Cavity - Murrieta,CA

Mommy it is going to be okay!

I have been exactly where you are at and then some! My daughter was three and it was several cavities. I felt like such a failure! I did all the things your supposed to; brushed 2x/day, no juice, no soda, very limited sweets and she still had cavities. Devastating.

I had a great pediatric denstist and that made all the difference in the world. They were pros at easing the child and the devastated parents. One thing that they explained to me is that part of dental health is in our genes and the bacteria in our mouth. Some people are just much more prone to cavities than others.
The more I thought about it the more that made sense. My brother, growing up, might have brushed his teeth once a day and never flossed. He had his first cavity at age 34. I, on the other hand, brushed at least 2x/day, flossed regularly (I have floss in my desk, my house, my purse and my car--can't stand things between my teeth) and my whole life everytime I go to the dentist there is something new. My habits are good, it's not my fault.
Just the same, do the best you can and let it be. Be happy that she is five, and it's only one cavity. Think of how much worse it would have been if you didn't take such good care of her teeth!

Relax. It's just a cavity. Your daughter probably has deeper grooves in her teeth than other kids. This is what the dentist told my sister when her dd got a cavity at 4. Your daughter will be fine. And laughing gas rocks! :)

It will be okay. The genetic thing is so true. I had many many cavities as a kid and good habits... I don't remember a single "filling" experience that was traumatic.. and still regularly go to the dentist. Keep doing what you are doing and know she'll be fine. Make sure you like your dentist and trust them and they can help you both through. Try not to let your stress show to your daughter... they will pick up on that and get stressed too.

Our pediatric dentist puts the kids to sleep in the operating room of a hospital and does any drilling and stuff without them being awake. It's no big deal, they go to sleep and wake up and want to go play. It is so low stress for the kids. I loved it. She had fallen at her moms and had a huge chunk of her tooth broken off, she had a root canal and cap put on in one appointment.

You did not fail. No matter how much you monitor their intake of foods and drinks, you can take precautions against them, but you cannot prevent cavities from occurring. Just keep doing what you are doing. Talk to the dentist about the laughing gas and google it to reassure yourself about the topic. You may be able to find another option as far as anesthesia. My children drink 100% Fruit juices and V8 juices, eat lots of fruits, and they don't really like a whole lot of candy. However, I am a baker and they love to be my testers :).. and they do not have cavities. Just proves my point it doesn't matter how much you monitoring their intake of food/juices... Somethings like this are just unpreventable. At least these are his baby teeth and not his adult teeth. Good Luck

Research about xylitol and Dr. Ellie. She talks about the bad bacteria in the mouth and other reasons why some people are more prone to tooth decay. I was in the same boat but my son was 2 1/2 and had several cavities. We as a family have been using xylitol and flouride rinses for almost two years now to help prevent any more cavities.

Ask if you can be in the room with him. My kids haven't had any cavities but I've had some filled (no laughing gas). I imagine they do that for little kids since it's hard to keep them still long enough. I did however have laughing gas when I got my wisdom teeth pulled. It makes you a little woozy and you don't remember much after it. As soon as they shut the gas off it wears off very quickly with no lasting effects. I would see if you can be in the room with your child and be sure to talk to your daughter about what will be happening. Maybe give her something to look forward to afterwards, like a movie. Also there are a lot of fluoride rinses for kids and maybe you just need to have them use that after brushing and flossing. Cavities can arise from not enough fluoride. Good luck!

unfortunately, like many of the other posters said it seems you can do everything right, but you may still get a cavity:( my 3 year old had 2 cavities last sept and i felt horrible-even though i also have a 5 year old who eats and drinks and brushes the same and his teeth are great. my dentist told me the grooves in his teeth are deeper than normal and it causes more food and liquid to get stuck in there. he didn't have laughing gas but he did fantastic with the entire procedure and he normally never sits still. my kids often surprise me like that:) i would try to be very calm about it and maybe let her choose something at the store when you're done. i also hope that they will let you stay in the room with her. and you may want to look into how deep her teeth grooves are and see if there may be other preventative measures you can take. good luck to both of you!

I did not read any of your other post. I use to work in a pedo office prior to having my kids-my 3 yr old just had 2 fillings at the beg of Dec-Talk about devastated-I FEEL YA. I just bout fell over-uuugggghhhhh.I brush I floss we do fl rinse and 2 cavities. We do the best we can and have no charge in some areas :) But as far a laughing gas-it is not anesthesia. It is administered during the procedure and shut off and flushed out of their system-he will be normal afterwards. My son had laughing gas andd a n oral med to relax him and he did just fine-the gas is take the edge off. Calm down dont let your child pick up on your fear bc they can-if it is a pediatric dentist they are all trained to deal w all situations. Ask if u can be there-most do not allow parents back, but ours here does. lets us know how it goes. Good Luck! Let me know if ya have any other questions. L.:)

cavities, I believe, are sometimes caused by a lack of good fats in the diet, or by flouride itself.

http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/forgotten-t...