Dental advice please

welshdent

milk whilst having sugars also have a neutralising effect on the acid so its not THAT bad and has other health benefits that outweigh its decay potential IMO. Chewing sugar free gum is great as it stimulates saliva production which is natures way of neutralising the acid and it also has minerals that help to remineralise the tooth surface.

coldstreamalways

Crisps have sugar in them and they stick into the fissures of the tooth so hang round for ages. Some study (vipeholm?) proves that sticky sugar is much worse than non sticky, makes sense I suppose. Unlike me who is back off to bed with a mystery poorliness.

brook2jack

Why does water have to taste "interesting"? It's an essential nutrient but moreover by continously giving "sweet tasting" things the body keeps craving sweet.

I'm not saying never eat sweet things but a bit of saying no will do everyone a good lesson in discipline and self discipline. I've had lots of parents who say my child won't drink water. That's nonsense what they mean is I give in when they want something to drink other than water.

Never eat or drink anything other than water before bed. Sugar free chewing gum or cheese are fine after meals but won't make up for damage from repeated acid attacks.

Finally the biggest thing you can do is take all food stuffs other than whole fruit out of your daughters reach. Let's face it children left to their own devices are never going to make healthy choices, so leave the healthy stuff in reach and then you control when they have treats ( we used to have sweetie Saturday when the kids could buy and eat sweets).

The most important thing is for you and your husband to be on the same side. Discuss it now , don't wait for the next time she asks for something and have it turn into an argument!!!

POPPYOSCAR

brook2jack wrote: »

Why does water have to taste "interesting"? It's an essential nutrient but moreover by continously giving "sweet tasting" things the body keeps craving sweet.

I'm not saying never eat sweet things but a bit of saying no will do everyone a good lesson in discipline and self discipline. I've had lots of parents who say my child won't drink water. That's nonsense what they mean is I give in when they want something to drink other than water.

Never eat or drink anything other than water before bed. Sugar free chewing gum or cheese are fine after meals but won't make up for damage from repeated acid attacks.

Finally the biggest thing you can do is take all food stuffs other than whole fruit out of your daughters reach. Let's face it children left to their own devices are never going to make healthy choices, so leave the healthy stuff in reach and then you control when they have treats ( we used to have sweetie Saturday when the kids could buy and eat sweets).

The most important thing is for you and your husband to be on the same side. Discuss it now , don't wait for the next time she asks for something and have it turn into an argument!!!

You say about whole fruit, but my dentist has told me that even fruit is bad for my daughter and has said that there should be no snacks only meals and that everything should be eaten at that meal and then the teeth brushed- and nothing in between. This is very hard to do.

welshdent

Again with fruits its balance - balance the damage with overall health benefits. Better to have an orange than a mars bar!

it IS better to not snack. The links I posted above about stephans curve should highlight why its better not to snack. On a simple level 20 sticky toffees will do more damage if eaten 1 at a time with 10 minutes between each than if 20 are eaten at once.

brook2jack

There is a problem with increasing decay in this country, it stems from the fact we have moved from 3 meals a day to eating 7 to 10 times a day on average.

If you don't have the bad stuff in the house , it won't be eaten . But the problem is at 13 your daughter is making her own choices when you are not around. That's why it's so important for you and her to realise dental decay can be controlled by yourselves you say you have had alot of treatment so you should be doing exactly the same as her. Why do you feel she needs to eat sweet things more than 3 times a day? Because that is all you are being asked to do. That's not excluding any foods or food groups just how many times a day you eat it.

You need to present this to her in a positive way, yes you can eat anything you like, but at mealtimes. There are many folks who have to have whole food groups permantly eliminated from their diet, you don't have this.

POPPYOSCAR

brook2jack wrote: »

There is a problem with increasing decay in this country, it stems from the fact we have moved from 3 meals a day to eating 7 to 10 times a day on average.

If you don't have the bad stuff in the house , it won't be eaten . But the problem is at 13 your daughter is making her own choices when you are not around. That's why it's so important for you and her to realise dental decay can be controlled by yourselves you say you have had alot of treatment so you should be doing exactly the same as her. Why do you feel she needs to eat sweet things more than 3 times a day? Because that is all you are being asked to do. That's not excluding any foods or food groups just how many times a day you eat it.

