Ok my son will turn 2 on March 11th. Before Christmas last year I noticed one of his teeth had a chip out of it. It wasn't huge or anything just a little chip. Anyways on the underside of that tooth it's kind of discolored, like brown. And then recently I noticed on his front two teeth there is also a couple of little brown dots.
What could this be? He does not get a lot of sugary drinks or soda at all. Anyone else have this happen to their child?
I have a dentist appointment lined up for him in a couple of weeks to get checked out.
WOW this has been so long ago. Sorry it took so long to respond to it.
Well I took him to our dentist, and he referred me to a pediatric dentist.
So we went to see him, and it turns out that the spots on his teeth were cavities!
I asked him how he can have cavities this young, and why?? He asked me about his diet and then family history. Well my X's family have HORRIBLE teeth, so there you go! GRRRR
So since he was so young we had to take care of this in the hospital. He had to be put under anesthesia. He capped the two front teeth, they are white caps, he said they would just come off with the tooth when he loses it. And besides those two he had 3 more cavities in his little molars. So he put caps on those also. Those are silver ones. He said they were more durable than the white, since he uses those teeth for chewing. It is so weird to see a 2 year old with silver in his mouth!!!
So that is what happened.
It's possible that he grinds his teeth at night creating tiny cracks and then just doesn't brush well enough. Milk, carrots, even peanut butter left on teeth overnight can cause bacteria to go mad and eat away at enamel.
My son fell and hit his mouth when he had just turned 3. One of his front teeth was wiggly so I took him to the dentist. He said my son had a crack in that tooth right below the gumline and he would have to pull that tooth. The dentist said that because of the crack, it could become infected and infect the teeth around it. This may or may not be the case but I would recommend a trip to the dentist ASAP.
Has your son been on a variety of medications? My daughter is 6 now and did not get teeth until she was a year old. She has asthma and had a lot of ear infections as a baby, when she was 20 months old, we had her tonsils and adenoids removed and tubes put in her ears, while this helped a great deal, the damage was already done to her teeth. The enamel is virtually gone on top two front teeth. Since she was late getting teeth, she is also late losing teeth. She has lost her bottom two front teeth but those ugly little top teeth are still hanging in there. I can't wait until she loses them, the dentist said her permanent teeth are fine, I sure hope he's right!
When my 13 year old was 2, he was on a scooter bike and fell on a crack, hit his tooth. I did not realize much was chipped off, but his lips bleed a lot. I took him to the dentist and sure it was chipped. Over the years it turned brown from oxidation. It was his upper front tooth. The dentist said that when it was bad enough they would pull it. Essentially what it was doing was dying. It was a baby tooth so they we not too worried about it and let the tooth do its thing. When he was 5, they pulled it. They gave him a mirror so he could watch the procedure. I had seen it working in the OR. It took a few years to have his adult tooth grow in because it was not ready of course or nature would have taken it's course and pushed it out. It was a long time to see a new tooth but at least he was able to keep it for a while. So the brown you are experiencing is going to be (probably if it is like in our case) from oxidation and/or the beginning of deadening of the tooth. Nothing to be frightened about either way. You are doing the right thing in my book by taking him in to the dentist.
Good luck...
J.
A....my husband is a Dentist so when I saw your post I had him read it to see if we could offer any adivce. You mentioned that your son doesn't drink a lot of sugary drinks, but what about juice. Most fruit juices have a lot of sugar in them and the brown spots could be discoloration from that. It could also be a problem with weak enamel or even that he is getting too much floruide. Kids at this age should be using a non-floruide toothpaste. Once he can start spitting and rinsing well on his own when he brushes then you can swtich to a floruide toothpaste. This is an excellent time to get him used to going to the dentist so the fact that you have an appointment for him is really good. These ideas are just that, ideas or suggestions on what the problem could be. Without actually seeing them it's hard to say for sure so make sure you take him in to his dentist so you guys can figure out what is going on for sure. Good luck!
L.
My youngest daughter had a similar issue. Some of her teeth were "pitted" and had little brown spots on them. The dentist said that her enamel just didn't form properly, and there could be a variety of reasons...too much flouride when she was a baby, a fever when her teeth were developing, etc. Anyway, my point is that you may be doing everything right, so don't feel bad.
