Dental cavities in 2 year old, what do you do? Fill them or let them rot?

[mamadadawahwah]

My two yr old ds has four cavities despite not eating sugar. Anyway, dentist says they need filled. I dont want this because he will go ape shit and so will I. What did you do with your kid's teeth and if you got them filled, did they have to have needles? My son would never go for that, nor would I.

But if you leave them, won't they rot to the nerve and hurt?

If you let his teeth rot it will be painful for him, and may cause problems with the second teeth later on. Trust your dentist on this; he wouldn't be suggesting fillings if he didn't think they were necessary.

if they need filling, they need filling. a needle is nothing compared to the pain of an absyss.

There is noi need for needles because with baby teeth they just gently scrape the decay away. My DD had one filling when she was about 6yrs. Baby teeth need to be filled other wise the decay will get worse and could cause infection of the gum and subsequent damage to permanent teeth.

And it'll be a long time before the do come out (a couple of years at least).

Did the dentist give you any idea why he's got the cavities?

Surely at some point he's got to get used to a needle?

You also need to ensure that teeth are cleaned well in toddlers - there is hidden sugar in most foods.

Definitely fill them unless they are minute. You may want to get a second opinion. Tiny cavities can reseal themselves, and there are products that the dentist can apply to help protect the enamel - unfortunately I can't remember what they are (I'm not a dentist but I have had cavities reseal themselves, and had stuff applied to my teeth in the distant past to protect them). If the cavitites are not tiny enough to reseal themselves, then you must definitely fill them. Otherwise they will simply grow and grow. Evenutally your ds will get toothache - which is really nasty - and the decay could even affect the permanent teeth which are growing beneath the milk teeth.

There are dentists who can treat with minimal or no drilling (private of course), and if you have to have drilling and injections, it is possible to apply a gel to the injection site which numbs the skin so that you can barely feel the needle - I've had this done too.

You have my sympathy on this one, ds2 had 2 really bad rotting teeth despite being breast fed over 12 months and not eating sweets much. The dentist said he just had 'weak' teeth. Anyway I left it - mainly because he made such a fuss at the dentists,(he was about 3) then we had to fill them. I had a brilliant dentist who absolutely bent over backwards to calm ds2 down and be as gentle as possible, but in the end we had left it too long, they had to come out and then he had to have small 'spacers' inserted to make sure the gap stayed viable otherwise the second teeth can't get through. So my advice is to have them done even if it is stressful otherwise the problems can get even worse.

Sorry, but get them filled. I had similar as a child (and my parents owned a health food shop!), and my parents, hippies that they were, chose not to inflict nasty anaesthesia on me. So I had to have nearly all my baby teeth removed under general anaestheric a few years later.

And NOW I have loads of fillings. Probably mainly because I just have that sort of teeth-I don't really eat much sugar, except chocolate which doens't count . I've provided diet sheets etc to the dentist and no-one knows why I get so many cavities. But its definately made worse by the fact that I had my 2nd teeth through earlier due to having them removed.

I've got similar teeth, mergle. I've had dentists swear I'm a sugarholic and basically call me a liar. My mum has weak teeth as well and has mostly false ones now. I brush with an electric brush and floss twice a day, plus use mouthwash, plus drink 2 litres of water a day. I don't smoke or drink, either.

No one can explain it.

DD hates brushing, so what I do is give her a brush and let her brush my teeth whilst I do hers, as a game.

i'm sorry but your ds will need fills, hopefully if they are small enough you'll get away with no drilling or very little and hopefully no injection but a deep fill will need anaesthesia (if it isn't possible to get him in the chair it is poss to do it under sedation or general anaesthetic - i would only recommend that if all else fails) baby teeth are no where near as robust as adult teeth and can deteriorate very quickly there is nothing worse than seeing a poor little kid in such pain that can result from a severely decayed tooth. i think the other point that needs to be addressed is why this happened the first place we look is obviously diet - poss hazards are hidden sugars (partic in things like tinned spaghetti etc ) so check labels on any food you don't freshly prepare, sweets/sugarydrinks, its not just the amount its also the frequency also acidic fruit and fruit juices and the method the drinks are drunk straws, bottle, sippycups. does the child still have milk at bed time then obviously the cleaning is it done 2x daily does he have milk after this last thing at night is he cleaning or you or both (and is it done correctly). if all of this doesn't reveal anything then we have to assume the teeth may be more susceptible to decay and therefore need to combat this (eg using fluride treatment to bost the teeth and halt small areas of decay, things like that0 what i recimmend with patients is they do a diet diary for their child of everything they eat and drink in a typical week (down to the exact quantitys) as a starting point and then take it from there

