2 year old tooth decay - where to go from here?

[Mumanddone]

Hello all.

I had a very active feed here last year about my nearly two year old who was told she had tooth decay due to extended breastfeeding and breastfeeding at night. Fast forward around six months, we’ve completely cut breastfeeding and amped up brushing, minimised fruit and sugar consumption (sugars were not really a big part of her diet before but now it’s even less) but I still feel like her poor teeth are getting worse.

I feel sick to my stomach most days about this. I’ve thankfully been seen by a NHS Pediatric dentist who said we will wait and watch and essentially suggested tooth brushing and limiting sugar (plus quarterly fluoride coatings).

I will admit, I am a born worrier and overthinker but I can’t get the thought out of my head so I need to know: what can happen? Can I realistically arrest the decay or do I need to make my peace with the fact that her teeth will be extracted?

I know she won’t care and will get a new set but I do worry about teachers/ peers/ parents and what they will think. Her teeth look a bit chipped now but not decayed. She’s a beautiful little girl and yes, I don’t want to ruin her looks due to poor teeth. I just feel like I’ve failed her in the worst way. Nearly every day I get such a cloud of guilt and I can’t stop thinking about her teeth. We are olanning ti seek another opinion and are prepared to throw reasonable money at the situation but is restorative work on a toddler’s teeth just a money grab?

I would love to hear from someone who has been in a similar boat or someone who has experience in this field.

Didn’t want to just read and run but it sounds like you are doing all you can for your poor girl. Try not to beat yourself up, it’s natural to feel bad but I wonder are teeth a luck thing too in some ways. I take great care of mine but have no end of trouble and fillings, my partner has never even needed a filling but is not particular about his at all🤷🏼‍♀️

My DS breastfeed constantly throughout the night. He was so clingy he would only go to sleep latched on. At about 18 months he developed tooth decay. Went to a specialist dentist and we were given two options, silver diamine flouride applied to the teeth or general anaesthetic and reconstruction. The SDF would turn the teeth black so that was a non runner. I was sick thinking about the general anaesthetic but it is the best thing we ever did. He got crowns on four front teeth, one of which needed a root canal. His teeth are beautiful and it’s almost two years later and they still look perfect. I would not have opted to get them extracted unless there was no alternative option. Our dentist was amazing and the cosmetic finish is indistinguishable from normal teeth. He is such a smiley little guy, I’m so glad that we went ahead with this option. It was about £1k in total but the best money we ever spent. Get yourself a really good specialist paediatric dentist. Best of luck, it’s a really hard situation to be in.

Hi! I am so glad you replied. Please could you tell me: was this a private dentist who performed this? How did you find them? What was the recovery like?

I worried the same as you op, we were very particular about DS diet, his drinks, toothbrushing etc but even so the front too teeth went gammy. I thought the dentist would go mad on us but he was eerily calm and said that sometimes it happens even under the best of circumstances, we were advised to let them fall out in their own time as they were wearing away slowly rather than painful rotting.

Hi, i was just wondering if you could advise who you used for this procedure, I am trying to source dental specialists who will do work under general privately and so far am coming up stumps for this! Willing to travel anywhere in the country as our case is now getting pretty urgent and NHS dentist aren’t willing to help with an 18 month list for extraction. Thank you in advance.

Hi I've had these ones recommended to me: https://www.toothbeary.co.uk/ They don't do general anaesthetic but they do other ways of safely/painlessly getting the teeth out for children. We couldn't afford it but it might help you.

Hello, I was wondering how you were getting on with your little girl and her teeth? We are having the same issue with our little boy who is aged 16 months. He has decay on his 4 upper front teeth which a paediatric dental consultant said was due to breastfeeding on the demand during the night. He is a terrible sleeper and we co slept meaning he essentially fed all through the night. I was under the impression the milk was good for him and the feeding to sleep was completely natural so didn’t give it a second though. His front teeth look awful, the white enamel has worn away leaving the exposed dentin. Earlier this evening we think we saw some decay on his back molar which has left us extremely concerned as he has a good diet, he doesn’t eat any chocolate or sweets and we’ve been brushing his teeth 2 or 3 times a day since the news about his front teeth. How did things progress with your daughter? I’m so worried he will have to have his teeth removed under general anaesthetic. Any advice would be appreciated.