Dental advice please

Harrietxxx

My little girly developed a lump on her gum because of a decayed baby tooth. It was a little sore but didn't worry her unduly.

Took her to the dentist who said that the nerve was dead and the root infected. The treatment was to make the 'hole' in her tooth bigger so that the infection could drain away. We are supposed to just keep the tooth as clean as possible to preserve it as long as possible as she should not lose it till she is 9 and we need to try to preserve the space,

The lump has now gone but it is sensitive and uncomfortable for her to brush, surely this means that the nerve is not dead? I would have thought the dentist could now fill the tooth?

It just doesn't feel right to me, leaving the hole open and trying to keep it clean. Can any of you lovely dentists out there tell me if that is the right treatment.

I am mortified that this is the 2nd baby tooth that has decayed, I have two older children who are 17 and 14 and only one baby tooth filling between them, only difference being a different father due to a second relationship. It must be something hereditary.

Thanks for reading

brook2jack

Your dentist is right , the tooth is abcessed, the nerve is dead. They could try a special type of root filling for baby teeth but sucess rate is really low. Other than that if tooth can't be kept symptom free it will need to be extracted.

There is no such thing as hereditary weak teeth apart from some very rare disorders. Two things are responsible a) sugar in diet b) ineffective brushing.

Look at what you daughter eats and drinks does she pick at stuff during the day, does she drink alot of fruit juice, eat alot of yoghurts,cereal bars etc. Does she eat or drink anything before bed?

Is she using an adult toothpaste and are you still brushing around the back ones for her?

Discuss prevention with your dentist now as adult teeth come through at age 6 and these will be the next to decay if no change in her habits.

Harrietxxx

She does use an adult toothpaste and I do ALL of the brushing now because i am paranoid about her second teeth.

I was thinking of getting her big teeth 'coated', is this worthwhile?

Will it get easier to brush the tooth as we go on?

Thanks for replying.

brook2jack

Discuss fissure sealants with your dentist they may or may not be a good idea depending on a multitude of factors.(is there some signs of decay on adult teeth, are they all the way through yet, can they keep them dry enough to seal, can xrays be easily taken). Nb only adult teeth are fissure sealed not baby teeth.

However the biggest thing now is to look at her diet , not just sweets,biscuits,fizzy pop but also for all high risk foods and snacking / bedtime eating/ drinking habits.

Harrietxxx

Thank you, are there any websites I can look at for advice on food, snacking etc, obviously I know the basics but some further reading would be good as I think her diet is ok, but obviously not :-)

brook2jack

British dental health foundation. Also British dental association and American dental association have useful info.

McKneff

One little tip.
Get her to use a straw for drinks, the sugars dont get to the teeth so much.
buy one of those swirly, light up ones to make them fun.

Harrietxxx

She has sugar free squash, are they still bad? I will get a straw, good tip, thanks

babyshoes

When you say sugar free, do you mean 'no added sugar' or made entirely from artifical stuff? The 'no added sugar' squash still contains sugar, it is obviously just fruit sugar.

The artificial stuff has other health implications. Far better to cut down on squash and juices and encourage her to drink more water / milk instead. Also, when she does drink squash, try to dilute it more. I know when I was a kid, I would drink squash barely diluted if I could get away with it, I had a very sweet tooth (and still do). Luckily, my parents were good about limiting sugar and making sure we brushed well twice a day, so I never needed any baby teeth filled, and only had my first adult tooth filled when I was about 24.

I think there is definitely something genetic about teeth being weak though, a friend with less of a sweet tooth than me, and parents who were if anything more keen on regular brushing than mine ended up with lots of fillings as a teenager. We grew up in the same culture, with very similar food, she would brush at school after lunch, and still I had the better teeth.

Is she getting enough calcium? It may be something as simple as her older siblings ate/drank lots of dairy and she doesn't much like it...

brook2jack

Dietary calcium has nothing to do with it. You would have to be so deficient in calcium you would have rickets before it affects developing teeth. The enamel on baby teeth is formed before a baby is born and calcium makes no diffference once enamel is formed.

As I said before there is no such thing as hereditary weak teeth. What there is is habits passed down from parents to children in terms of diet,toothbrushing, flossing etc.

As to siblings , friends eating the same and having no problems, I can guarantee that no two people brush and floss the same, for the same length of time and no one eats and drinks identically to someone else, the exact amounts,times,etc.

The good thing about eating say cheese at the end of a meal is that it neutralises the acids produced by sugars at the end if a meal.

I advise no more than 3 acid attacks a day ie 3 times a day you eat or drink something sugary. The problem with drinks,snacking is that even if your child has a little bite or sip it will take an hour for that acid to go. If you eat or drink something with sugar ( or anything ending in ose eg fructose,maltose) eat it all at once .... Don't stretch it out.

welshdent

Just to echo brook, there is no genetic predisposition to decay that any evidence has shown up in the many years they have been investigating it. There are some conditions that do weaken teeth but these are very rare and experiencing tooth decay is not normally the presenting factor. Some people can have less mineralised teeth but this normally only affects a couple of teeth (same teeth in different areas of the mouth i.e. first molar teeth ... or PARTS of individual teeth. Calcium intake IMO isnt that big a deal once the teeth are through as you can not do a great deal to alter the structural make up of the body of the tooth once it calcifies hence fluoride losing its systemic effect quickly so ultimately acts locally on the surface of the tooth.