The dentist was able to use a tooth-colored filling on some of her teeth. This helps protect them, and also helps cosmetically. However, 4 of them required "baby root canals" and stainless steel caps. (Thankfully, they're way in the back.) It was a pretty major procedure (and costly), but the caps don't bother her at all. She calls them "teeth jewelry". The good news is that they're baby teeth, and they will eventually fall out. The dentist said there is no reason to think her permanent teeth will have the same issue.
My advice is to see a pediatric dentist (rather than a regular dentist who doesn't specialize in treating children). It really makes a world of difference in putting your child at ease, and they're uniquely qualified to treat your child.
Good luck!
I'm not sure about your son but my daughter's front tooth started out turning brown and is now a blackish/gray color. She went to the dentist last year for her first check-up at the age of 4. The dentist told us that this tooth had been hit at some point and did nerve damage that caused the tooth to die. He said it would eventually fall out but since she was still young, it would need to worked on until it was ready to fall out. So, to our dismay, she had to have a "mini root canal" performed. It was not fun and we felt so bad for her. She is now 6 and still has that ugly tooth. I'm hoping that she will begin losing her teeth soon and that will be the first one to go!! :) Your son may have something different, but that is what my daughter's situation was. I also have spoken with a good friend whose daughter had the exact same thing happen to her! At any rate, good luck with your dentist appointment.
H.
I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter and we resently took her to a dentist to get that same problem checked out the enamel was just disappearing from her teeth, and she was in pain alot. When we went in they told us the top four front teeth needed to come out. at first I was nervouse about her speech and such, but getting those taken out was the best thing we have ever done for her. Shes talking fine and actually even more then before.They say it was also caused by her bottles, I had really only been giving her water for awhile, but the decay had started a long time before that and slowly had done its damage.She too had been a sick infant and has ashtma and was on alot of antibiotics early on, which Im sure contributed to the problem.
my sugestion is you get him in right away and if the dentist wants them out, let him. like my daughter,Kids will thrive alot better without the pain there. I also noticed in the past few weeks shes not sick with a runny nose anymore.
Good luck to you, and instead of feeling bad about the problem, be reactive by getting him seen and taken care of.
Did your child have a fall that caused the chip? If so, I'm pretty sure someone told me once that a blow to the teeth can also cause the dark spots. I'm sure the dentist will be able to help you out. Good luck!!
Hi A.!
I just recently noticed the same thing on my son's teeth. As I was brushing the one night, I noticed that his one front tooth looked a little chipped on the bottom. When I looked a little closer, I noticed that the back of his two front teeth were a light brown color. I'm assuming they're cavities (although that's not what I want them to be). I have an appointment with the dentist (his first ever) this Friday so we'll see what happens.
As I read the other mom's responses, a lot of the things they were saying sounded familiar. My son grinds his teeth constantly! It drives everyone crazy except me (I guess I'm used to it). But I didn't think it was front teeth, more like his molars. And he also has this little tantrum thing he does where he'll lie on the living room floor (which is carpeted) and bang his face/mouth into the floor. I'm not sure why he does this particular move, but it seems to sort of calm him down. I never really thought he would do any damage to his teeth by doing this. I just thought that because he had control over it, he wouldn't actually harm himself.
I brush his teeth every night before bed and have the baby sitter brush them after breakfast. Granted it's not his most favorite thing to do in the world, but I still try to do the best job I can while he squirms around. Hopefully after this dentist appt he'll understand what happens when you don't take care of your teeth. Good luck!
My 19 month old son also has grayish Brown discoloration on his two front teeth it has also made his two teeth curve in at the bottom. When I informed a nurse about it she said it was probably caused from him sleeping with a sippy cup or bottle in his mouth. I also do not allow my son sugary drinks only watered down Juice once or twice a day. And now that I started to give him Water at nights and nap time they haven't worsened.
I also plan on taking my son into the dentist shortly. It would be great to know what the dentist told you, I'm very curious about it, the first time I saw my sons teeth worried me and I'm still very concerned.
