It’s been awhile since we had a good doctor’s visit post. Don’t you agree? Tobie took Paige to the dentist because she chipped a tooth. There is good news bad news. The good news is Cole’s teeth looked great. The bad news is Paige’s teeth are in bad shape. They are very brittle and had lots of plaque build-up. Remember when Tobie was on Magnesium Sulfate for 3 weeks? Well one of the side effects was that our babies could have weak teeth. Why Cole’s teeth are fine and Paige’s aren’t, is beyond me. The dentist was kind enough to reinforce what bad parents we are, lets recap:
- Sippy cups are training cups. Once kids know how to sip, they should be using regular cups. Whatever, Cole’s still on the bottle for heaven’s sake and Paige is nowhere ready for a regular cup.
- Giving your kid a bottle throughout the day is bad bad bad. Your child needs to drink their milk in one sitting because spreading it out over many hours causes lots of erosion. The kids get roughly 4-5 bottles throughout the day. It takes Cole about 40 minutes to finish a bottle. We are lucky that even likes his bottle.
- You should only give your child milk at breakfast and dinner. All other times of the day, give them water. I don’t think we have ever given the kids water. Isn’t that the stuff they swim in?
- Brush their teeth everyday. Well this one makes sense, but sometimes it’s easier said then done. Mea culpa.
So based on that visit, we’re implementing some changes in our house. What’s the deal with dentists? They are more hard ass than eye doctors.
So my question to you dear readers, anyone ever had any issues with brittle weak teeth because of Mag? Also, if she has weak teeth, what are the chances she has weak bones? Should we have her bone density checked out? We aren’t scheduled to see the peed until next January and I want to get to the bottom of this now. Michele, why don’t you go and do the research for us? It would make a good blog post. 
Posted in: babies
Very interested in the Mag research…I was on it for 6 weeks straight!
Steph - Have you guys been to a dentist yet? Any bone worries? Have you ever heard anything like this?
Anti-Dentite! Hahaha, gotta love the title!
Sippy cups, regular cups, only drinking milk twice a day - that’s a luxury that most micro parents can’t afford. I wish I could care about that. It’s all about the extra calories. If our former micros want more milk, whenever and however, we give it to them. Alicia can drink out of a sippy/regular cup, and I give those to her for practice, but she is far more proficient at gulping the bottle down, so I give it to her whenever and as often as possible. I just make sure to brush her teeth as often as I can.
It stinks to have to worry about teeth on top of everything else.
huh? wouldn’t milk help their teeth?
and since when does a doctor say only give a kid milk twice a day? isn’t milk supposed to be great all around or children????
i had been told that too much milk can lead to anemia. apparently the calcium can block the absorption of iron. ???
My daughter was on milk in a bottle until she was almost 4. She has beautiful teeth. They are baby teeth, they’ll change those. Hopefully when they get their permanent teeth things will get better. I think doctors and dentists think that they are “All that and a bag of chips”, Not! My daughter’s first neurosurgeon, gave me the best advise ever, He said, “Go with your gut instincts!” he said, I could ask opinions and inquire from others, but do what felt best for me. Sorry, I didn’t mean to ramble!! The babies are beautiful!!!
Our doctor advised us to eliminate juice and limit milk, due to childhood obesity concerns. And, thankfully, my son has, thus far, held steady at a healthy, albeit up there in percentile, weight; he also loves water, pronouncing it “delicious.” But given that you have concerns about Cole in particular gaining enough weight I can see why you haven’t offered him water! God only knows what’s going on with my son’s teeth. Good for you for motivating and getting the kids to the dentist, even if you do end up taking his advice with quite a few grains of salt.
Nope…haven’t been to the dentist yet and so far no one has ever said anything about the Mag affecting their bones. Guess we should get to the dentist soon!!!
I haven’t researched mag but have you seen this?
http://www.prematurity.org/child/dental-maroney.html
I knew there could be problems due to prematurity on the teeth. This makes it especially important with Paige to not let that milk sit on there. And no, I don’t always brush my kid’s teeth every night. Some nights it’s all I can do to drag them into their bedrooms! But YOU have to!!!! If she has poor enamel build up from being premature and being intubated, you have to be diligent.
How is their eating progressing? Are they having texture issues? If not, I would say ditch the bottles on her and start giving her sippies in a cup at meal times. You can start by dropping one bottle a day and replacing it with a sippy at mealtime or with a snack. If they aren’t having texture issues they will make up the calories with food. The problem with cow’s milk is that it isn’t iron-fortified and too much calcium prevents the asorption of iron. I know one of mine was anemic and as soon as I switched to sippies his iron went right up because he started eating more actual food and stopped filling up on milk.
