cavity

[tabegle]

I feel like a failure. My 4 year old has a cavity. :(

It seems simple enough, brush in the morning, brush at night. But I know we haven't been doing that. It's just that there's already a million things to do. But I know I'm just making excuses and I shouldn't.

I feel like we only have custody of the kids on the weekends because we both work out of the home full time (and then some) during the week. Everything is always rush rush rush in the morning and when we get home from work, it's the same thing. make dinner, eat, bath (maybe) and then bedtime.

This sucks.

[brittone2]

My DS1 had a cavity at 15 months and we had good hygeine, and had fluoridated water up until that point.

Don't beat yourself up; some people are just more prone to decay. Their saliva pH can affect how prone they are, the bacteria colonized in their mouth may be different from someone else, etc.

We had good success using xylitol for the whole family, and (knock on wood!) they've all been cavity-free since that time. I personally think treating the whole family is important because the strep mutans bacteria that cause decay can be spread through kissing, utensil and food sharing, etc. so it is good to treat everyone IMO.

To give you the flip side of feeling like you don't have custody of your DC during the week, when we went through the cavity with DS1, our pedi dentist decided to give me handouts about juice and crackers and so forth even though I told him my kid had had juice about 3x ever (and all at the grandparents' house while visiting) up until that point. He then proceeded to tell me "Well, we see more decay in kids with SAHMs because they aren't on a schedule and walk around with sippy cups of juice and goldfish crackers all day." I didn't take too kindly to that comment :loveeyes: . Thankfully he and I reached an understanding not long after that visit, but yikes. I was angry, because he didn't have the first clue about my family's diet, habits, etc. As a parent, it seems you can't win sometimes!

Hang in there.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Btdt. Flossing is really key for us though. ((((Hugs))))

[sariana]

Cavities happen. Often it's not anyone's fault at all. Don't beat yourself up about it. Just talk about it with your DS's dentist to find out if there is anything you can do from now on.

[karstmama]

for us, a big improvement came with the kids' sonicare. a bit afraid & some tears the first 2 or 3 days, and since then he loves it. it really has kept the plaque off in a way i couldn't do brushing by hand with him moving all around.

[Pear]

DD has had a ridiculous amount of dental work and she is only 3.75. We even had to have her teeth capped in the hospital with full anesthesia. I really beat myself up over this. We have been meticulous with DD's dental hygiene. She sees the dentist ever 3 months. She still gets cavities. As the dentist explained, there is only so much you can do. Just try to do your best and realize that sometimes kids get cavities or get sick or get injured with seemingly harmless play.

[Tinkerbell313]

My daughter has enamel dysplasia. I felt the same as you did and was beating myself. But, after speaking with several people in the dental community as well as reading on line, I am at peace with her two cavities. Don't get me wrong, we work hard to prevent cavities but with her enamel dysplasia there is an increased chance of getting cavities.

[ang79]

DD1 had her first cavity right before she turned 6. The dentist asked if she ate lots of fruit gummies or fruit roll ups. While both my girls like those, they usually only get them maybe once or twice a week, and just tiny packs, so they are not eating them or candy all the time (though I have no idea what DD1 gets for snack on school because its a shared snack and I only provide it once a month). When my MIL heard about the cavity, she guessed it runs in the family, as DH and his siblings all had horrible teeth as little kids, lots of cavities. The dentist told us to use a 2 min. timer for each time the girls brush, and to make sure that adults help with the brushing at least once a day. The girls usually do their own in the morning because we are rushed to get to the bus, then we help them at night. I asked my dentist about xylitol and he said he's seen great results for adults, but didn't have any research about using it for kids. He recommended the gum for DH and I, and I've yet to look into rinses, etc. to use with the girls......

[marymoo86]

In the recent Parents mag, there was article about this. Said something like 44% of 5 year olds have gotten a cavity. The article seemed to indicate gummies, juice, etc for keeping teeth in constant contact with sugar.

[SnuggleBuggles]

In the recent Parents mag, there was article about this. Said something like 44% of 5 year olds have gotten a cavity. The article seemed to indicate gummies, juice, etc for keeping teeth in constant contact with sugar.

Yeah, our dentist said he'd rather the kids ate chocolate than raisins b.c they didn't stick in the teeth grooves and pits the same. Ds2 has not had raisins, gummies, fruit leathers, and rarely has juice. But, he had lots of milk and we didn't floss like we should have. Luckily, ds2 loves flossing now!

[brittone2]

Sticky carbs like crackers are also bad for teeth, even though we don't think of them as a sweet food.