Not great news from the dentist for my 3yo - please help!

[Pagetta]

My DS is turning three next week. Today i took him for his second trip to the dentist.

First time they just had a quick glance said all ok.

This time he sat him in the chair propelry and has identified a 'tooth to keep an eye on' and queried me on his diet.

I am absolutely mortified. I really thought we were vigilant but I'd really appreciate any advice.

• We brush twice a day, morning and evening
• he is rarely alloed sweets/lollies
• he rarely has dried fruit
• he drinks pretty much only water and oat milk all week. On weekends he is allowed (very weak) high juice and watered down fruit juice. Things like capri sun or fruit shoots are at parties only (or grandparents).
• he does like cake and biscuits. when he gets home from childcare he will usually have a fig roll or a little chocolate with his milk in the evening.

I think the main culprits are fruit and honey. He is a fruit FIEND - bananas grapes and apples especially. and absolutely loves honey too. We sometimes put some in his porridge and i know he has honey sandwiches at the childminders 1/2 times a week.

The other thing is fizzy water - we let him have it as a treat as we thought was a healthy alternative to juice or pop.

I feel like i've totally let him down. Any advice or changes we could make would be hugely welcome.

Basic...DH and I are same as you. Which means DD is too and is a blessing as she only let's us have a quick brush.

When I was a child, our dentist used to bribe us... With sweets

My DC love going to the dentist. He bribes them with the promise of stickers and 2 minutes of going up and down, tilting backwards and forwards, in his Amazing Magical Chair (TM). And they get to hold the mirror too. What's not to like?

We let our DC brush their own teeth and then we do the 'tricky bits' for them at the end, ie brush them properly. 6yo DD has an electric toothbrush, 3yo DS will get one for Christmas after the dentist told me that the 6+ is to do with batteries and water, not any risk to their teeth. We'd assumed that it was dentist guidelines - don't give them an electric brush till they are reasonably competent at doing it with a manual one . Ah well!

Sorry to hear that. I would cut out the fig rolls as they are very sugary and sticky. Probably better to have a plain biscuit in that case.
Fresh fruit is fine. Really. My son who is 11 loves fruit and always has - including raisins! He hasn't had a filling yet, despite eating a lot of fruit. So he will have raisins with his cereal in the morning, and have a banana a day at least, plus fruit after dinner every night. I think the thing here is to have fruit with a meal as the enamel is being attacked anyway. Every time you eat, the sugar turns to acid on the tooth and attacks the enamel so minimise snacks and give things that aren't sugary.
Honey is just as bad as sugar in terms of being bad for teeth.
Some of it is also genetic and also by virtue of birth. Eg, my daughter (now 13) had some enamel that had worn away, but dentist said it was a 'defect' rather than from the food she ate. He sorted it out that visit. Also, try and get the molars sealed once the adult ones come through at the back at around age 8. This was done on nhs for mine.

Oh....and the Peppa Pig goes to the dentist episode is also very popular in our house. Appreciate it's not very sophisticated for older ones though!

Fluoride is the key. My friend has a gazillion reasons why her kids have rotten teeth and no apparently it's nothing to do with them permantly guzzling dried fruit and brushing with some fluoride free organic bollocks toothpaste she buys in the local snakeoil -r-us.

I have to agree with OnlyHere here! My dad didn't agree with flouride (ffs!) and I have loads of fillings, mainly from childhood. Have prob had 2 in total as an adult. Also, bubble gum - don't let your kids near it. Ever. Once he died when I was 16 I mainlined Colgate(!!!!).

My DSis (who I'm NC with) will tell you that fluoride is the reason we all have wank teeth and that the NHS peddle this "fluoride is good for you bollocks" to get all our money

This is one of her less dangerous opinions...

Can I just ask if the red milk teeth toothpaste is ok for my three year old? Thinks it's recommended for 3-6 year olds. Thanks.

I was "overdosed" for want of a better word with fluoride as a child: tablets, toothpaste, painted stuff and the only harm its done is cosmetic. My teeth have dots all over them

The advice id give parent/ child patients is limit sweet foods such as fruit to meal times as a dessert and snack on veg or crackers. Drink milk and water im between meals, juice as a treat with meals.if you must. Its the amount of acid attacks rather than the amount of acid. For example a whole pack of haribo at once would do less damage than a whole pack throughout the day.

I tend to give fruit before a meal. Is that ok?

Like previous post stop the sparkling water due to the ph level. If has a "treat" try to allow it close to meal times or soon after as the longer the ph level in the mouth is Low the more chance of decay.

I've heard about the cheese thing too. This article backs it up www.colgate.com/en/us/oc/oral-health/conditions/cavities/article/ada-07-eating-cheese-may-prevent-cavities