Baby Teeth and bottle rot?

[CharityLynn]

My sister was told that her daughter needs dental work (which we knew) she has some bottle rot on her teeth and some other problems (her daddy doesn't have great teeth either) The total ends up being somewhere around $3000 for the dental part but because my neice is only 2 they have to do this in the hospital which their insurance won't cover since it's age related. So they are looking at several more thousands of dollars to pay the hospital portion. Now my sister and her husband don't have any money and her in debt alreadym they have had a rough couple years lioke most people with the economy the way it is. The insurance will cover something like $800 of the dental, maybe more I think they are waiting til after the first of the year hoping the amount the insurance will cover is different.

i guess they are talking about crown and fillings for her teeth, which I have nevr heard of on baby teeth.

Has anyone else had experince with the sort of thing? Does this effect the teeth coming in, if they aren't able to cover it?

They are going to use their tax return for this as well, but are debating on just doing the front teeth for cosmetic reasons (so she won't be made fun of in school).

What would you do?

 

[Blondy876]

I have had students with this type of problem and have seen it handled a couple of ways. I have seen where the teeth are crowned or capped and I have seen where the teeth are removed. I believe that the removal is cheaper but it leaves gaps until the grown up teeth come in.

 

[SueM in MN]

Here's a good article.
Besides being important for eating, baby teeth are space keeper for the adult teeth that come after them. If the decay has gone to the pulp, the only option may be to pull the teeth. But pulling teeth can affect how the adult teeth come in. Without the baby teeth holding space for them, the adult teeth may not come in at the right spot.

 

[KAMLEM]

What would cause such severe problems at such a young age? Just curious.

 

[jennyl772003]

What would cause such severe problems at such a young age? Just curious.

It is caused from putting a baby to bed with a bottle.

The sugars in the milk or juice pool in the mouth and rot the teeth.

 

[Spinning]

also get a second opinion.
My kids have horrible teeth. Not to this extreme but poor DD has had many teeth filled at a young age. Her problem was the enamal didn't form properly. Not due to going to bed with a bottle. Plus she was nursed. It is a hertitary issue.
The first dentist we went to did a lot of unnecessary work. Went to another dentist and he still had some work to do but was much cheaper, and did less work. He went straight for the caps in the back. Where as the other guy would fill it, then it would crack fill it again, crack....etc her teeth were too soft to hold the filling!
Thank goodness her perm. teeth are coming in perfect! Our son on the other hand...perfect beautiful baby teeth...primary teeth, weak enamal. So we are very good at keeping his teeth very clean, no gummy candy, brush often. So far so good!

 

[ChrisnSteph]

It is caused from putting a baby to bed with a bottle.

The sugars in the milk or juice pool in the mouth and rot the teeth.

This is the most common cause, however it's not the only reason baby teeth can rot away. My two year old dd had to have her two front teeth pulled because the teeth were literally just rotted away. Although I put her to bed with a bottle from time to time, it was never with juice, and I brushed her teeth every day. Her dentist told me that she had weak enamel, and that sometimes it's a genetic thing. One tooth just died and fell out on it's own. She has always had problems with her teeth. She gets cavities very easily, even with proper and frequent brushings. Her dentist suggested getting bottled water with fluoride, which we've been using for quite some time now. (Sparkletts carries it). Back to when she was two - they pulled the two front teeth, and then put a spacer in there with two little "fake" teeth to prevent speech problems as she learned to talk. It was funny because she looked like she had little chickets in her mouth until she grew into them, poor thing! They took it out when her adult teeth began to come in. Insurance didn't pay for the spacer since it was "elective", but our dentist really worked with us and allowed us to make payments. She has braces now, and we're battling gingivitis already. Her mouth has always been a mess, no matter how hard we try.

 

[Tinkim]

When my son was that age he had six teeth that had weakened/no enamel and the dentist said that eventually they would get cavities if they were not capped. The dentist felt that because of his age this needed to be done in a hospital. Our insurance company did not want to pay either. The dentist wrote the insurance company a letter outlining the fact that he felt it was medically necessary to have this procedure and for it to be done in a hospital. They did finally agree and he had about $3500 worth of work. The six teeth with weakened/no enamel were capped including his two front teeth. BTW, ChrisNSteph his also looked like Chicklets! Unforunately he was at Burger King with my mom and was going down the slide when an older child was walking up the slide and they collided driving his two "Chicklet" front teeth into his gums and they later were removed by an oral surgeon so he went for four years with no front teeth at all. Maybe you could have her ask the dentist to try writing a letter to the insurance company stating it is medically necessary and see what they say. I was surprised when our insurance company agreed to cover most of the cost. Good luck.

 

[Kermit]

I've heard from from some of my friends that they've had luck in getting their regular health insurance to cover the hospital portion (anesthesiology, etc.) and their dental insurance to cover the actual dental work. They may want to try that.

 

[debm]

We had the same problem about 1 year ago. Our son was 2 and 4 months and I thought we were going in for a "fun" first appointment to the dentist. Then he makes him cry and tells me he has 2 cavities, one of which will need a root canal. (Not exactly that in a small child but can't spell the real word!) We went to seek a 2nd opinion --same thing. Couldn't find a hospital that accepted our medical insurance that had a dentist that accepted our dental insurance. I was told that the anesthesia would not be covered. Finally I took him back to the original office but asked to see the female in the group. She would do an in-office procedure using a liquid that he drinks but I still would have to pay out of pocket---although MUCH less expensive. She felt that he could do the gas though so we opted for that. We had to go in two separate times but I could sit with him and read and talk and rub his legs to get him to lay long enough to have the gas take effect. It worked and they were able to get the work done. It is important to do it because a bad cavity could abscess--get infected. I hope they are able to get something worked out.

 

[epcotfan]

My friend's toddler has to go in for dental surgery this month for the same thing. Apparently the doctor told her it is quite common. I always figured fruit juices could cause bottle rot, but had no idea milk would too.

 

[Lil_Tink]

Here it is really commen to get caps. So many kids have silver teeth so no one gets teased. About 5/10 kids in kindergarten age have them.