Conference moira::parenting

    By the way,  I do not give him a bottle in his crib, so I don't think
    the dis-coloration is due to that.
    
    Donna
    

    My daughter (4) has a bottom tooth that is fused.  Two teeth fused as
    one.  I was concerned about her second teeth and the doctor said that
    it will have no effect.  Second teeth are completely different than
    baby teeth.

    What your son *might* have there is an injured tooth.  Of course, I'm
    not a dentist; I don't even play one on TV.  However, if the tooth is
    chipped he might have banged it on something.  That may account for
    the discoloration.
    
    My daughter banged her tooth when she was about 2.5.  About 3 weeks
    after the injury I noticed the tooth turned grey.  I took her to the
    dentist and he said the discoloration was a result of the injury. 
    Subsequently, the tooth has lightened from grey to only slightly
    yellow.  The dentist said not to be concerned as the injury (of this
    magnitude, at least) would not affect the permenant tooth.  
    
    One possible explanation...
    Lois
    

Juli took a bad tumble when she was "cruising" (9 months of age).  She
fell face-first onto the kitchen floor and chipped one of her front teeth
(her teeth broke through at 5 months of age, so the front teeth were fully
through when this happened).  Let me tell you, I KNEW she hurt herself.
She scramed and wailed and sobbed and sobbed.

I took her to our dentist, who said:

	1)  it may blacken and fall out (didn't);
	2)  was a little lose, but would reseed itself (gums tighten
		around tooth) - it did

Lesson learned ... be sure to plan the John Hancock open enrollment such that
your kid has insurance when he teeth break through, NOT in time for his
first cleaning (2-3 years of age)!  Luckily, our dentist wrote off the office
visit charge, but said if the tooth required any dental work, we would have
to see a Perio-dentist (and that would be BIG bucks!).

We never fixed the chipped tooth (minor).

Due to chronic, continuous ear infections, Juli's teeth had some surface
discoloration, so she had her first cleaning around her 2nd birthday.  She
was terrific!!  Cleaning did the trick and the dentist said we could do it
again in 9 months (vs. 1 year), if we'd like.

Dottie

    Hi Dottie,
    
    	What causes the surface discoloration?  I recently noticed
    that my daughter (2) has some very slight discoloration on
    her front teeth and she has been sick an awful lot lately.
    She just started in daycare 2 months ago and has been sick
    with one thing or another ever since!
    
    Thanks,
    Sheryl
    
    

Sheryl,

I've heard that Tetracycline can discolor teeth (happened to a friend of
mine who had tonsilitis during the time she had braces; the parts of the
teeth not covered by braces were discolored, and they think it was due
to the Tet).  Not sure what other meds might do it.

Leslie

Our dentist said it could have been the continual use of antibotics
(sometimes as strong as Ceclor!!! ... and two "maintenance" modes of
Bactrim) that "contributed" to the staining ...

or (and this surprised me!) "bad nutrition / diet"!!!!

Juli's eats like a bird ... is petite (not skinny, just all around small --
tiny fingers, short/slim legs ... Pedi's not concerned, says she'll probably
never break 100# or reach 5' tall in her entire lifetime!) ... but Juli's
very healthy, other than the chronic ear infections (which are starting to
dissipate - at 2-11/12ths years of age).  She's wearing 2T's and 3T's and
weighs about 28 pounds.

I found some foods stained my teeth:  berries, ice tea, grapes, certain
juices and fruits.  So I try to avoid these kinds of things.  But we let
Juli eat as much fruit and drink as much juice/milk as she wants.  We don't
restrict any foods from her diet (and she'd rather have a nectarine than a
chocolate bar ... so other than cookies and icecream, we rarely buy junk
food).  Juli loves cheese and yogurt (her favorite snacking foods).

Juli brushes her teeth (and we do the final brushing) every 
night ... and we "attempt" morning brushings
(not always successful!!).  Dentist and hygenist said Juli's teeth were in
excellent shape and had no tartar whatsoever ... just surface staining
(which the hygenist was able to buff off).  Juli was excellent during the
cleaning session ... in fact, Juli actually enjoyed the session! ... so
the hygenist was able to do deep polishing/buffing -- and anything she wanted
to! - to Juli's teeth.

Dentist suggested another cleaning in 9-12 months (and to reevaluate the
surface stains - which weren't really that bad - just slight yellowing
spots on some parts of certain teeth).  Juli has beautifully shaped and
spaced teeth, so you often didn't notice the stains ... you do notice the tiny
chip of one of her front teeth, however (but not bad enough to repair).

So the Dentist did NOT give us any "instructions" other than to continue doing
what we're doing.  We have increased Juli's milk intact (not that it will
improve things!), just that I think that milk is better for her than all the
juices (although we do buy the natural, 100% juices).

I just hope her second set of teeth are as evenly shaped and spaced as her
first set, as Juli does have a beautiful set of teeth!  One of the first
things you notice in her pictures (and strangers will comment on).

I heard that pregnant mothers who take certain antibotics can cause staining
in their UNBORN child's teeth.  (Juli was  adopted at birth, so that's not
the cause!).

Good luck ... 

Dottie

    I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this note - but since
    I'm worried that Samantha could damage her teeth I thought I'd
    just go ahead and put it here and leave the 'placement' up to
    the mods!!!  :^)
    
    I'm wondering if there is anyone out there who can tell me how
    to stop my daughter from grinding her teeth?  Not only am I worried
    that she is going to ruin her teeth -- the noise drives me absolutely
    crazy...I get the same feeling when she grinds her teeth as I used
    to when someone would run their fingernails down the blackboard!!!
    
