Not So Good News From Dentist

[Roda]

We had our 6 month cleaning/check up today. I had a couple of concerns I wanted to discuss. About 2-3 month ago my 6 year old started cutting his 6 year molars on the bottom. I noticed that they were yellow and discolored. I knew that they didn't "look" right but nothing to do about it since they were not in fully. Well I was told that the enamel on them is very weak and soft and he already has a cavity in one of them. We go next week to get it filled along with another baby tooth. Dentist said she knew that the discoloration wasn't from fluorosis because of the cavity and soft enamel. (she said that with the fluorosis his teeth would be discolored but very hard enamel) I mentioned that he wasn't gluten free until Nov. 2010. She asked if he took a lot of antibiotics when he was younger also. So it has been concluded that the tooth issue is a combination of the prior untreated celiac and the loads of antibotics he had in the first 2.5 years of life. Nothing to be done about it at this point but to keep a good watch and try to prevent any more problems and of course keep him gluten free. He has not lost any baby teeth yet (bottom front are slightly loose) and I am so worried that his front permanant teeth might haveg the same issues as the permanant molars. I am hoping now that he is gluten free some of the later erupting permanant teeth will be spared. If need be when he is older, if the front teeth have problems, I will look at something to be done cosmetically. I hate if for him and feel so bad.

[mommida]

My son went gluten free when he was 5. He is now 12 and his dental maturity is 2 years ahead. Odd I know but then Norwegian children are found to be ahead in dental maturity. We do have some Scandinavian roots. His enamel is missing in grooves and he has had some cavities filled. The last time at the dentist she did a cosmetic "bonding" of a white sealant on his teeth.

Cheer up there are some great advances in cosmetic dentistry. The most important thing is to keep the teeth and gums healthy.

[shadowicewolf]

You could always have seals put on the back molers that would help keep away cavities... I think they do them on baby teeth.

[Roda]

You could always have seals put on the back molers that would help keep away cavities... I think they do them on baby teeth.

I'm all for sealants, I had them put on my oldest son's teeth when they came in. Problem is that the tooth came in with the cavity already in it. He went to the dentist today to get it filled and a cavity in his baby tooth filled also. I told the dentist to put whatever filling in the tooth that she felt would be best. He came out and the dentist put an amalgam filling in his baby tooth and tried to put it in the permanant molar. She said that when she was removing the cavity the rest of the tooth structure was so soft that she couldn't get the amalgam to bond at all. She was not happy with the structure of his tooth at all. She had to put the composite in because she said it could be chemically bonded. I have a feeling we are in for a long road in dental work.