My Poor Son's Teeth

[crimsonviolet]

We've just found out that my almost 5yo son needs 12 teeth filled or crowned. TWELVE!

I knew he had a toothache, but oh man...

We've just started on the gluten-free path primarily because of his teeth. I knew several needed work and I asked a friend who is very knowledgeable about nutrition what I could do to help his teeth, since it seems he must have no enamel at this point. She suggested various supplements, and also going off gluten.

So we stopped gluten on Sunday after a couple weeks of trying new gluten-free foods and seeing if I could make gluten-free meals that we could eat.

Now that I'm doing more research, I'm finding so much that points to celiac for him (teeth, irritability, spectrum-like behavior, possible DH) and for me (teeth, arthritis, fatigue, DH), and most likely hubby (eczema, teeth, tummy troubles) and my 2yo son as well (teeth, eczema, multiple food sensitivities.)

So far the kids and I are doing great on the gluten-free diet, but hubby isn't quite willing to give up his gluten yet, and he's accidentally glutened the kids a few times.

I'm just a bit in shock right now, wondering what I should have done differently... I can't believe DS's teeth are so bad. My poor baby.

[Grace'smom]

We've just found out that my almost 5yo son needs 12 teeth filled or crowned. TWELVE!

I knew he had a toothache, but oh man...

We've just started on the gluten-free path primarily because of his teeth. I knew several needed work and I asked a friend who is very knowledgeable about nutrition what I could do to help his teeth, since it seems he must have no enamel at this point. She suggested various supplements, and also going off gluten.

So we stopped gluten on Sunday after a couple weeks of trying new gluten-free foods and seeing if I could make gluten-free meals that we could eat.

Now that I'm doing more research, I'm finding so much that points to celiac for him (teeth, irritability, spectrum-like behavior, possible DH) and for me (teeth, arthritis, fatigue, DH), and most likely hubby (eczema, teeth, tummy troubles) and my 2yo son as well (teeth, eczema, multiple food sensitivities.)

So far the kids and I are doing great on the gluten-free diet, but hubby isn't quite willing to give up his gluten yet, and he's accidentally glutened the kids a few times.

I'm just a bit in shock right now, wondering what I should have done differently... I can't believe DS's teeth are so bad. My poor baby.

Have you had the celiac blood panels done for any of you yet? That would be your clear indicator if the gluten is the primary cause of these symptoms. Good luck to all of you...

[crimsonviolet]

No panels yet. I decided to eliminate gluten and then found this site looking for recipes.

I just noticed that the rash DS has had on his bum for months has cleared up completely, and my pain level has gone down considerably in the past few days. I think we're definitely on to something.

Would there be any benefit to getting the panels aside from informational?

[ravenwoodglass]

No panels yet. I decided to eliminate gluten and then found this site looking for recipes.

I just noticed that the rash DS has had on his bum for months has cleared up completely, and my pain level has gone down considerably in the past few days. I think we're definitely on to something.

Would there be any benefit to getting the panels aside from informational?

Yes there are advantages to getting a firm diagnosis. However at his age false negatives are common so do what your instincts are telling you to do and get him gluten free as soon as all testing is finished. If he has a rash he may have DH, the skin form of celiac. You can take him to a good dermatologist who can biopsy the area next to the rash and look for the antibodies. If he still has active lesions that might be a good first step. Your son will need to be kept gluten free in school. There are precautions that will need to be taken and a diagnosis will make that process easier.

On to the teeth issue. Your son is five, while filling cavities is in order to prevent pain I would not let a dentist crown baby teeth! Crowns are very, very expensive and to do them with teeth that he will be losing in a couple years would be a big waste of money. If your dentist is really pushing you to do them I would take him to a different dentist.

[weluvgators]

Big hugs, Mama! We know gluten related tooth issues all to well.

We did crown a molar, and we are on close watch to salvage as much of the two year molars as possible for our affected children. In my understanding, those molars are supposed to last for around 10 years and are very important to proper digestion. Those are the teeth that took the biggest hit for us in this journey. We have seen substantial improvement in the remaining teeth that appears to be rooted in a very strict gluten free diet (we are also dairy and soy free too).

A formal diagnosis can be helpful, but for us it seemed nearly impossible. I think that an initial serum screening would have been helpful in our journey, but I had no idea when we started on this that it could be so complicated. I once thought that we would simply go gluten free and never know about celiac. I *thought* it would be that easy, yet it has not been.

