A Reminder For Dental Check-Ups

I had been thinking for a while about getting the girls teeth checked, we are on tank water with no fluoride and despite brushing they often seem to have off color teeth.
When we attended DD1's 3.5yr MCHN appt the nurse gave us the contact number for the local (well kind of) health centre who do dental work - it's $30 per child for the appt and that covers any work completed while they are there.

So we took both girls in this morning, the dentist fond a hole in 1 of DD1's back teeth and also a small hole in 1 of DD2's :redface:
We discussed the girls diet, being lots o fruit, water, dairy etc etc and that they get 1 packet of plain bisuits for the week and will often get a small cordial with dinner, a soft drink if we go out (rarely) and lollies at special occasions or long cr trips etc.... so their day to day diet is fine but we need to cut out the cordial and leave any swet foods (treats) until after dinner before they brush their teeth.

The girls brush twice a day, i do the brushing then they get the brush to themselves - we have the rare occasion we forget or we are not home but otherwise brushing is not an issue.
DD2 is a pain and still sticks her tongue out and eats the toothpaste but the Dentist said that is common at this age anyway.

So i guess i'm saying while we THINK we are doing everything right (diet, brushing etc) it's still a good idea to get a dental check-up for our LO's - it's also better to get them used to the dentist now right?

Miss A didn't cry and didn't need numbing for her filling, DD2 was all good until they had to put the stuffing stuff in her mouth and then she got a little upset but neither needed numbing, no needle and both were quiet calm... so check with your local council and you might just find there is a dental scheme that helps out with the cost and can save you some $$ and your LO's teeth.

In the meantime i have made the girls a cool chart to tick off morning & night brushing and at the end of the week they can put a sticker in their BRUSHING CHAMPION spot, anything to keep them positive about brushing... and back to NO CORDIAL in the the house and treats after dinner.... too bad there is so much natural sugar in fruit... thats a big issue for our girls too.

Don't restrict their diet just because of a hole in their tooth. As you said, their diet is pretty good and TBH, I think all that stuff about sugar giving you cavities is bull****. If you are worried about it, make sure that they have a drink of water after eating something with sugar in it to remove any traces of it, but don't go all hard-assed and make your kids miss out :) FWIW, my 4 kids all have exactly the same diets, they all brush their teeth twice a day, they only get flouride from the toothpaste (tank water) and two have the crappiest teeth you've ever seen and the other two don't. Once my DD1 had multiple fillings in a single visit because she just has terrible teeth. Not once was I ever told to cut out all sugar, but I have been told plenty of times that some people just have bad teeth. And I used to work as a dental nurse so I saw a lot of kids with cavities in that time.

But do what you gotta do. If cutting it out makes you feel like you are being proactive about it, then its not a bad thing :) i"m just saying that it may not make a difference.

Thanks hun, i'm not going to cut it out all together but there are things that they coudl really cut back on (like DP buying them lollipops just because or me getting them to keep them quite in the car).
I think the girls are going to have horrid teeth like me.. both my parents had false teeth by the age of 30, i have cr@ppy teeth and DP's are nowhere near perfect.
I was a little shocked they had a hole each but the dentist said otherwise they were fine... which is good i guess.... i just think it makes you realise that often despite making the best efforts some things are just out of our control :)

Yeah it sucks alright. I hated the looks the *****y dental technician used to give me when I took DD to the school dentist time and time again when she was only 3, but the problem was also that she was terrible at her job and the fillings kept falling out. Since I started taking her to a real dentist we've not looked back and her teeth are actually pretty good atm. I think her adult teeth will be OK< but her baby teeth were shocking. DS2 is the same and has had preventative capping done to prevent cavities.

I haven't taken DS1 to see the dentist yet :redface:

Think I'd better book him in for a checkup!

We are in a study and the boys get check ups every 6 months. They swab for a certain bacteria and you can only get holes if you carry this bacteria and another one together the nurse told me? So I agree I don't think it's about what you eat it's about what bacteria is in your mouth.

Big hugs Hun xxxx

You may be surprised at how much sugar there is in fruit ;)

My dd is a diabetic so she doesn't eat foods with high sugar content, and overall eats a lot loss than most kids, yet she has had to have 3 teeth removed due to abscess'. We clean twice a day and it still happens.

Lots of hugs to your girls for being so brave though :)

Is there ant reason why you can't get fluoride tablets?

My DD's go 6 monthly, DD1 has several fillings done in April under GA (refused to get done in chair grrrr) because of her anatomy, nothing o do with diet/brushing, she's just unlucky!!

Enamel is part hereditary but just because you or your parents had bad teeth, doesn't mean your kids will! Prevention is better than cure.....get some fluoride!!

Dentist said not to bother with fluoride, as it doesn't make much difference to already developed teeth.
They would get enough from toothpaste & other products made with fluoride in the water etc etc.
Girls are all excited about their brushing chart and when DP got home DD proclaimed no soft drink or cordial & kept telling me all arvo she HAS to have dessert then brush her teeth cos the dentist said... Funny the things they think of right.


Sent from my iPhone, more than likely while I should be doing something else!

Took DD2 to a dentist due to a hole in her front teeth, we are also on tank water. The dentist gave her a product called tooth mousse, it is put on the teeth of a night time. Seems to have stopped the progression on the hole. Might be worth checking it out, it was the dental clinic that gave it to us.

Wow really..... They still have 36 teeth left to develope!

Was also going to suggest tooth mousse, DD uses it every night between two particular teeth after flossing

This thread has made me feel a bit better, but I am sorry to hear about your girls ZA.

A couple of weeks ago DD1 told me her tooth hurt, then it was the whole side of her face. We have a fantastic school dental service here. Everything is covered and the dentist visits every kid (including 3yo kinder) every 6 months. She only saw the dentist in November, but she has multiple holes. One requiring root canal therapy. We're currently trying to nurse it along with antibiotics and temporary fillings but she tells me it hurts again tonight.
I feel like the crappiest mother that I didn't find out about a hole before it got that bad. She too brushes 2x daily and is the only kid I know that eats such a fantastic range of vegies and a whole food diet. We don't have juice or cordial or soft drink. The dentist kept insisting that it was those things and too many sweets and wouldn't believe me when I said those things are not only occasional but rare.
I see kids walking around with bottles of juice and kids drinking soft drink all the time....gah poor DD.

Kim is it a baby tooth? Are they going to do a pulpotomy??
Poor chook :(

Yep, first baby molar. No they haven't mantioned anything like that. Should I ask about something like that?

That does suck Kim. The dentist blamed extended breastfeeding and feeding to sleep. Did the same with DD1 and so far her teeth are fine and she fed to sleep more! The main difference between the 2 is fluoride. From half way through DD2 pregnancy we have not been in fluoridated water.

Kim its a root canal on a baby tooth, the root is chemically treated and filled (or stainless steel cap put on) I'd ak darl, will stop the infection. Otherwise how many teeth as she lost so far??

Only 1, bottom middle left. She got two shark teeth last December in the bottom middle and only one baby tooth has been lost. The other one is still waiting in the background.

I'd like to take Moo but I'm 100% certain he won't get in the chair...I wonder what they could do for that?