Hello everyone hoping someone can help.
So in the summer my 4 and a half year old started having bad breath.
He already drinks a lot of water and we make sure he does because he used to be prone to with-holding (fever -hard poo that he didn't like-two years of treatment - we took him off used natural bacteria sachets- calfig - now almost back to normal) . He rarely has processed food and I cook from scratch and he eats vegetables, we don't drink any fizzy drinks or juices and he only has water or milk. I am a teeth ninja and still clean his teeth for him.
We pushed and got a dentist appointment after 3 weeks of us being triple teeth vigilant and checking to see if we could spot a problem. At this point even after a teeth clean his breath was stinky. He sucks his fingers sometimes and the smell made even him feel ill and get upset.
As we suspected the dentist thought his teeth and gums were super healthy and clean, she said they were brilliant and she could see no reason for the bad breath. He had 2 tiny ulcers on his gums (that went in a couple of days) and he was definitely heavily grinding his teeth. The dentist was very clear that the ulcers could cause it but it was unlikely - that he needed a blood test. She said that she wasn't a DR but she felt that he maybe deficient in something. She said that teeth grinding would probably be to do with his stomach processing food and or anxiety and it was common in younger kids.
We organised a blood test and the results were normal but his ferritin was low to normal. I have often had this myself through the years where - I'm in the normal range but low in that range. The Dr was concerned but couldn't see a link between the bloods and bad breath.
She suggested Adenoids may be swollen and they could harbour bacteria.
He gets dark circles under his eyes and these come and go and often he looks a bit pale.
Additionally, he has always woken up in the night two or three times.
When he wakes upset he has 'lost a piece of lego' or 'can't find a toy mummy' he is only mildly dream upset or need the loo.
He often wants to snuggle up to me and so when he grinds his teeth I can gently stop him. He does it soo hard it wakes me up.
He started school this year and absolutely loves it so he has no issues there. He is very happy most of time and is a great chatterbox and has a good vocab so can explain himself well whenever he has had a problem.
Individually, the circles and lack of sleep, the grinding of teeth have never bothered me before but if I add it all up together I'm concerned I maybe missing signs for something bigger. While at the same time I don't wish to add them together if unrelated.
Has anyone else had experience with any of the symptoms together or individually and how did you resolve them?
Sorry for going on a bit xx will check back tomorrow.
I am on here so late as he just woke up and called for me.. immediately went back to sleep and I could smell his breath again.