Good luck! I am so sorry to hear about your teeth troubles, as I remember how distressing it was to recognize the severity of our dental issues. Big hugs!!

[T.H.]

Sympathy hug!

My daughter was the same way at 18 months - she needed 4 crowns and 22 fillings! 0.0 We didn't know she was celiac at that point, and her teeth were literally rotting in her mouth, even when she had flouride supplements and no sugar and constant brushing, she would get new cavities every 2 months or so. They were large enough I was the one who would notice and take her to the dentist. Got to the point where if I saw one, I could call them up and they'd schedule the appt. for the exam and the filling the same day, because I'd gotten so good at spotting them. It was really awful, and she had such a phobia of the dentist for such a long time, because she had to have so much work.

I'm SO glad you seem to have found the answer to what's wrong with your little guy's teeth.

[crimsonviolet]

Thanks for all the replies!

What testing can we do now? We've only been gluten-free for a week but I can probably get him into the doc (his ped is great and will order any tests I feel he needs) next week.

Re crowns - I have several myself, and I think I agree that fillings would be better. We think at least 1, possibly 2 teeth may need a pulpotomy (root canal.) I think in that case a crown is necessary, right? Doc wants to put crowns on 3-4 of his front teeth, because he doesn't think fillings will stay in place. The decay is on the front surfaces of the teeth (I think - hopefully it's not elsewhere as well on those teeth) and doesn't seem to be severe, plus he'll lose those in 2-3 years, max so crowns really seem like overkill. I'm wondering if we should maybe leave those teeth alone for a bit? Has anyone experienced restoration of enamel after eliminating gluten?

The more I read about celiac/gluten intolerance, the more I just want to kick myself. DS2 had severe reflux as a baby, and as he was exclusively breastfed I looked to my diet as the cause. I started eliminating dairy, then eggs... then finally hit on oranges as the thing that was causing his reflux. I quit drinking OJ and boom, no more puking. When his teeth came in, they had white spots that quickly turned to decay. By the time he was 10 months old, his two front teeth were actually changing shape and the teeth were almost gone by the time we were finally able to get them crowned at 18 months.

I thought at several points during DS2's first 2 years that I should have eliminated wheat from his diet and mine. He had some minor digestive problems, and potty training was really rough. But I never really associated his teeth issues with diet though, since we'd gotten rid of the reflux (at least outwardly) before his teeth erupted. DS1's teeth were pretty much ok until recently - he had one small cavity a year ago and a couple of very tiny brown spots on his front teeth. Why such a change in such a short time??

[ravenwoodglass]

Thanks for all the replies!

Re crowns - I have several myself, and I think I agree that fillings would be better. We think at least 1, possibly 2 teeth may need a pulpotomy (root canal.) I think in that case a crown is necessary, right? Doc wants to put crowns on 3-4 of his front teeth, because he doesn't think fillings will stay in place. The decay is on the front surfaces of the teeth (I think - hopefully it's not elsewhere as well on those teeth) and doesn't seem to be severe, plus he'll lose those in 2-3 years, max so crowns really seem like overkill. I'm wondering if we should maybe leave those teeth alone for a bit? Has anyone experienced restoration of enamel after eliminating gluten?

If a root canal is needed that doesn't automatically mean a crown. I had root canals in my front incisors and they were simply filled at that time. About 30 years after the root canals were done the teeth did crack but I avoided needing crowns done on them.

Front teeth can be filled sucessfully and even rebuilt. I had one that I broke when I ran into a car as a child. The dentist was able to rebuild the tooth using tooth colored filling material and that worked literally for years. As an adult I chose to get porcelian facings for cosmetic reasons but the fillings did hold up.

If the teeth that the dentist wants to crown are the front teeth going with fillings should be effective for as long as he has them. If it was a premolar or a tooth that was permanent or the decay was as advanced as another poster wrote then crowning might be needed.

I would get more than one opinion from your area dentists if you can.

As far as rebuilding enamel, I am not sure that can be done but by having him gltuen free it may improve the enamel on the teeth the permanent teeth. Don't know for sure though.

[crimsonviolet]

I was looking over his treatment plan last night, and also talked to him about which teeth are bothering him. I think I've decided we're going to leave the 4 front teeth alone. They are only just slightly pitted and DS says they're not bothering him at all, fillings or crowns at this point would be primarily cosmetic at this point IMO. Oh and two are chipped from an accident - I wonder if the dentist thinks they're malformed from decay? That would change the treatment plan significantly. I wish I'd gone with him. DH took him in and he just doesn't think to ask questions...

