Is this tooth decay?

[Kayx28]

Hi ladies! Basically I was brushing my son's teeth this morning and noticed he's got a brown spot on his tooth (that's the only way I can describe it) and it looks like tooth decay to me! I'm taking him the dentist but can't get a appointment till 3 weeks time! Do you think it is tooth decay? I brush his teeth twice a day, everyday. I give him cordial juice that's got nothing artificial in it and sometimes water too. He has sweets occasionally but mostly eats fruit. So I don't how his tooth is decaying and he's only 3! I feel so so bad that I've let this happen😔 extreme mum guilt! The only thing I can think of that's made it happen is he has 1 bottle of fresh cows milk every night before he goes asleep and I only give him that 1 bottle! Photo isn't the best as he wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get a good picture🤣 but tried my best.

I've no idea, hopefully someone will be along soon who does.

I don't know if the brown spot is decay as it's not very clear. Tooth decay is extremely common in children now, so you won't be the first for it to happen to! Cordial, fruit and milk contain natural sugars so can cause tooth decay over time.

Could be hypoplasia, basically a lack of enamel on it, can be caused by something as simple as a cold during a particular week of your pregnancy when that tooth was forming. I would see a dentist.

I would book the dentist but in the meantime, look at how much fruit he is eating and maybe introduce other healthy snacks such as cubes of cheese or sticks of veg. With the milk, are you brushing his teeth after he drinks it? You really must or the sugar from the milk is sitting on his teeth all night.

It does look like a little hole in the tooth, yes.

If it is then the dentist will put a metal cap over that tooth to protect it until it is time for it to fall out naturally.

It's not a hole. It's just a brown spot, I'll ask the dentist when I take him he has a appointment soon.

DS2 had similar brown marks on his milk teeth - fluorosis maybe? In his case it wasn't down to decay or anything, and he'd never had antibiotics as a baby, his teeth were just like this. His adult teeth were just fine.

My 5 year old has the same on 1 tooth, dentist has said it's fluorosis and nothing to worry about.

Cordial will contain sugar. Maybe dilute it more and offer water more often instead

My DS has had antibiotics twice, for 2 separate things. But I will look into Fluorosis. I really hope its not decay!

Yes I definitely will do that :)

Cordial with only natural stuff is still sweet. If he's mostly drinking that with occasional water then he's basically washing his teeth in a sugar solution regularly through each day.
Fruits are acidic and sweet.
Children's tooth enamel is softer than adults so these things count more at that age.
Best to have water as main drink, cordial as treat and with meals. Fruit with meals as much as possible.
Clean teeth before eating not after.
Whether it's decay I don't know, I'd go to the dentist and ask.

Everytime I brush his teeth his always swallows the toothpaste aswell even though I constantly tell him to spit it out & try to show him how to spit it out, maybe that's causing it too?

Imo it’s a strange place for a tooth to start decaying. With poor diet or poor dental hygiene you’d normally have decay starting with the molars, and then it’s normally the tops or the sides, not the front. 3 weeks isn’t a horrendous time to wait. Watch his diet and teeth brushing in the meantime and see what the dentist says

It could also be chromogenic bacteria.

I had the same panic with my DS - how can it be decay when I brush his teeth so often?? It turns out it was something completely different and not due to lack of dental hygiene.

Best to ask your dentist, if it is chromogenic bacteria, it will eventually need a dentist cleaning every 4-5 months to scrape it off. It is contagious so try not to share cutlery and cups etc within the family and with other children. Feel free to PM me as it took a bit of trial and error with dentists to find out what it was and what to do about it.

The cows milk won't be helping, is he drinking it then brushing his teeth after or other way around? Also at 3 you need to ditch the bottle. Try and have the fruit and sweets straight after tea, rather than as snacks and have the cordial with a meal, then just water in between meals. It could be decay, it's hard to tell by the pic, but also could be hypoplasia or fluorosis. X