My 4 year old needed a filling

[Tootytata]

Having a moment today where I feel like a failure in parenting. The dentist told me that my 4 year old needed a filling. We brush his teeth every morning and evening before bedtime. I try to limit the amount of sweets / chocolate / junk he has but sometimes don't succeed.

Has anyone got tips on how to better care for a child's teeth?

My teeth are not great. I have gum disease which I'm going through treatment for. I don't want my son to go through the same dental nightmares as me.

try to keep sugary food to pudding rather than snacks, less impact on teeth.

make sure you're brushing before breakfast rather than after. or 2 hours after food so enamel not soft.

What do you mean by "I try to limit the amount of sweets / chocolate / junk he has but sometimes don't succeed. "??

Surely if your child is 4 years old, it's quite easy to limit the amount of junk that he eats and drinks? Surely he must be eating or drinking a lot of the wrong things to need a filling at 4 years old.

I think you need to pay more attention to what food and drink you're giving to your child.

Caring for children's teeth isn't rocket science

Brush his teeth last thing before bed and one other time, usually morning. Make sure you are actually removing all the plaque

Reduce the number of times he's eating sugar to less than 4x a day, which includes 3 meals and one other time. This means no yoghurt, granola/cereal bars, dried fruit etc outside mealtimes not just junk.

Limit drinks containing sugar to mealtimes, ideally not at all.

Theres no tips, theres no magic formula you can follow. You just need to reduce the amount of sugar he's eating and drinking

What they said, plus avoid crisps and other starchy snacks because the starch sticks to teeth. Dried fruit also sticks.

Thanks everyone. Sometimes we end up brushing his teeth after breakfast so this will change going forward. And no more sweeties!

Why should you brush before not after breakfast?

Because the enamel is weaker from the production of saliva from eating, and brushing can damage the enamel.

We use a kids electric tooth brush which DS loves and is much more thorough.

I would look at what your ds is drinking. Try to avoid any sugary drinks, or acidic drinks, like juice, and give water or milk. This is especially true through the day. Also make sure he is getting enough calcium.

We have a toothbrushing app that really motivates the boys to accept us brushing their teeth for two minutes - it is really hard to judge two minutes. Also talk to your dentist about the right way to brush and make sure you have the right toothpaste.

I have terrible teeth and give my children real hassle as I don't want them to have teeth like mine.

Raisins and crisps are horrendous for teeth. Avoid.

Lorisparkle - I'm the same. It would break my heart if my children had terrible teeth like mine. I have all my teeth and they are straight but I have gum disease so god knows how long my teeth will survive. My mum had dentures from her mid-20s so part of it maybe genetics.

If it makes you feel any better OP, my DD1 had three silver caps put on her back teeth when she was three because of cavities. She had several fillings on and off throughout primary. She ate pretty healthy too, DD2 ate similar food and only had a couple of fillings. When she was about 13 we discovered that she too had weak enamel.

There was no choice other than to cut out all the processed sugar in her diet as a teenager, she rarely drinks sugary drinks unless she goes out for a meal, no crisps / sugary snacks etc unless for special occasions. Didn't have to get another filling until she was 18! There was home-made baking available, and chocolate on a Friday night but stuff like sugary snacks (crisps, sweets, sugary crackers etc) and fizzy drinks / juice were banned.

DD2 still ate far more sugary foods / drinks outside the home (we banned crisps, chocolate biscuits etc) and still had good teeth on the whole.

It probably is genetics my DH has poor teeth, DD1 sadly inherited it. Whereas DD2 has inherited my good teeth.

Well what supportive responses

OP my DD (9) has an issue with tartar collecting behind her wonky bottom front teeth. I feel judged every time I go to the dentist. DS doesn't have the same issue despite much the same diet.

I feel that this is one of those holier than thou parenting issues. Kids get given sweets sometimes. I let mine have juice as DD needs all the vitamins she can get. Guaranteed that the children brought up on rations of water and celery , cone secondary schoo, will be smuggling in pockets full of Lucozade and Skittles.

You're bothered enough to be posting on here about it and I expect you're doing your best in this race to be perfect while juggling a busy life. Obviously you're going to be more conscious of dental hygiene now, but honestly, when the next parenting low comes, take it, knowing that perfection comes with its own set of issues.

Gorkymcporky - thank you so much I expected some of the responses above but it's nice to get some sympathy too. The dentist told me that ideally we can't let him have any sweets or sugary food at all. What do we do at birthday parties?! I do try to limit sugary food at home but just wanted to balance it with him being able to have fun sometimes.

i second an electric toothbrush, they are much more effective.

