they removed them), and every single tooth she has left has a filling or coating of some description. I hate the fact this has happened, and people frequently comment. I should say I have two other dds, one older one younger, and their teeth are perfect. I sometimes wonder if people think I couldn't be bothered with dd2's denatl hygiene? So whilst I know that there are kids who have been 'allowed' to get bad teeth, there are an awful lot who have fillings for other reasons!

Ladymuck · 31/07/2006 14:49

I agree not that uncommon unfortunately.

Original poster
Lems · 31/07/2006 14:52

I'm sorry to hear that anniediv things sometimes are just out of your control.

I just dont understand even after the dentist she was still havin drink and from a 'baby' beaker. She also blames her mother who cares for them fulltime while she is at work for giving them sweets.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lems · 31/07/2006 14:53

I just think it's shame something that can be avoided.

OP posts:
meysey · 31/07/2006 14:55

People's teeth do vary in quality even at 5... my DS has never drunk fizzy drinks, has water at night, only had sweets occasionally and always had regular teeth brushing. Sadly he has two fillings already. His grandad is notorious for his crap teeth and it runs in that side of the family.

mrratty · 31/07/2006 14:55

A little girl in dd's class needed a filing because her backteeth didn't fuse properly leaving it vunerable as it didn't have the enamel coaating. Her mum was horrified!

Original poster
Lems · 31/07/2006 15:05

Right so could be a combination of all, I never realised, s'pose I should be a little more sympathetic.

OP posts:
Northerner · 31/07/2006 15:07

Oh yes you can't judge at all. I have fantastic teeth - only 1 filling and as a kid I ate sweets every day and drank fizzy drinks, still have major sweet tooth now. Child hood friend of mine was never allowed sweets/fizzy drinks etc and she was forever at the dentist for fillings/extractions.

LadyPenelope · 31/07/2006 16:24

My dd is due to have a filling in the next couple of weeks ... the back molar which the dentist says has very deep V-like grooves making it difficult to clean. I was extremely shocked as dd has hardly ever had fizzy drinks, has juice rarely - drinks water during the day and milk in morning and at night. She has occassional sweets but every day and we've brushed her teeth religiously since the first pearly white peeped through. I can't help feeling guilty about it. Guess my point is that fillings in 5 year olds are rarer than they used to be (because of floride) but still happen for a variety of reasons ... some easily preventable and some an unfortanate situation as below or a mistake as in our case.

southeastastra · 31/07/2006 16:27

my ds(5) has had two teeth out! there are alot of hidden sugars in food too and my teeth are pretty bad, alot of it is heriditary. i've also read that there isn't enough flouride in the milk teeth toothpastes.

there were plenty of other children about the same age at the dentist too.

PsychoFlame · 31/07/2006 16:32

out of my five, one has fillings, tow have perfect teeth, one has teeth need watching, one has 3 teeth needing to be removed and they ALL have porous (sp?) enamel meaning that whatever I do, they are going to not stay perfect.

ooh....and also....mine don't have that many sweeties or fizzy, but they do have a lot of fruit and dried fruit. My dentist said that dried fruit is worse than toffee for the sugar staying on the teeth.

sooooo......tis not all 'feed the kiddies junk and crap' parents that have kiddies with poor teeth. tis just as common in those whose care!

mrratty · 31/07/2006 16:33

What do they do when giving a child a filing. do they give them a general aneasthetic?

Twiglett · 31/07/2006 16:33

My DS has 2 .. the enamel on his molars didn't form properly .. its supposedly quite common .. it does not affect adult teeth

it is not necessarily bad habits you know

LadyPenelope · 31/07/2006 16:39

Psychoflame - hadn't heard that about dried fruit ... DD used to love raisans as a toddler ... ate them almost every day.
DS loves them now ... what did your dentist suggest? Ban them, brush teeth straight afterwards????

TooTicky · 31/07/2006 16:53

My ds2 has a hole in one of his front teeth. He doesn't eat much chocolate, no sugary drinks, we've always brushed carefully, and all his other teeth are fine. I think it's possible to have vulnerable teeth.

southeastastra · 31/07/2006 17:25

mrratty, they can give a ga, we have a special clinic which specialises in children/nervous patients. i was surprised how quick it was and my son doesn't worry when he has to go back to the dentist.

mrratty · 31/07/2006 17:28

I am a really nervous paitent when it comes to fillings so I really can't imagaine how a child would cope with the noises. I really hope it doesn't happen to my girls but as shown on here with all the best will in the world it can. I am having my root canal finished on thursday si have teeth/dentists on the brain!!!

southeastastra · 31/07/2006 17:31

i thought it would be better for him to be sedated, they don't really know what's happening! poor thing though i was a nervous wreck. good luck with your root canal i had one of those the other thursday too! it was ok

anniediv · 31/07/2006 17:39

mrratty, i asked for a ga for my daughter's treatment (see previous post below) was told that is not standard treatment for kids and that she would have a 'desensitizing treatment' course before the treament started. if i insisted on a ga, they would carry out a 'full dental clearance' (yes that is as bad as it sounds) as they do not do kids fillings under ga. we couldn't afford to go private so went ahead with their suggestion. basically, it has been better than expected, except every week since january we have been to the dentist for treatment of some kind. FORTUNATELY she only needs 4 more appointments and we're done, wee hee!! I'm glad we did persevere as she starts reception in September and the thought of her starting with NO TEETH at all filled me with horror. apparently the treatment is not so bad for milk teeth as the nerves/roots are different to adult teeth, but even so it has been pretty harrowing watching some of the appointments. she has been so brave. i would be interested in any dentists opinions if any are reading??!

Gillian76 · 31/07/2006 17:45

I wonder what the research on this says. My DD (6) had to have a tooth extracted last summer and has another filling this year. I can, in all honesty, say she has a pretty good diet. She drinks juice with meals but more often than not, water in between. She has sweets a couple of times a week and brushes under supervision (and with adult intervention too) twice a day.

The other 2 have a similar diet but no sign of any problems.

I can understand your surprise, but please don't judge the quality of their parenting on the fact that the child has a filling.

Twiglett · 31/07/2006 17:53

DS has beefillings fine with having fillings .. they've been replaced 3 times ( I personally think because the first 2 weren't done well the dentist just used a pick to remove decay and pushed in a soft filling).. last time they actually used a drill to remove all the decay which unfortunately had spread to next tooth on one side and a uv light to seal some varnish they put on top

he has never needed an anaesthetic

what they need is a calm parent who does not let it freak them out .. and who is very matter of fact about the process ..

DS was so good with the drill and suction but he had to have both sides done .. so I gave him a cuddle and let him decide for himself whether he did it then or we made another appointment .. but he knew it had to be done .. this was last week and he's 5.5 now ..

Twiglett · 31/07/2006 17:54

for beefillings read been fine

Twiglett · 31/07/2006 17:55

I was exceptionally grateful to the friend who said to DS before his first dental appointment that if he didn't brush his teeth he'd need fillings and the dentist would hurt him .. what an arse

mrratty · 31/07/2006 17:56

I had fillings at 7 and my mum didn't give me a bad diet at all. I still feel really traumatised my the treatment I had over the years as a child and I find it really difficult to trust a dentist. It sounds as if the treatment is child orientated now whereas I think the dentist just treated me as he would an adult. I really do feel for everyone as my mum was really upset by it all as she couldn't see why it was happening and so was I as the child.

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