But if you are having trouble with them eating solids, then that’s a different story.
Did you ever read my post about what really causes tooth decay?
http://fourtimesthefun.blogspot.com/2006/11/truth-about-tooth-decay.html
Once the mouth is colonized, you have to be careful.
Okay, mine have never been to the dentist yet and probably have a mouth full of rotten teeth! We have no dental insurance, God help us.
We have heard that about Mag. We have not taken them to a dentist yet but their teeth look OK to me. Ella will have an issue only because she sucks her thumb and I can already see her teeth moving (Bad Mommy). We were told by our ped. in AZ to only offer milk at breakfast, lunch, and dinner and then have water for them whenever. We leave water cups all over the place for them. We use the take and toss cups with straws (they don;t like to tip anything to drink, only straws). I brush their teeth every morning and they like it now but it was a battle for about 2 weeks.
I do have a question for you since you also have 24 weekers? What is Cole’s weight now? I am asking because he seems to weigh what our girls do now and no one is worried about them. The girls both weigh about 20#5oz and the little man is almost 23#. We no longer live in AZ but even then, their weight was never discussed.
Thanks
Suzan
I wrote another comment and I don’t know what happened to it. So here’s another try. Have you read this?
http://www.prematurity.org/child/dental-maroney.html
I don’t think it’s that unusual to have enamel issues with preemies. You have to be especially diligent in keeping Paige’s teeth clean.
Here’s what causes tooth decay.
http://fourtimesthefun.blogspot.com/2006/11/truth-about-tooth-decay.html
Okay, I’ll get back to you on the mag.
Michele
Egads, can I only post once a day??????
I have some links, but I think I can’t post links? Maybe? Shucks, I guess you’ll never know now WILL YOU??? LOL!
Michele - the system flagged you a spammer. The system is never wrong!
I guess I should have checked your website first for dental posts. You’re better than Wikipedia.
Suzan - I’ll post soon about Cole’s weight and eating. We had a feeding clinic appointment today.
My kiddo seems to have been spared the bad teeth due to mag but I was on it for a shorter period of time. I haven’t taken my youngest to the dentist yet. It just wouldn’t work out, not to mention I don’t want to hear the spiel on how I’m ruining her teeth. I’d rather have bad teeth and a kid who eats by mouth. She’s 19mos and a toothbrush has never been near her lips but licorice is one of the only things she chews on…
was only on mag for one week. God that sucked. The kids had their first dental appt 3 weeks ago. Teeth seem good. Kids still on bottles but only one in the morning and one at night. (The rest is water or apple juice at 40% less sugar and deluted). It was a BIT** getting here though. I have no clue how I’ll take them off the bottle completely. I did get some info: carrots have the highest sugar content of any veggie. ok thats ok cause we dont like carrots. No bottles in the crib. Pass. Really should be off the bottle. Fail. Brush teeth oncein morning and night. Pass. I am the worrier of the teeth. About brushing and getting the kdis to do it. Every night we clap really loud and give kisses after they let us brush their teeth. Then we give them the toothbrush and let them play with it. They are shaped like triangles so they cant get it into their mouths and choke. They also have these little brushes that you put on your finger and brush. When the kids try to put up a fight I use a washcloth and wipe them off. PS: I was gonna put Anti-Dentite as one of my titles but I was afraid people wouldnt get it.
Hey to Tobie and the children
Hi, Eric and Tobie–
My micropreemie had one front tooth come in brown-ish… apparently this is common for preemies in general(there was no mag involved). Fortunately it’s not too bad, but I HEAR you on the tooth brushing and the bottles— although easier prescribed than done. For example, she has one NASTY liquid medication for her asthma at bedtime and the only way she’ll take it is mixed with formula(adj age 10 months). It seems like it never ends, though, huh? Thanks for the reminder that this is one more thing we MUST get on, though.
And… invest in good dental insurance now. Please. My sister has very little enamel on her teeth(it was speculated that a high fever at a certain moment in babyhood might have caused this) and has needed porcelain veneers over the years– NOT cheap.
Can you have the ped do a BMP blood test? Phos, Alk Phos and Calcium levels might give some idea as to whether or not Paige’s bones have suffered. It’s a pretty easy test (just a blood test), as opposed to going right for a big bone density thing.
And beware–reflux can wreak havoc with little teeth, too. Ava has very little enamel on her front teeth because the acid just worked it right off. It’s always something, isn’t it?