    Any helpful hints will be much appreciated!!
    
    Andrea

Talk to your pediatrician. There are many causes for this. Some are physical 
and some are psychological. Dentists make devices to prevent damage to teeth
but you also need to find out why.

    Charlotte (8.5 mo, 6 teeth in) seems to do this a lot when she is 
    teething.
    I asked the dentist about this and he said:
    - if this is a problem with the first set of teeth, not to worry
    
    - the grinding is often done slow enough so that if the teeth actually
       get ground down, the nerve recedes in pace with the shortening of 
       the tooth. The child does not often feel pain even in cases of 
       extreme grinding. He told me he had a young boy come in with nothing
       left but little nubs and yet, he could see the colour difference
       in the dentin where the nerve had receded. The boy was not
       in pain at all.
    
    Although I still don't like the sound, I think intellectually I 
    am somewhat comforted by his words.
    
    Monica 

    My five-year-old grinds his teeth while sleeping and the dentist
    recently told me not to be concerned. I guess lots of kids do it,
    and the dentist saw nothing to worry about. The sound is horrible!
    
    Lucy

    I just got off the phone with my kids dentist. A couple of weeks
    ago, I took both of them (ages 5 and 7) for cleaning and checkup.
    The dentist mentioned that Michael, my 5 year old was grinding
    his teeth. The dentist didn't seem too concerned so I didn't ask
    about a solution. Then last night, I hopped into bed with my 7
    year old daughter, Amber to talk to her about her day. She proceded
    to tell me that the last three weeks have been very stressful for
    her. We talked about the problems and then she fell off to sleep.
    All of a sudden she started grinding her teeth so loud, I had to
    leave the room. I had never heard her do this before.
    
    I called the dentist today to discuss this with him and here is 
    what he had to say...basically there is nothing that can be done
    in regards to an appliance because the child is growing so fast 
    that it just isn't a reasonable thing to do.  With a child that 
    is having adult teeth coming in, the new teeth feel odd and often
    times the grinding is a reaction to the new feel of the larger teeth.
    
    Other possible causes of grinding may be:
    Stress 
    Exhaustion
    Sugar stimulation before bedtime
    Allergies
    
    He said he sometimes recommends parents to bump up the childs
    B vitamins (B complex) and calcium intake.
    
    Jodi-

    My question isn't about damaged or discolored teeth, but rather how to
    prevent them, ie, teaching your kids how to brush their teeth.
    
    My daughter is 20 months old and thinks that a toothbrush is the greatest 
    thing, she loves to watch us brush and has one of her own which she always
    asks for.  Ok, sounds great what's the problem, well, how do I teach her 
    to brush her teeth?  What she does right now is chew on the brush or suck 
    off the tiny, tiny bit of toothpaste that I put on for her.  I've tried
    showing her how mommy brushes her teeth and held her hand while she
    "helps" mommy brush, but if I try to brush her teeth or hold her hand
    and help her she demonstrates that independent nature I see developing
    (where did she get that from 8^)).
    
    I know it's early to expect her to do a perfect job, but how do I get
    her started on the basic back and forth and up and down?
    
    Here's hoping she threw away her father's "teeth genes" and inherited
    her uncles perfect teeth (27 years old and has never had a cavity)
    
    Susan
    
    

    
    to  get them started, I think creating the HABIT of brushing is the
    key. Even if the brushing is not perfect (and it won't be) IMO you've
    got to set the guideline that you always brush 2-3X per day... at
    regular times.
    
    My dentist told me thatthey don't expect GOOD brushing until 7-8. UNtil
    then, I am supposed to help brush when I can, or wipe the teeth off
    with a washcloth.  We play the squeaky game - I can make *my* teeth
    squeak, can you? No? Ok, let's brush some more......   
    
    occasionally it works.
    :-)
    Jamd

    It may be a little early yet to start doing this but keep it
    in mind for later on down the road.
    
    Our 6 year old son just never seemed to catch on to proper
    brushing techniques. Three fillings and a root canal proved
    that point with dollar punctuation marks.
    
    We started using the pink tablets that show where the poor
    brushing is taking place.  You can get these from your 
    dentist or the drug store.
    
    First the child brushes the teeth they way they normally
    would.  Then they chew one pink tablet.  The teeth will
    stain a lovely shade of pink with the dirty areas staining
    darker than the rest.  Let your child look at the dirty
    areas and clean the teeth again.  Look to make sure all
    the dark pink is gone. Once successful with the cleaning
    process. Ask your child to remember what they did to
    clean all the areas.
    
    This has made a world of difference for us.
    
    Also, a friend works for a dentist office and highly
    recommends the Braun Plaque system.
    
    Jodi-  

    What is the BRaun plaque system?
    
    
    JAMD

    >What is the BRaun plaque system?
    
    You know, I don't really know since we don't own one...yet.
    I did, however see one on sale in the paper this weekend
    and it looked to me like an electric toothbrush. An expensive
    electric toothbrush (~$49 for a single brush unit). But this
    model doesn't require a special toothpast like a similar
    plaque system that is out there (I can't remember the name).
    
    Jodi-

    

     Here's a wee tip a doctor once game my mum.If your child has to have
    a tooth extracted here's how to stop the bleeding.Put Icing sugar over
    the hole,the icing crystallizes and stops the bleeding.
    
    
     SCott