My 11 Month Old Has Yellow Spots on Her New Teeth!

I don't know if you have done this or not but we got one of those infant tooth and gum cleaners (finger brush) and the infant toothpaste. Now, I have to admit I don't do it every day but we try to "brush" his teeth in the morning and every night before bed.

I just didn't know if you had tried that or not, but maybe it would work?

When my 19 month old got her two top teeth, I noticed a small soft yellow dot at the gum line where one of the teeth were coming in. At first, I thought it was egg, I had tried to feed her egg beaters for breakfast, so I thought it had gotten stuck in her incoming tooth... well, needless to stay, when the entire tooth was in, the spot was still there, and now at 19 months, the spot is still there. But now it is a very very small brown dot with a small ring around it. I too, took her to a dentist. They weren't that worried. They told me the same thing, keep it clean, it did seem to have a slight hole there, they didnt know how she could have gotten it, (I never got sick or took antibiotics while pregnant and wasn't on antibiotics either) They said if it worsened, then to come back and they would see what could be done. Honestly, you can't really see my daughter's imperfection (as the dentist called it) but I can see it. I know it is there.. and my daughter was a breast fed baby, not bottle fed... and she never goes to bed with a juice cup now.. yada yada yada.. we just have to hope her permament teeth come out sparkling white!

Since you seem very concerned, why not take your daughter for a second opinion with another pediatric dentist? You've received advice from many dental professionals in the responses but it never hurts to get a second opinion to ease your mind.

Hi J.,
I'm a dental hygienist, and I wouldn't worry too much if your dentist said it's ok. The discoloration could be from antibiotics or other meds taken while the teeth were developing. They don't come in decayed, but they can come in with little imperfections. Just keep them clean and keep an eye on them. You need to brush them or wipe them with a cloth every morning and nite. When she gets back teeth, use a baby toothbrush on all of the teeth. Baby bottle tooth decay starts with white chalky spots, usually near the gumline. Then they turn brown. So just watch, and I'm sure they'll be fine!
W.

what antibiotic medication did you take when you were pregnant?

Ask your dentist about those....

Just an idea, not a diagnosis!

M.

Jenn, i've heard that babies are sometimes born with decayed teeth. The pregnancy was probably much different for this one than for the other children. Nothing too serious since these are her baby teeth. What is important is keeping her secondary teeth healthy! Go back to the dentist and ask all the questions. He is the expert in ped.teeth and should have answers and solutions for you. Good thing you were able to see this immediately before these baby teeth fall out and the new ones come in with problems. I'm sure you are going to be able to repair whatever it is that needs reparation to ensure her next set of teeth are healthy.

good luck!

Hey J.! My oldest had spots on his baby teeth as well and when I talked to my dentist, he asked if I had taken antibiotic during pregancy. I, indeed, had taken antibiotic for a sinus infection. His permanent teeth are fine- no spots. Just something for you to consider.

Hi J.,
Some antibiotics can cause this. I think tetracycline is the ingredient in them that causes the discoloration if I'm not mistaken.
C.

I have also had this problem, My son has now just turned 5. But as a baby I noticed as his teeth was coming in with spots or discoloration. I had and was given no explanation by the dentist as to why he had these spots on his new teeth, He was off the bottle by 1 and I thought I had done everything right. The spots turned into decay and by the time he was starting pre-k he had to have fillings in his front teeth. Luckily the decay has stopped, it is only in his front baby teeth. I am hoping that when his permanent teeth come in they will be okay. Like yourself, I have another child who has perfect teeth.

I'm sorry that I don't have any advice for you but I do hope everything turns out well.
Best Wishes

My stepdaughter's boy had a discolored tooth and his dentist said it was juice. The permanent tooth came in as white as the others.

when I was growing up, I had a friend and his 2 siblings that all had spots on their teeth, they said from birth. They were toldit was from too much/ too little flouride in thier drinking water. Hope that helps.

I was born without enamel on my teeth and they are not as white as my sisters, i also had a friend who was born without enamel and his teeth have yellow discolorations, especially the front teeth. i just had to have silicon covering on my teeth as i got older to prevent tons of cavities

I think I know what you are talking about. I have 3 children also and when my 7 yr. old daughter began getting teeth she had a yellow dot on the middle of her front tooth. The Dr. told me that it was a calcium deficiency. She is 7 now and still hasnt lost the tooth. It has begun to chip away. When she was 4 the Dr. told me that it was not a cavity and it would not spread to other teeth, but he advised me to have it pulled out, I didnt want to do that because she was so young. She has always had the yellow spot on her tooth, but it bothers her a lot. so I would suggest you check for a calcium deficiency.