It's not just sugar but things like fizzy drinks that are not good for teeth.

Have you used disclosing tablets? There's lots of fun to be had with them, having bright blue teeth and having to brush them clean.

Maybe on Friday evening he brushes his teeth and then uses disclosing tablets, if there is no plaque then he gets a sticker or a non sugary treat. You can also see places he misses.

Make sure his toothbrush fits his mouth and change it regularly.

I've just had a memory from primary school, we were all once given a pack with disclosing tablets, tooth brush and tooth paste and a magazine about teeth.

The 1970s were not all that bad.

OP

I've just had a look for disclosing tablets (reminded me to get some) on Amazon is a pack of tablets, toothbrush and a timer.

You don't HAVE to brush before breakfast. But if you brush after, you should wait about 1hour. Look it up. I just did as I thought I was doing it wrong this whole time. Turns out I'm not .

Because the enamel is weaker from the production of saliva from eating No, there is an acid that coats the teeth for up to 30 minutes after eating that compromises the enamel if you brush too soon. Your saliva helps your teeth, which is why your mouth usually always fills with saliva just before your vomit.

Look for hidden sugars, some crisps have sugar, as do beans, tom sauce.

No added sugar doesn't mean sugar free.

Keep sugary drinks/food to meal times, and don't allow snacking on sweets in between meals. Eat a pack of sweets in one go, not through out the day

It is absolutely unrealistic to not give a child sweets etc.

As I said,

• Limit sweets to a certain part of the day - preferable with/after meals
• Drink water afterwards, or eat cheese to neutralise the acid attack
• Dried fruit is horrible, it sticks in the fissures and is hard to get out
• Crisps are better, just check for hidden sugar in flavored crisps
• Cheese is a great snack
• Nothing except water after brushing at night
• Fluoride toothpaste/drops
• No added sugar doesn't mean sugar free
• Diet soft drink are also not good, they still cause an acid attack within the mouth, even though there is no sugar

@BobTheDuvet Fri 28-Jun-19 21:46:55

Because the enamel is weaker from the production of saliva from eating, and brushing can damage the enamel.

that is useful info, thanks It's incorrect. Your tooth enamel does not become weaker, the acid sits on your teeth and eats thorough the enamel until it reaches the dentine. Enamel is the hardest substance in your body, eating does not weaken it. Brushing the acid that sits in your mouth after eating does.

www.ada.org.au/Dental-Health-Week/Oral-Health-for-Busy-Lives/Diet-and-Nutrition

A key factor in helping to prevent tooth decay is saliva, which provides a natural defence mechanism within the mouth by neutralising the acids produced by bacteria

Get dental sealants on the molars. And do it again when the permanent ones come in. NHS won't pay but this is a no brainer. It has zero risk and so many benefits. If you have more spare money consider a deep clean once a year too. If you go to a children's dentist generally they are good at making it less scary and it's a habit for life then.

After moving abroad I am amazed how basic NHS dental care is for children.

Should say that the information to not brush after breakfast for at least 30 minutes is NOT incorrect, but the reason is.

The same thing happened to my eldest DD at 4- and we can very confidently say she did not have a sugary diet at all- not even dried fruit. She doesn't even like sweets!

We did though, have a period of about 12 months where she was awful at having her teeth brushed - we did try our very best and did pin her down etc but we weren't able to do as good a job as we wanted. I'm pretty sure that was the problem. She would clamp her mouth shut and thrash about.

She has a check up every 3 months and there has been no more decay so we've got a grip on it and she's losing all her baby teeth quite early so hopefully it will be behind us soon. I felt Awful though and like the dentist thought we were lying and we'd been giving her coke in a bottle.

Her younger sibling gets to watch all the YouTube teeth brushing videos they like...

The sealant idea is a good one.

I have had trouble with my teeth all my life. All my back teeth were removed before I was 2 and I had all my adult teeth before I was 7. Some of them are more fillings than teeth. I was in my late 40s before a dentist bothered to inform me that my terrible, weak teeth were not because of the way I was looking after them, but because my saliva is thicker than normal and that erodes my teeth.

I have had less bother with them for the last few years after a spate of abscesses some years ago and the advent of the sensifoam toothpaste has made an enormous difference, although the dentist is not sure why.

So it is entirely possible that your child has inherited bad teeth (DF was wearing a full set of dentures by the time he was 20) and it is not how you are looking after their teeth.