Cavities... to fill or not to fill?

tko72 · February 2013

Hi Mamas,

Just wanted your advice/opinion about dental care.. I took DS to his first dental visit, and our pediatrics dentist told us she needs to fill the cavities before it spreads. But is it absolutely necessary to get them filled? After the dentist explained to me he'd be put in a straight jacket while she drills his teeth... just made me cringe..

DS still does night feedings (BM) but I brush his teeth religiously twice a day (which truth be told, I started REALLY brushing his teeth after the exam). I also started giving him flouride supplements after our dentist recommended it, so I'm hoping that this will prevent the cavities from getting worse/spreading..

Just wondering if you know of anyone or from personal experience what you did about cavities. TIA!!!!!!!

dizzycooks · February 2013

Fill them or they will spread. It sucks, but it is necessary from what I've read.

bigbear · February 2013

That's a tough one, with your LO that little and having cavities it should probably be fixed... But maybe talk to another dentist and pedi and get a second opinion.

When I was a kid (I mentioned in another post) I was on some heavy meds and ended up with cavities. Some of them were filled some were let go but that was due to me already being older and was losing my baby teeth anyway.

But cavities do spread really quckly and easily. I don't blame you for having second thougths though. I didn't realize how the baby is kept in the chair, well I guess I never gave it that much thought.

Keep us posted, I'd be curious to hear what you find out/ decide.

Good luck!

bugsmami · February 2013

Crying I've been wracked with guilt ever since Sat. when I discovered white spots on DS2's teeth... I guess he has "bottle rot", although he's never had a bottle. I take him to the dentist on Mon. If the dentist wants to do invasive stuff, I will get a second opinion. I've been trying to read as much as I can about this, and I want to try to go the least invasive route possible.

I read this blog https://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2013/01/a-success-story-remineralizing-teeth-after-bottle-rot.html and have been reading the curing cavities through nutrition thread on the mothering.com forum.

I've started doing Cod Liver Oil with Vit A/D (and will do HVBO when it comes in for both of us (since I'm still BF), and I'm taking a cal/mag/phos supplement. I'm also doing xylitol a few times a day (and will do fluoride if the dentist says to) and maybe pascalite clay or ozone txments (but I haven't researched those) depending on what the dentist says and how bad it is... I suspect it's worse than I think since I can see problems. I also suspect he has a lip tie, but I don't think that's the only cause for his decay. I'm also going to try and get some good local dairy/eggs. Expensive stuff, but if it saves his teeth it is worth it to me... especailly thinking about his permanent teeth and trying to make sure his diet includes lots of stuff to help build up his future teeth. I know it may not make a hill of beans, but it's worth a shot!

I hope you are able to get a second opinion. I am terrified of the thought of doing invasive stuff since he's so young (I won't let them strap him down.. I'd much rather they use some form of sedation if we have to do invasive txment.

Let us know what happens. I'll try to update as well

shortstuff15 · February 2013

I don't have any experience as I haven't even taken my oldest to the dentist yet. My dentist doesn't want to see them until 3 or 4. However, if I had to, even now, I would way rather sedate then strap down. I don't want my kids to fear the dentist and even at this age, they would remember enough to know fear the next time they went in.

tko72 · February 2013

So an update on this dilemma... I did some browsing and read several msg boards which mentions that cavity can heal naturally through nutrition. The recommended book is Cure Tooth Decay by Ramiel Nagel. I'm definitely going to be reading this tonight.

tko72 · February 2013

Bugsmami, thank you for the informative post.I'm def curious about the effectiveness of cod liver oil... after reading up on remineralization, I feel like I'm on a new mission... Anything if it means saving my son from the traumatic experience of dental treatments. Pls keep me posted! I will too. :

bugsmami · March 2013

You're welcome. I've been reading for days on this. I figure it's worth a shot.... if nothing else maybe it will help his future teeth (and mine?!?). I would do the high vitamin butter oil with the CLO... I've read it has vit K2 which is necessary as well. Also the different brands of CLO have diff amounts of vit A and D. The green pasture brand (only online?) has the highest as far as I can tell. It's supposed to come in today so I will update with how it tastes. We've been taking the twin labs (from the health food store) version of CLO and I can get DS2 to take most of it ok. DS1 will take it if I make him and chase it with OJ. I'm getting more used to it!

Here are some more links...

https://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/03/reversing-tooth-decay.html

https://www.kiddsteeth.com/articles.html

https://www.westonaprice.org/cod-liver-oil/cod-liver-oil-basics#clarify

We'll see what the dentist says on Monday!

ETA: how's the book? I forgot to see if they had it at the library, but will check tomorrow.

tko72 · March 2013

Awesome! Im not sure if its safe to give clo to lo and how much.. Ive started making bone broth and eliminating all juice and sweet fruits from his diet.. The book is very enlighhtening in terms of how nutrition plays a role in healthy teeth. I highly recommend it.

tko72 · March 2013

Im also going to buy milk and eggs from local farmers. Apparently organic milk in supermarkets are not from grass fed cows.

bugsmami · March 2013

Hey! How's it going? Were you able to find raw milk? They only had low-temp past. milk at the farmer's market. I guess they can only sell it raw straight from the dairy. LO doesn't drink much anyway, so I'm just going to stick with the kind from the farmer's market. I think he's tired of eggs, too. I fix them for him almost every meal, lol!

The dentist I took him to wants to do surgery at the hospital in 6 mo. to fix his teeth. I'm going to try and find someone else to evaluate his lip tie (I know that's not the only reason he has cavities, but I know it can cause problems with decay). The dentist just blew me off and didn't even look at his lip tie. Hopefully I can get a second opinion. The dentist didn't even tell me what I need to do to try to keep him from getting more cavities... just blamed it all on breast-feeding and told me to stop! I've some studies that show BF alone doesn't cause cavities, and BM actually helps teeth.

I still haven't made it to the library to check out the book.

Have you found someone else to look at your LO's teeth?

bugsmami · March 2013

Also, I have been giving him CLO (it gives the dosage on the WAPF website for 3 mo and up). I read that b/c it is a food source of vit a and vit d that your body procesess it well and it isn't toxic like synthetic forms of A and D. They also recommend a brand that can only be found online since it has higher amounts of vitamins and it isn't processed like the brands in stores. I don't think my LO is actually swallowing a lot of it... it's pretty yucky! I'm hoping by me taking it to that he can get some through BF.

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