You need to present this to her in a positive way, yes you can eat anything you like, but at mealtimes. There are many folks who have to have whole food groups permantly eliminated from their diet, you don't have this.

Yes thats fine in theory but hard to put into practice with a teenager.She may be out with friends and they are snacking so she then feels like the odd one out.I have always controlled what they had as children but my daughter still got these problems and not my son.If you had read my posts you will have seen that her teeth are much better now she is older.

My son 18 who I have no control over now buys his own stuff etc. snacks all the time NO FILLINGS why is this then?

brook2jack

Yes your daughter is getting better and her teeth are better now. But the big increase in decay I often see in kids happens again as they get into teenage years and make their own choices. As a parent this is why it's important that you are not giving her the message that decay is not reasonably beyond her control.

I have seen a study with identical twins who ate the same diet but one had rampant decay the other didn't. They were genetically identical so one couldn't possibly have "weak" teeth. Turned out that the one with decay liked to suck bread balls (the soft bit of bread rolled up).The bread was in her mouth so long fermentable sugars were released.

Oral health is like a seesaw it only takes one thing to tip the balance. I can absolutely guarantee your son and daughter do not eat exactly the same things at the same time in the same way. Moreover you've obviously changed alot of things with your daughters diet and she's changed her cleaning habits but if she has had a root treatment at 10 I can also guarantee if her brother duplicated exactly what she ate and when she ate it and over how long a time and at what time, and duplicated her brushing he would also have had caries.

Eat sugary stuff enough times during the day or just before bed , or don't brush and anyone will get decay. No one is immune .

SparkyG

As a child my mother was very strict with my diet. No snacks, sweets only on a Sunday, only water (and milk with meals) to drink. We really only had 3 meals a day with nothing in between!

My teeth were perfect, which was quite unusual in the 1960's. No fillings until the age of 14. What had changed then was 2 years previously I was going to secondary school on my own on the bus, and virtually every day on the way home I would buy sweets to munch. Within a few years I had fillings in all 8 molars.

Fast forward to present day. I am now 55 and those teeth which were filled in my teens are a mess! One missing and replaced by an implant (very expensive:eek:), one root filled and crowned and the rest have large fillings.

Looking back I KNOW it was my change in eating habits that caused the decay, so I can back up what Brook2Jack is saying.

Exactly the same thing happened to my children (but not quite so drastic;)). When I was in control of their diet their teeth were perfect, but as soon as they were 'let loose' they had fillings in their teenage years.

POPPYOSCAR

SparkyG wrote: »

As a child my mother was very strict with my diet. No snacks, sweets only on a Sunday, only water (and milk with meals) to drink. We really only had 3 meals a day with nothing in between!

My teeth were perfect, which was quite unusual in the 1960's. No fillings until the age of 14. What had changed then was 2 years previously I was going to secondary school on my own on the bus, and virtually every day on the way home I would buy sweets to munch. Within a few years I had fillings in all 8 molars.

Fast forward to present day. I am now 55 and those teeth which were filled in my teens are a mess! One missing and replaced by an implant (very expensive:eek:), one root filled and crowned and the rest have large fillings.

Looking back I KNOW it was my change in eating habits that caused the decay, so I can back up what Brook2Jack is saying.

Exactly the same thing happened to my children (but not quite so drastic;)). When I was in control of their diet their teeth were perfect, but as soon as they were 'let loose' they had fillings in their teenage years.

But this is my point.I was in control of both my childrens diet, they drank mainly water, no sugar on cereals in fact I dont use sugar for anything.They did not have a lot of sweets etc. Both had the same routine for cleaning their teeth,went to the dentist on a regular basis for check ups from a very early age, and still my daughter had terrible problems with her teeth at around the age of 10, but not my son. Yes my daughter has had to be more careful than ever but her friends who eat what they like and when they like do not have the problems she has had and neither has my son, so I can only conclude that her teeth are weaker.My son 18 has never had a filling.