Tooth Extraction

It isn't just about brushing, J.. Don't beat yourself up over this, okay?

Find out if you have flouride in the water. It may not be too late to start giving him fluroide pills if it isn't in the water supply where you actually live.

Also ask if there are any teeth (baby teeth too) that they can put sealants on. Sealants really help.

Ask the dentist if using ACT flouride wash every night would help. My son uses that (but he's older than your son.)

Good luck, and remember, sometimes it's just genes and not something you can fix...

Dawn

As soon as our kids' molars came in, our dentist put sealant on them. It helps a lot with cavity prevention. Those crevices are very difficult to keep taken care of properly.

Sometimes it is genetics and not cleaning habits, too.

Not sure what your routine is, but ours is morning brushing and before bed brushing. Lunch got skipped a lot, unless we were going somewhere after. There are some foods that are worse for teeth, too. These days (knowing about it) I cringe when I see moms giving their young kids raisins to snack on. They just stick to the teeth like tar, and are like pure sugar down in all the crevices of the teeth. VERY difficult to clean well. When my dentist mentioned that to me one day in passing (just using them as an example of 'sticky' foods --most people just think of candy, but raisins are probably worse than some candy).. I stopped buying that stuff.
Another TERRIBLE thing for teeth is soda. Forget the issues with calories or High Fructose Corn Syrup or diet additives, etc... just from the standpoint of teeth, it is TERRIBLE. It is very corrosive to the enamel on teeth. In fact, you shouldn't brush your teeth right after drinking it. You should rinse your mouth/teeth with plain water then wait a bit, before brushing. The soda actually softens the enamel so that brushing can cause damage if you do it right away.

He should be able to rinse with something like ACT. Just make sure you read the directions and explain them fully to him (no swallowing, rinse for 30 or 60 seconds, don't gargle--rinse the TEETH with it, no drinking for 30 minutes after, etc).

And don't feel guilty. It happens.

We have not had any cavities....but that's totally genetic. We have strong enamel on my side of the family. I'm embarrassed to say that they are not great at taking care of their teeth. Just lucky genetics is all. And one cavity is nothing.

The abscess is usually due to injury....and all kids hurt themselves. My 7 year old had to get one tooth pulled for this after repeated hits to the tooth...he's super clumsy. That was his front top right tooth. The left front top tooth...he had a run in with his scooter and knocked that one out.....so no top front teeth and he won't be getting the adult ones for a long time (another genetic thing...late late teeth). My daughter had a grey/ brown tooth for the same reason. They are just so prone to hurting themselves!

Don't think anything negative at all....this is not a big deal and has NO relavance to your parenting.

Before you're too hard on yourself, has he had any injuries to the mouth or face lately?
About 10 days ago my son got punched in the side of the face pretty hard during a water polo game. Two days later, we took him to dentist because pain didn't go away, and four teeth were loose. Two days later, the pain was worse and an abscess was present at one tooth and they had to put him on antibiotics. The next day, the pain was worse and we took him back for an emergency root canal. The next day, the pain was gone, so he gets to keep the tooth (an adult tooth).
So, sometimes, these things can be caused by injury, etc.
Or it could just be the location and size of the cavity. And we all get cavities. So don't be so hard on yourself.

I agree with the other posters that alot of this is probably genetic and would have happened no matter how many times the poor kid brushed his teeth. My GD is lucky in that she doesn't get a lot of cavities (2 so far - she's 10) but her mouth is too small and her adult teeth are coming in all over the place. She is in the process of getting braces. Just got the spacers in today - wires go in in 2 weeks!