can I hijack and ask the dentists ds1 (age 6) has started to lose his milk teeth. He looks in pain sometimes when chewing on his right molars (last week or so). Are those molars replaced, if so when? Have no idea what to do as he won't open his mouth (severely autistic). If we hold him upside down he opens his mouth a bit- (and wriggles a lot!). Would I be able to see decay?

He goes to the dentist but sits on the chair, refuses to open his mouth, then goes home

My ds1 also needed a filling when aged 2 - No drilling/needles etc involved. Over in 2 minutes with minimal fuss. This was a boy who had needed 3 trips to the dentist before he was prepared to open his mouth! Do check with the dentist as to what is needed - your fears may be worse than the reality...

at around the same time as the first babby teeth are lost the first adult molars behind the last baby teeth star to come through so he's probably getting those (because they come through "virgin" gum i.e. don't replace baby teeth its more uncomfortable than losing baby teeth and replacing them with adult teeth - its rather like when they teethe as babies) of course without looking in his mouth you can't rule out that the back baby teeth aren't decaying and causing problems

thanks chicagomum. If I hang him upside down what should I look for decay wise (bearing in mind we'll have about 2 seconds). What do people do in this situation???? I'll look for teeth coming through at the back. Are the baby molars replaced as well then?

all the baby teeth are replaced (20 in total) but it happens over years if they is decay you will either see anything ranging from sort of greyish shadowing beneath the surface of the tooth or brown staining or a hole if in doubt take him to the dentist, even if they can't look they can refer him to a special needs commumity dentist who specialishes in treating kids who can't otherwise be treated in general practice for medical or physical reasons ( in some situations it may be necessary to treat under general anaesthetic or sedation)

Can I hijack this briefly? Ds2 (6) still has all his milk teeth. (Ds2 was nearly 7 before he lost his first ones.) I just noticed yesterday that his front ones appear to be 'wearing away'. Is this normal if they keep them so late? It's certainly not very attractive1

baby teeth aren't very hard wearing on so over time can get pretty worn down - doesn't look great and can sometimes be sensitive to hot/cold but eventually they will drop out and adult ones come through some kids do it later than others thats all. P.S. a good tip for sensitive teeth (for adults to) is to apply sensodyne toothpaste directly to the teeth everynight after cleaning when you aren't going to have anything toeat or drink and it acts in a much more concentrated way than using it as a conventional toothpaste, do be careful doing this with very young kids as they have a habit of swallowing most of it but they shouldn't be experiencing sensitivty at that age anyway

very very successful alternative to fillings for two friend so f mine:

Ozone treatment

You can't always be sure there are permanent teeth underneath. My DD2 - grownup now - still has many of her milk teeth. No sign of permanent teeth under them. Luckily they are healthy.

its very rare for there to be no adult teeth at all. occasionally selective teeth are absent in this situation the baby tooth usually isn't lost as in part it is the adult tooth that forces it out, these baby teeth can last well into adulthood although they don't always look that great but plenty can be done cosmetically and if they do have to be taken out or become loos there are alternative replacements (bridges/implants) the ozone treatment is a very promising development but isn't avaliable on the nhs and can only repair fairly small cavities

thank you all very much for your comments advice and replies. I dread what may happen, but i guess i will have to bite the bullet so to speak and get the teeth filled. Dentist referred him to a child clinic dentist so maybe they have a better idea of what to do.

If i dont brush his teeth for one day, they immediately become yellow and plaque covered. Are other people's kids' teeth like this too? Maybe its something in his saliva.

Chicagomum - thanks for that info on baby teeth wearing down. He hasn't said they're sensitive at all, so that's OK.

All teeth are like that, mmddww. It's just more noticeable on children's teeth because they are smaller and the yellow looks more obvious.