Did she have a high fever before her teeth grew in? That caused mine to have stains.

I am a dental hygienist. I cannot tell for sure without seeing your daughter, but it sounds like the teeth are just discolored like your dentist diagnosed. These spots can appear when something was going on while that part of the tooth was forming during your pregnancy or her early infancy...a cold, a fever, possibly something you didn't even know was going on. In many cases, the enamel is fine and is simply discolored, but take extra care in cleaning these areas well as sometimes these areas can have a weakened enamel structure. My son has these yellowish spots on his front teeth too. If you keep juices and sweets to a minimum, don't allow your daughter to go to bed with a bottle, and keep the teeth clean, there shouldn't be a problem. More than likely, the permanent teeth will not have this "defect."

While I hate to disagree with a dental personell, I have to.
My mother took some antibiotics while preggers with my younger sister. They DID come in rotten. And not only that, but they eventually turned all-out black.
Many of them came in that way. Her permanent teeth followed suit, and now she has a mouthful of porcelain crowns...white teeth for the first time in her life, but it cost her thousands of dollars. Now I don't know if there are preventative measures at this point. I would do some research on my own if I were you.
The truth is--even though they now know that the antibiotics my mother took aren't good during pregnancy--some docs STILL presribe them... during pregnancy! (tetracycline-type antibiotics). Also, the average shelf-life of a pharmaceutical is now only 5 years before they say, "Oh no, it's not safe after all." Drugs are being pushed through before adequate testing is done, because pharmaceutical companies are paying the FDA to hurry them through. This is not hear-say. This is legitimate and legal! SO...all of that said, look out for taking ANYTHING while you are pregnant. Avoid it like the plague. In the meantime, I will pray that whatever is wrong with your little one's teeth isn't serious, and is treatable.
Many Blessings,
H.

lots of kids have missing enamel..most can be fixed with just white plastic fillings..i worked for dentists since i was 18 their not that expensive and can be done at a later time ...if it was baby bottle tooth decay your ped. dentist would have definatly told you

Teeth can't come in decayed. They need to have been exposed to sugar, and for bacteria to have eaten away through the sugar and into the tooth. It sounds to me like a vitamin deficiency (or possibly too much of a vitamin).

Consider these milk teeth to be the canary in the coal mine. Start a food journal, noting everything she eats (and I mean everything). Then check it with a nutritionist, or just do some research online on amounts of vitamins and minerals babies of her age need, and what foods supply those amounts.

Ruth Yaron's Super Baby Food has charts that make this easy. She covers all of this in great detail, so all your bases are covered. Probably, if this is a vitamin or mineral issue, you will figure out what it is, and start increasing the foods that she needs to overcome the deficiency (or balancing out what might be causing an oversupply) and she'll be fine. But you really want to intervene ASAP so she doesn't suffer in other ways than just her milk teeth.

One way to start to get a handle on this immediately, before your detective work gets you answers, is to offer your daughter a great variety of very healthy foods. Wean out anything that doesn't deliver a serious nutritional punch. Even snack foods (which, for toddlers, make up most of their diets) must be healthy, nutrient-dense foods, not what fall under our adult conception of treats (cookies, unhealthy crackers, processed foods...). This is for the very reason that snacks make up most of a toddler's diet. But it's all the same to an 11-month old, who doesn't have to know that canned, drained, rinsed, mashed (i.e., choke-proof) kidney beans aren't popular, tasty snacks (try 'em. They're pretty good!). Cook her up some red lentils (takes 10-15 minutes), don't salt them, maybe add some Italian herbs, and mash them up to use as a dip for foods that she doesn't like as much on their own. And let her choose her snacks from a variety, which you offer. Studies show that, when offered a variety, even very young children will choose the options that give them what they need at the time. Kind of like a pregnant woman who has a craving. It's the body telling you what it needs.

L.

Has she had a lot of ear infections or a need for antibiotics? Amoxicilin causes yellow spots to form on kids teeth if they've had to have a lot of it. My sister had it on her baby teeth but when her adult teeth came in they were fine.

What is in your drinking water? I grew up in a town, where the water had some mineral that caused the teeth to yellow.

Make sure that flouride is added to you drinking water if it is not you may want to supplement.