I babysat a newly turned four year old yesterday and noticed his upper teeth are bad along the gumline. I don't know if it's actually decay or not as I'm unfamiliar with bad teeth. The enamel is GONE along the top four teeth at the gumline and the underlying teeth are a gray/green. The line between the enamel and non-enamel is jagged, not even. Is this decay? Or is there something else going on that the enamel would be gone? Pics of decayed teeth on the internet show them as black teeth so I'm confused. Any ideas what's going on or what they will do for it? The mom didn't seem too worried about it and hadn't even noticed it so I'm worried there will be no follow up even though I gave her the name of a good peds dentist. I thought if I knew more or got more info I could share it with her and help more.

She did say he didn't often take a bottle to bed with him but it did happen on occasion. Any idea what a dentist will do? Treatment? Is this just bad teeth genes or was it caused by neglect? TIA!

By Tripletmom on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 10:46 am:

Maybe from antibiotics??? Hopefully when the 2nd set of teeth come in there good.

By Jjb on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 11:55 am:

Do you know if his teeth are brushed regularly? I know it's not unusual to see cavities in baby teeth so I would imagine it's possible to get decay as well. From my little knowledge of teeth I've always thought antibiotics discolor teeth to be yellow- and it comes off when the teeth are cleaned (boy I wish it were that easy to get my teeth back to pearly white!). Sorry I'm not more helpful!

By Crystal915 on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 12:11 pm:

Could be bad genes, could be well water or not enough flouride, could be decay, there are tons of possibilities. This child needs to see a dentist though, because if they are badly decayed, and he loses them early, it can cause problems for his adult teeth.

By Bemerry84 on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 02:12 pm:

My experience with this was both my boys took hits to the mouth, one from a golf club and one from a baseball at around the same age. Both had to have teeth pulled. Did you check the gums by any chance? Both of my boys had an absess which looked like a blister on the gums. The dentist said if left in they could discolor the permanent teeth. My oldest had to have a baby root canal and they saved that tooth because he was only three. Now my younger one had his six year molars come in with no emamel on them and they are discolored and breaking off and will need to be crowned soon. I was told this was from antibiotics when he was young, he had numonia (sp) twice before age two and not from hygene since he's been seeing a dentist since age three. Like the others I suggest they see a dentist.

By Jjb on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 02:50 pm:

Mary, you got me thinking about my DS who had meningitis in the fall. He had large amounts of rocephin daily for a week. Do you remember the antibiotic they gave your son? My DS is only 22 months so it will be a long time before we would see any impact on his teeth. I had no idea it could have that effect.

By Tarable on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 04:43 pm:

It could be a lot of things, my youngest dd has had a lot of problems with her baby teeth and the dentist told me that if you don't take care of them and it is decay it can effect the adult teeth as they start to grow.
The enamel being gone can be just a genetic thing and that is what was wrong with my dds teeth the enamel was thin and wore off really quickly she had to have her front 2 top teeth pulled at age 3 and has had many many other things done.
This little kid needs to go to the dentist ASAP or the problems could get much much worse and more expensive.

By Justanaunt on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 12:47 am:

If this boy is four, then he should have already been to the dentist. Medication can cause a yellow discolorizatoin, but I don't know if it'd cause what you described. If his mom hasn't noticed this problem or isn't worried about it, then I would wonder if he has been taught dental hygiene.

By Bemerry84 on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 10:00 am:

I was thinking it could also be plack build up if it's up near the gum line from not brushing properly.

Jen, I'm sorry I don't remember what meds he was on, there were so many and it was seven years ago. We are kind of worried about the next set or molars but the dentist can't tell on xrays. He said it was most likely they will be OK because the molars don't all develop at the same time. We just have to wait and see. The roots are great and there aren't any cavities so the teeth are worth saving as they are the major chewers.

By Jjb on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 01:20 pm:

That's okay Mary, I thought it was worth a try. I'll definately keep my eyes open when his adult teeth come through. Thanks!