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Hi all,
I like to think of myself as a good mum (very good infact lol) and my little angel has never given me any problems since she began sleeping through the night. However I have to hold my hands up when it comes to her teeth - for the first few years I failed on that one. She was given a few too many sweets and I was a bit too lax on supervising the teeth brushing. I held my hands up at the time and have cut down her sugar intake and switched all juice to lowest sugar content I can find (as that was the main problem!). My earlier ignorance led to her having two baby teeth removed and I felt awful.
For the past 18 months we have been much better. However, dentist has advised she is now going lose one of her second teeth due to decay. I am gutted! It is a back one so I never noticed a problem with it and little angel brushes twice a day for 3 mins (even more if she has had an indulgence in something sugary), and eats sweet snacks directly after meals etc. So I am struggling to see what I am doing wrong?! The dentist spoke to me like I have done it on purpose or something and that is insane I almost burst in to tears. I feel like a bad mother because she is losing one of her second teeth. I still have all my teeth and they are in good shape. I mean I cant stop her having something sweet forever can I?! I feel really guilty that she has to go through this because I know I am to blame but when I was little I had sweets and even fizzy drinks all the time and no problems.
Hi
Electric toothbrushes are brilliant.
If you give fruit juice, they're acidic and can also cause decay. Even eating too many apples can cause decay (I went through a craze of eating granny smiths and had four fillings, and I was 21 at the time!).
My lot still use straws (my lot are quite "old" now). I get mad finding them all over the place mind...
Thanks louise, the suggestion about cheese sounds great coz she loves cheese. I do think her brushing is good since our revlation 18 months ago she has a toothbrush with a flashing light and she brushes for a count to 60 after the the light goes off. She has a fear of the dentist so she brushes really well in an attempt to avoid going to the dentist lol
Sparkling, that about the fruitjuice is interesting because her favourite juice is apple juice and I never really worried about it as it is a pure juice. May have to do some changes.
I think what really p'd me off was what the dentist said. It wasnt our regular dentist but he made the mistake of saying he could refer me to ss if he wanted to - BIG MISTAKE!!! He didnt realise I used to work for them and am a student social worker myself. I gave him a very rude awakening but I still left feeling awful. I cant believe these dentists think they can speak to people like that. I know dentists do refer parents for bad teeth as I have been a family support worker for some of these families but its not an absolute sign of neglect but the dentist I saw seemed to think he was qualified to say it was!!!
Hi littleangel. My sister was told that a lot of antibiotics can also be a cause of tooth decay.
Hi little angel I am shocked at the reference to Social Services!!! Aha, the juice thing sounds a real possibility, start to dilute it more and more, easier to do it gradually over a few weeks than suddenly overnight and above all, start to use straws 
Ooh I have not heard that about antibiotics, Hazeleyes, that's interesting
Hey thanks Hazeleyes, I think you hit the nail on the head there I just remembered that when little angel got her first two teeth at about 7 weeks old (quick i know) they came through quite brown and horrid looking I told the health visitor and she sai it was because I had been on antibiotics for pretty much all of my pregnancy (due to constant kidney infections etc) she also said her baby teeth will probably be very weak. I wonder is that followed on to her second teeth? hmmm I will suggest that to the dentist next time.
Louise I have bought little angel some cute curly straws she loves them!
Ahh that's clever of you, she will see that as a treat!
Hi littleangel, my daughters father used to give her a whole mars bar if she said she was hungry, when she was small, she had to have 4 of her second teeth out and fillings (which fell out after a day or two!)
I am pleased to say the rest of her teeth are now strong and in good shape. The dentist was well out of order and don't take it personally, it sounds as though you are doing all that you can.
Keep up the good work
Hi little angel
Hmm my neighbour had exactly the same experience, she was a brilliant mum, her children had had the same sweets and drinks as other children but unfortunately had both had some tooth decay, and the dentist was an absolute beast to her. GRRRRRR!
Ok I am not a dentist but here are three things I have learned from dentists along the way. Firstly, the time when the second teeth are most prone to decay is during the first year after they appear. Therefore that is what is probably happening now, and it does not mean that she will continue to experience it. Secondly, get her to have all her drinks through a straw, thereby minimising contact with the teeth. Thirdly, after a meal and any sweet stuff, if she cannot clean her teeth fairly soon afterwards, would she eat a piece of cheese? A dentist told me once it neutralised things.
Are you able to get her an electric toothbrush? There are some with two-minute timers and they know they have to brush till the beeper goes off. Also I would be inclined to take over the brushing once a day yourself (at night would be good) so you can make sure you get the back ones.
How does that sound?