Two of his molars are in pretty bad shape and I agree with the dentist that crowns would probably be beneficial. The other 6 molars are listed as needing fillings in the treatment plan. I think that's all pretty do-able.

This actually is his 3rd dentist in a month. This doc was our original dentist, who did the crowns for DS1 at 18mos old. We decided to visit another based on a friend's recommendation. That doc said he saw decay in "all of his baby teeth", but it turns out he wasn't a pediatric dentist and as DS has horrible aversion to having his mouth touched he sent us to a pedi dentist (#2) and recommended sedation. The treatment plan from dentist #2 matches the current plan for the most part, with the exception that #2 didn't think the front teeth needed to be addressed. We're sticking with this doc at this point because I know he does reliable oral sedation and can actually get the work done. Dentist #2 *tried* to sedate DS and it didn't work and just traumatized him further.

[ravenwoodglass]

I was looking over his treatment plan last night, and also talked to him about which teeth are bothering him. I think I've decided we're going to leave the 4 front teeth alone. They are only just slightly pitted and DS says they're not bothering him at all, fillings or crowns at this point would be primarily cosmetic at this point IMO. Oh and two are chipped from an accident - I wonder if the dentist thinks they're malformed from decay? That would change the treatment plan significantly. I wish I'd gone with him. DH took him in and he just doesn't think to ask questions...

Two of his molars are in pretty bad shape and I agree with the dentist that crowns would probably be beneficial. The other 6 molars are listed as needing fillings in the treatment plan. I think that's all pretty do-able.

This actually is his 3rd dentist in a month. This doc was our original dentist, who did the crowns for DS1 at 18mos old. We decided to visit another based on a friend's recommendation. That doc said he saw decay in "all of his baby teeth", but it turns out he wasn't a pediatric dentist and as DS has horrible aversion to having his mouth touched he sent us to a pedi dentist (#2) and recommended sedation. The treatment plan from dentist #2 matches the current plan for the most part, with the exception that #2 didn't think the front teeth needed to be addressed. We're sticking with this doc at this point because I know he does reliable oral sedation and can actually get the work done. Dentist #2 *tried* to sedate DS and it didn't work and just traumatized him further.

I think you have a good plan. With the oral sedation do make sure what they are giving him is gluten free if your DS is already gluten free. Get the name and the maker of what they use and check with the company that makes it. I refused treatment at one sedation dentists because they kept handing me something I knew wasn't safe. They gave me a script so I could get it filled with the safe form but on the next appointment said that if they needed to give me more sedation that they would use the stuff they had on hand. I just didn't feel that I was safe there so I went to a different dentist who actually checked all the products they use on me and I have had no issues.

[Rondar2001]

We had the same issue with our daughter. At age 6 she had to have caps put on her back teeth and another pulled with a spacer put in as it was absessed. This was before she was diagnosed. We did have it done under sedation by a pediatric dentist and it went great.

Now that she is gluten free she hasn't had a single cavity.

[crimsonviolet]

Took him in this morning. Dentist agreed to leave the 4 front teeth alone and did fillings in all 8 molars. DS did great with the sedation, except for kicking me in the face at one point. He's recovering now, still feeling a little woozy, and doesn't remember the dentist at all.

I was expecting at least 2 crowns on those molars, plus 1-2 root canals. Amazingly the doc decided to just do fillings. The decay wasn't as bad as he thought.

[ravenwoodglass]

Took him in this morning. Dentist agreed to leave the 4 front teeth alone and did fillings in all 8 molars. DS did great with the sedation, except for kicking me in the face at one point. He's recovering now, still feeling a little woozy, and doesn't remember the dentist at all.

I was expecting at least 2 crowns on those molars, plus 1-2 root canals. Amazingly the doc decided to just do fillings. The decay wasn't as bad as he thought.

Great news both for him and your budget. I am glad everything worked out well.

[macocha]

my son has had teeth issues for years and didn't even know about the relation. he has either no enamel or some enamel (soft) on his teeth. we just make sure to put sealants on his teeth and watch to make sure sealants don't fade off/fall off/whatever it is that they do

I wish I would have known now what I did then.

Glad everything worked out for your son. and don't beat yourself up too much. my son has cleanings every 6 months and will get cavities within that time frame. He has even had some teeth "die" a month or two after a cleaning with no warning.