Oh help--my son's teeth are all wearing away!

[Ms. Riding Hood]

Today ds (11) complained of a pain in his tooth (upper molar). I jokingly asked for the flashlight, so I could "find the cavity!" Well, I didn't find a cavity. What I found was that his tooth looked like the entire horizontal surface was worn away. The cusps are gone, the surface is flat and I can see yellow spots--inner tooth material. I couldn't believe it. I mean, I thought I must be mistaken in what I was seeing. So I looked more. It turns out he has at least TEN teeth that are like this. I have no idea how many of these are permanent and how many are baby teeth.

 

I have been trying to read about what on earth could cause this. Acid from juice or pop? Well he drinks some pop, but maybe one or two a week wouldn't do this. Overbrushing? Hmmm--not likely. Grinding? I've never noticed him doing this. I just don't get it at all. I did read about a genetic disorder called amelogenesis imperfecta...but wouldn't it have shown up before age 11?

 

It's been maybe 1.5 years since his last checkup. I don't even see how this could have happened in that time period.

 

Does anybody have any clues for me? I'm really in shock. And now I'm wondering how they can fix this. Cap all of his teeth? Oh my oh my oh my. Help!

[AngelBee]

Not sure :( :grouphug:

[JFSinIL]

Time for a check-up with a pediatric dentist. Two of my kids inherited bad enamel and have needed a gazillion cavities filled - one is facing, at age 19, several crowns in the near future. Yet all four kids here had little soda, brushed and flossed, etc.

 

Crown-facing kid was also on lots of antibiotics as a toddle, back when the adult enamel was forming on the tooth buds. That may have also affected it.

 

He is obviously going to need some dental work of some sort done, and more frequent dental visits. Good luck!!!

[SeekingSimplicity]

My step bro had no enamel on his teeth. He had to go to the dentist every year and have enamel put on to keep his teeth from wearing away. There wasn't anything that caused it, it's just the way his teeth were. Sounds like your ds may have something else going on though.

[NotSoObvious]

You'd think the last dentist you saw would have told you if he had some specific issue. Yikes!

 

Is it the kind of wear that could be caused by grinding his teeth at night? It sounds to severe to be due to grinding, but it's odd that you wouldn't have known about something else sooner.

 

I'd be interested to know what your dentist says!

[WiseOwlKnits]

My DS and my DD had this as toddlers (although not as bad) and it was from grinding their teeth at night. Both of them were carefully watched though to see if it stopped because if not they'd need to wear something at night to keep from grinding their teeth completely down like you're describing. They both outgrew it so we never needed to do anything further, but I'd call first thing Monday for an appt with the dentist.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

From YoungerMr.Warde, Registered Dental Assistant:

 

For an 11yo, the very back teeth should be permanent. Around 12yo (plus or minus a year is not unusual) he should get another permanent molar behind that one. He is coming up on the age where he is about done with his baby teeth (around 12) So its not unusual for them to be at least a little worn down. My 4yo grinds pretty severely as well, enough that I can hear it when I stand in his doorway while he is sleeping. Once he gets older, a night guard isn't a bad idea. Unless the grinding is severe, most kinds outgrow their baby teeth before it becomes an issue.

 

The most logical explanation is that his pain is from the adult tooth trying to erupt underneath the baby tooth. If it is a cavity of some sort, it is worth it to see how close the adult tooth is to coming in. If it is close, some dentists might say it's better to just remove it rather than spend money on having it filled. As far as seeing yellow on the top surface, enamel is a somewhat translucent material. If it gets worn down enough, you would be able to see the sub-structure of the tooth (this is slightly yellow) It doesn't necessarily mean the enamel is gone.

 

As someone who works in a dental office, I would try not to get too concerned. it is far more likely to be something simple than it is to be a genetic disorder. A year and a half is a long time for someone his age to go without being seen. Best advice is to ask friends and family if they know a good dentist you can take him to, and see what he says. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Some Dentists may not realize something is a concern to you, if they feel it is normal for a child his age(such as wear on top of the teeth.)

Edited August 29, 2011 by theYoungerMrsWarde

[danybug]

My dd (4yo) was complaining nonstop about her teeth hurting whenever we ate dinner, etc. At first, we thought it was just her trying to get out of eating (totally her personality ;) But after it got super annoying we looked and the teeth she was talking about were completely wore away and you could see the pink root in the middle. So the sensitivity of the root is what was hurting her when she ate or drank. We felt so bad for not believing her at first.

 

We had been to the dentist 7 months before, so not that much time had even elapsed. Our new dentist said that it is definitely from grinding and that there is unfortunately not that much to do for someone her age. Night guards are not a good idea because when you are young your teeth need to be able to move and holding them in place all night every night would cause more damage. But this might not be so true for your ds since he is older. The choices he gave us were to pull the teeth since they were so uncomfortable for her, cap them (which would have to be silver and they are front teeth) or he would attempt to fill them and see if it would hold. This is what we decided knowing that we may have to do multiple times before her adult ones come in (because he said the grinding will eventually wear these down and cause them to fall out). We thought we would at least try and buy her more time and plus we no longer really hear her grinding like she use to sleeping in our room.

 

Gosh, this was ridiculously long, but I wanted to share because I was so distraught when we first realized and then got the facts. But it has been okay for now. So anyway, good luck!

[Ms. Riding Hood]

Ok, these last couple of posts make me feel a little better but I still am very interested to hear what the dentist has to say about this. We'll be calling right away in the morning and hopefully he can get in sooner rather than later. As far as the way they look, and whether a dentist might realize my concern over what could be normal wear, well I'm going to link a photo of some similar looking teeth. The rear molars are the similar ones; the front ones in the photo are much worse. http://www.nature.com/bdj/journal/v186/n10/fig_tab/4800150a_F7.html. Now, I don't know much about teeth, but this is not what I'd expect in the range of normal wear. And I don't think it's just translucent enamel, either. They are flattened and weird looking, just like in the photo. But I do appreciate your encouraging, calming words. I will sure hope for the best, but I don't think this looks good.

 

Dany, had to smile about you not believing the story at first. It's quite odd I actually looked in his mouth when he complained. More typical would have been a polite nod and an "Oh, hmm!" I did have a little fun with ds, though. I said, "You know what this means don't you? All you can eat from now on is oatmeal. With no sugar." His eyes got big and he said, "Really?" It was a sick mommy joke.