Tooth Enamel Problem - Help! & Find gluten-free Sensitive Dentist?

[tmhamlin7]

Hi. I have been gluten-free, DF, and SF (and several others) since thanksgiving 2008. I went to the dentist in January 2009 and she was extremely impressed with how much my gums have improved. She had been watching some teeth and they hadn't gotten worse. I just went yesterday (july 2009) and now these teeth are sooooo much worse. She is very concerned with how aggressive the decay is from the 6 months that have gone by. I seem to be sensitive to dyes so I switched to Tom's of maine wintermint toothpaste ~4mos ago.... When I went to the dentist, they seemed almost put out by the need to use gluten free products. The dentist was nice but even she seemed frustrated and was only concerned about hte teeth and not my health. Help! Suggestions?? Why are my teeth so bad all of a sudden? A was wondering if maybe wheat noodles (products) aren't as bad for teeth and rice is so maybe I should be brushing more often??? Or the toothpaste is too harsh (it has calcuim in it) or something? And please, how do I find a dentist who is knowledgable or at least sensitive to allergies/Gluten?? Thank you!

[Michi8]

  tmhamlin7 said:

Hi. I have been gluten-free, DF, and SF (and several others) since thanksgiving 2008. I went to the dentist in January 2009 and she was extremely impressed with how much my gums have improved. She had been watching some teeth and they hadn't gotten worse. I just went yesterday (july 2009) and now these teeth are sooooo much worse. She is very concerned with how aggressive the decay is from the 6 months that have gone by. I seem to be sensitive to dyes so I switched to Tom's of maine wintermint toothpaste ~4mos ago.... When I went to the dentist, they seemed almost put out by the need to use gluten free products. The dentist was nice but even she seemed frustrated and was only concerned about hte teeth and not my health. Help! Suggestions?? Why are my teeth so bad all of a sudden? A was wondering if maybe wheat noodles (products) aren't as bad for teeth and rice is so maybe I should be brushing more often??? Or the toothpaste is too harsh (it has calcuim in it) or something? And please, how do I find a dentist who is knowledgable or at least sensitive to allergies/Gluten?? Thank you!

If you had such bad decay in the last 6 months, I'm wondering if you're still unknowingly ingesting gluten? Does your toothpaste have flouride? If not, perhaps ensuring it does (Tom's of Maine does have flouridated toothpaste too) may help stave of decay.

I'm not sure how to ensure you find the "right" dentist. I was able to request gluten free products at my dentist without problem, and it has been written into my chart. I asked in advance of my appointment so that they had some time to research and have the right products for my next appointment. For me they us plain pumice for cleaning, unflavoured floss, and unflavoured flouride gel. The gloves would be the other potential gluten source...the powder inside can have gluten in it.

I have to say, regardless of the gluten content, the unflavoured stuff is much preferable, to me, over the flavoured...that stuff was migraine-inducing! My middle son used unflavoured stuff too, it was the only way he was willing to sit for a cleaning (took a few years to figure it out....he found the flavours to be overwhelming to his super-tasting palate!)

Michelle