5 year old needs teeth extracted.

[Ticktockk]

We took my 5 year old daughter to an emergency dental appt as her gum had swollen.

At her last check up we were told she had a small cavity that might need attention.

This time they did a full check up and found that the swollen gum was an abscess caused by the cavity reaching the nerve. That tooth will need to be extracted. Two other teeth are not looking good and may also need extracting.

We’re devastated for her. She drinks water, no squash. She eats healthily - egg on toast every breakfast and no sugary cereal (both the water and the egg are her choice, we’re not total authoritarians!)
Sweets only on a Friday after school - we go to the shop as a treat. She does eat a lot of fruit, so could be that.

Her teeth look clean, we help her to brush them. We use a 3-6 year toothpaste and an electric brush.

I just don’t understand how this can have happened and am hoping the knowledge of Mumsnet might be able to throw some light on it. Also what to expect if anyone has gone through this. I can’t imagine how to extract a tooth from a terrified 5 year old.

I have three children and they were all brought up on the same diet and teeth all cleaned with the same routine.
One had to have tooth extraction aged 4 and as an adult still has massive dental problems despite her vigilance. The other two have not had a filling between them .
Am 100% certain that my daughter inherited my husband’s dental problems whereas the other two inherited my genes .
Please don’t blame yourself 💐

I did a bit more digging and actually only 10% of the UK currently has fluoridated water, although they are trying to increase it https://post.parliament.uk/water-fluoridation-and-dental-health/ .

@Lollygaggle you're right and our dentist was wrong about the antibiotic usage post birth and baby teeth, wonder what did cause it then. With hypomineralisation making teeth look different, it took probably a year and a half before a dentist linked DC's molars looking a bit mottled with him getting quite a few cavities and diagnosed hypomineralisation, and moved him to the 3 monthly check ups with extra fluoride treatment. We are in an NHS practice with high staff turnover though.

Don't beat yourself up.

I have 3 kids and one had to have 8 teeth out due to medical issues.

Their adult teeth were mostly perfect (they have one filling, they are now 25). They did have to have braces though.

She’ll need a general 😔1 extraction, 2 fillings and 3 crowns. They suggested that her toothpaste may not have enough fluoride, but having checked it they agreed it is fine.
She’ll need to floss each day, which we hadn’t been doing.

Poor little thing.

Thanks for all your wise words.

Enamel hydroplasia is surprisingly common. Has this been mentioned to you? If this is the case then it is a case of bad luck, poor genes etc. I’ve seen heard of a five year old needing to floss but hopefully it will help. I know a teenager who had terrible baby teeth because of medication he had as a baby - his siblings have not had problems - but his adult teeth are healthy, which is the most important thing, apart from needing orthotic work. A dentist once told me that there is quite a bit of luck involved with teeth as with everything else. I hope that the treatment goes well and is not too traumatic for you both. Please don’t blame yourself - these things happen. It shows what a good mother you are because you are making sure she has the best treatment and will follow up with the best aftercare you can.

*never

A bottle at night? Milk?

My DS has one tooth with hardly any enamel. He had to have a filling in it and who knows if it’ll need taking out etc at some point. other teeth are fine and DD teeth fine.

Dentist said it’s either a genetic issue or caused by something in pregnancy and thankfully looks like it’s just that one tooth. My teeth are pretty decent. DH seems to have had more problems so I’m blaming his genes.

I’m not denying brushing etc makes a big difference, but it seems like a lot of teeth issues are just luck

Of mine one has regular issues - fillings, bleeding gums, ulcers and the other three have no issues. I think it's possible it's forgetfulness re brushing (teens) but it does seem a little like a lottery trying to work it out. One drinks coke and has sweets every day but never has any concerns at dentist (unless he's fibbing!)

Don't beat yourself up about it.

Did you have any antibiotics in your pregnancy with her?

The tooth being extracted is this one with the abscess? If so, why are they not doing root canal to save the toothed rather than extract it? I get that different dentists suggest different treatment options for baby teeth but was this considered?

The dentist I've worked with over the years would only extract a baby tooth if really necessary.

Ooos, typos. Sorry!

This thread is sobering reading. I think we have got into bad habits with DS who is a big snacker and seems permanently hungry. He has a lot of fruit, dried fruit and loves cereal. Going to put a stop to a lot of it and get him back to the dentist soon, he's a terror for brushing as well but I hold him down and do it morning and night so hopefully that has made a difference.
Sorry OP, it must be so upsetting for you, and it's so easy to fall into the traps if thinking things are healthy when they aren't actually that great.

Dried fruit has a lot of sugar. Same as fruit in general has. A lot of natural sugars.
Same as fruit juice, juice, milk etc.

The thing is fruit is healthy it's what we're taught but what we are not taught is the natural sugars in these fruits are high and can damage teeth.
It was only when I started working in dentistry I found this out!

The dentist I work with always says if you're going to allow kids to have sweets you do it in one big binge rather than smaller amounts spread across the days. The evening brush is the most important.

The thing is if they can’t have much fruit because of the sugar, and the majority of other snacks have sugar, what can we give them?!

Vegetables like cucumber and carrot sticks are good snacks that are low in sugar. My youngest loves to snack on frozen peas. My oldest likes boiled eggs for a snack. Cheese is good too as its beneficial to your teeth, particularly if its the last part of the snack or meal.

I sympathise Op, dd12 has a huge cavity in her molar and they've said she may lose the tooth - you feel so guilty which is silly really - it sounds like you are very "on it" with your dds diet and tooth brushing. My dd probably hasn't been brushing them properly but I don't feel I should still be supervising this! Also when they're at high school it's very difficult to control what they're eating.

At least your dd's are only baby teeth, hopefully they'll put her to sleep.