DS got a hole in his tooth!

Money_maker

Last time my two boys were at the dentist, I was encouraging the dentist to show them the drill and give them all sorts of horror stories about fillings if they didn't clean their teeth properly. She toned it down a bit but I just needed them to have the encouragement to spend more than 10 seconds with their toothbrushes :rotfl:

bunny999

Krystaltips wrote: »

Wow, we all had that done in the 80's!

My daughter is 5 now and I take her to the dentist every 6 months but they never do more than a cursory glance in her mouth and give her a sticker... Is this because she just has milk teeth and they are fine or just because they're a bunch of slack harry's?

It's probably because you've got an NHS dentist - they work under a great deal of pressure and are only paid to provide a fairly basic service. This is why so many dentists have opted out of the NHS.

pinkpig08

ChrisCobra wrote: »

Old enuff to brush his own teeth.
Polish has FA to do with it.
Was probably advising to brush longer.
And quote " 'please please brush his teeth with him and from now on he must use an adult toothbrush and adult toothpaste.' "

Maybe do as the guy asks , wont effing kill ya will it.

Many thanks for that well thought out comment.

As for nationality - if I had said he was abrupt BECAUSE he was Polish, then absolutely pull me up on it. I DID NOT SAY THIS. I couldn't give a rats a$$ what nationality he is - he had an accent which my son could not understand that is all.

pinkpig08

Thankyou all for the other comments.

The dentist did put some sealant on his teeth which he said would last between 2-6 months, and to go back earlier if it wears off.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough in how I explained. As I read it back it doesn't sound so bad, but it was how he said it, rather than what he said. It just felt like he was telling me off when actually I try really hard with DS.

If I left him to do his teeth completely by himself it would be a quick flick round with the brush then back to his toys! :rolleyes:

blue_monkey_2

JUst to make you aware, I have a couple of friends who do not give their kids any 'sugary bad things' and their kids have had to have fillings. One culprit is tomato ketchup - it is also in salad creams as well as other sauces (something I never thought about tbh). The other - and the worst, and this shocked me as we are encouranged to send out kids to school with this for a snack - is dried fruit. It has lots of natural sugars in and when kids eat dried fruit it sticks to the teeth for the day and then causes cavities.

I have to admit, I have an ADHD son and I only have things with sugar in now - he was a nightmare when I was giving him things with artificaial sweeteners in it, sometimes you have to replace the 'good' with the 'bad'.

My kids (now 5 and 6) have always had battery or electric spinney toothbrushes and I use a kitchen timer to ensure that the teeth get a good brushing. They also get 1p for brushing their teeth properly and for a long time. The dentist said their teeth are lovely.

Toothsmith

KellyWelly wrote: »

I've used adult toothpaste on his teeth for a while, but apparently you have to be careful as it can mottle their developing adult teeth because of the level of fluoride.

Adult toothpaste will only mottle a kids teeth if, before the age of 2, they regularly eat quite a lot of it. And I mean eat.

Personally, I would be happy if all 'kids' toothpastes were dumped tomorrow. The low fluoride levels are neither use nor ornament, and the silly flavours like 'bubble gum' just get kids used to sweet.

Kids can have adult toothpaste right from when they start having their teeth brushed, but literally just a tiny smear until they are old enough to spit out.

Penny-Pincher!!

Dentists are becoming more precise in what they say to you, especially children. We only get 1 set of Adult teeth and we need to know how to look after them.
If your DS is only 6, then he must have had concern to say something to you both.
We all mostly brush our teeth....but are we doing it properly?

It's probably more that your feeling guilty as he has made you feel that you have neglected his teeth.....but he probably didnt mean it like that if thats what you thought he meant IYKWIM.

DD had to have a filling at age 8 and I was horrified! I blamed myself etc etc...the dentist told us that where DD ate so much fruit, that she wasnt cleaning her teeth after each sugary fruit and this had caused some problems. Although it hurt to hear, we changed the way she brushed and she hasnt had many problems at all and she is now 14.

HTH

PP
xx

Georgie4

Toothsmith wrote: »

If you want a dentist with time to tell you nicely exactly why things are going wrong, exactly how you can help, and to give you support throughout, then you'll need to pay privately.

If you consider ourself 'lucky' to be seen on the NHS, then someone, often a foreign import, has to get the point across in about 20 seconds max.

Your dentists have obviously managed to get the point across to you, and you now realise that a hole in your offspring's tooth IS your fault.

Job well done given the funding constrictions I'd
say.

TOTAL rubbish - I have a private dentist and they don't have anymore time to spend with you as the more patients they cram in the more money they make

Toothsmith

Then you need to find a different dentist.

There is only a shortage of NHS dentists. If you have taken the leap that dental care is something you need to pay for, then I really would shop around to find somewhere that treats you well.

It's only by 'putting up' with rubbish treatment that bad places survive. If you were a bit more demanding, then more dentists would have to think about their service and raise their game.

Paparika

OMG so it's not just my DS who can't find his way to the bathroom to clean his teeth then.

We used to have to stand there with him, as he got older he used to lie and say he had done it, now he's a teen he's started to do his own routine, still forgets but he's getting there