Paging smilequeen...or anyone else who knows a lot about baby teeth!

[Judegirl]

Dd has white spots at the bottoms of her teeth. From what I've read, this could be either decay, fluorosis, or just natural part of development. How do I know which? Should I take her to a dentist? She's just shy of 14 months old.

She drinks a lot of filtered NYC tap water (I just put an end to that!), and gets her teeth wiped after dinner most nights, but then she has a bottle before bed and we don't wipe again. She takes no supplements.

Fluorosis?? Decay?? I don't even know which is worse at this point...will it cause her permanent teeth to be discolored also?

NOW this is on my worry list...it wasn't before!

Thanks,
Jude

[DebbieJ]

Jamie posted about Kayla having flourosis a week or so ago. Maybe she'll chime in or you can contact her?

~ deb
DS 12/03
And a niece or nephew arriving in early August!

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif

[Judegirl]

Yes, that's the thread I read that got me concerned in the first place!

Jude

[JBaxter]

Some children's baby teeth have benign white spots on them. Are they pitted or smooth ( run your finge nail on them) smooth is good. It could also be tartar build up that would feel rough but bumpy. Some children do develop it very early. When is your next dental appt.? If it is in the near future I would take her along for a looksee. It is unlikely it will affect her permanent teeth. You wouldnt be able to get a picture of the spots would you?
Jeana

[Judegirl]

We don't even have a dentist yet...I thought (until Jamie's thread) that it wasn't until 3. My ped said not to go even at 2, and dd is only 13 months old.

Yes, I'll get a pic if you can help me! Poor kid - here comes Mommy with the camera!

Jude

[Judegirl]

Sigh. I tortured the poor baby and still have nothing in focus. Thank you anyway...I'll see if I happen to have one already that I can blow up or something.


Jude

[JBaxter]

Do YOU have a dentist? Thats what I was meaning take her along to your appt. :) When I was working ( I was a hygienist for 17yrs) we usually didnt schedule until about 3 either. Unless there was a problem then parents would bring the kids in for an evaluation. Usually to sit on moms lap and let the dr take a look. It is hard to communicate with a 2 yr old to even TRY to clean their teeth. 3 was hard enough. At the very least have the ped look at them at her 15 month appt. Some peds are clueless when it comes to dental issues but some are really good ( lol usually ones with little kids). It is rare to see decay on front teeth of toddlers that age unless they have a high sugar diet or sleep with a bottle of milk/juice on a regular basis.
Jeana

[Moneypenny]

I don't have a clue about the white spots, but have to mention that I'm impressed that your DD will stay still long enough so you can look at her teeth long enough to notice little white spots! I can't even brush Avery's two little teeth like I'm supposed to - I just stick a wet washcloth in her mouth and hope her chomping on it will get off any residual bits of cracker or whatever.

ETA: Oooo, lookie there! I made myself an avatar! It's the little things that make me happy...

Susan
DD - Avery, born 8/5/04

[amp]

I think she means that if you have a dental appt. for yourself, you could let them take a gander in her mouth and see if it's something that should be seen by a dentist. That way you'd ease your own mind.

[smilequeen]

Hey there...I would call up a pediatric dentist to take a look at her OR ask the dentist you see to take a look. It could be/probably is absolutely nothing, but that reassurance would be nice anyway. A pediatric dentist should be perfectly willing to see a 1 year old (in fact the AAPD reccommends dental appointments at 1 year). A general dentist might not even want to try. Is she still getting breastmilk in her bottle before bed? Breastmilk (as long as the solids are brushed off of her teeth) or water would be OK, but I'd not give her anything else without brushing after.


Whatever you do...don't listen to a pediatrician about dental stuff...they can give out some frightening advice. Last week I had to pull 8 teeth on a 4 year old and fill every single tooth she had left. The parents noticed something at 2 but their pediatrician told them it was no big deal...That kind of thing happens all the time, but I'm still fuming at that ped. 2 years ago, this poor child would still have her teeth and the habits that led to this could have been figured out...Sorry...little side tirade...

[Judegirl]

Egads!! I had no IDEA it was supposed to be at a year according to AAPD. We're going to go asap...their website recommends that we go once the first tooth erupts, but no *later* than a year!

In the meantime, though, I'm in a quandary....I can't figure out whether it's more likely to be tooth decay (in which case I want her to keep drinking fluoridated water!) or fluorosis (in which case she's on distilled water.)

Is it likely to be fluorosis when the only source of fluoride is NYC water (1 part per million) for the past several months, and fruits and veggies?

Or more likely to be decay when she's had goat milk every night for the past two months, without having her teeth brushed? (It was breast milk before that, and we usually brush after dinner.)


I've been obsessing (i.e. searching the web) about this all afternoon and can't come up with an educated guess.

Thank you!
Jude

[smilequeen]

Well...I assure you that that is one reccommendation that rarely gets followed :) But it exists really for situations like yours, where you see something you want checked out. It's smart of you to notice really, a lot of parents just let things go.

I don't want you to scare yourself reading stuff on the internet, worst case scenarios and all that. Most of the time when I see white spots it isn't much of anything at all, mostly aesthetic...Just make her an appointment. I WOULD reccommend weaning her off the bottle or weaning her to water in it at night.

[muskiesusan]

> (in fact the AAPD reccommends
>dental appointments at 1 year).

Is this widely followed? When making Nick's 3 year appt, some of the ped dentists wouldn't see him until 4, and the rest were very specific about him having to be 3 before we could make an appointment.

Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[smilequeen]

Nope, it is rarely followed. I AM a little shocked that pediatric dentists would say 4 though...most general dentists say 3. We do 3, sometimes 2 in our office, but we will take a look earlier if there is a concern.