Help! My 8 year old daughter's teeth are falling out of her mouth!
By theponch
@theponch (198)
United States
April 17, 2007 8:08am CST
My child's father is not as consistent as me when it comes to caring for the health and well being. When she is at my house she only drinks water, but when she is with her father, he allows her to drink gatorade, juice, tea, and pop. These beverages are loaded with sugar and you'd think he would know this. Milk hurts her stomache sometimes and that's the thing she needs for healthy teeth and gums. She has been to the dentist many times in her life thus far. There has been over 4000 dollars worth of work done on her molars already. He also allows her to chew whitening gum. Do you know that whiten gum was made for adults who have the yellow teeth, not children? The reason it was not meant for a child is because it does more harm than good. Yhe whitener eats the enamel from the teeth! Enamel is there to protect the teeth from harmful bacteria. A responsible adult knows that the whitener will remove the yellow from cafiene and nicotine stains. Why should a seven year old need to chew it? How dumb is my ex? Doesn't he understand?
What can I do to help this situation?
Do you think this could be a matter of "soft teeth?" I don't!
11 people like this
19 responses
@greyoldman (106)
• Canada
17 Apr 07
#1: genetics: I come from a line that has it's origins in the Ukraine. There is a strain there that does one or the other: Great Teeth / Terrible teeth. It realy depends on how it is expressed. My wife; terrible. Her sister; great. My kids: 3 bad/ 1 Great.
#2 Scurvy? Lack of Vit. C. Bloody gums, teeth fall out. Had it. It is much easier in this day and age tohave scurvy than you think. Remember that Vit. C is water soluable. High doses convince your body to expell it. You might be doing the wrong things when re-establishing her diet.
#3 It really could be her genetic glich. Or did you take antibiotics during the pregnancy? After; while you fed her?
I really don't think your Ex is the problem. He isn't helping but, come on, not brushing, drinking sugar, these things do not generally cause the problems that you are talking about.
3 people like this
@wachit14 (3595)
• United States
17 Apr 07
She is still losing her baby teeth, so if she is losing teeth at this stage of her development, then that's the reason. As for her diet, she should be drinking milk and other dairy products to help build strong bones and teeth, but she should also be consuming food that are high in vitamin C as vitamin C will protect her gums as well. Make sure you set good habits at home that she will take with her wherever she goes.
@academic2 (7000)
• Uganda
18 Apr 07
If the child has not yet lost his/her milk teeth, then there shouldnt be too much alarm, but if the milk teeth have fallen and the permanents are the ones being affected, then that is pretty bad. But I think you need to talk to your ex on this matter rather seriously. Secondly, let the child also realize the dangers of sweets and where possible, let her change to things that are less sugary but liked by him/her!
@teison2 (5921)
• Norway
17 Apr 07
The father needs to get his act together. Does he take her to the dentist and pay the bills? I think he needs to do so. Children should not drink sugary and acidy drinks all that much. I just heard that it ws really bad for the enamel to drink drinks with a lot of acid in them - especially if you brush your teeth within an hour. The brushing so close after drinking juice may harm the teeth.
The father needs a 101 class on oral hygene and childrens needs - NOW!
@sunup13 (420)
• Canada
18 Apr 07
I definitely think that he needs to respect your rules and her health. He needs to use his common sense, if he has any, and see that letting a child do all of these things is not helping her at all. Maybe you need to sit down with your daughter and without bashing him, explain to her what these things are doing to her teeth and that she needs to take care of herself better. She is a big girl and can make her own decisions and caring for her health should be part of it.
Good luck on this, it's terrible that others can impact our children's health and not even think about it twice.
@saraa87 (48)
• Sweden
18 Apr 07
Aww I feel so sorry for her, she seems to be such a cute girl. I had to visit the dentist from the age of 10 to 15 on almost a weekly basis since I had to straighten my teeth. I had about 9 or 10 braces and it wasn't always a pleasurable experience lol. I truly got well known in the dentist office. Thankfully I managed to get my teeth fixed before I had to start paying for each visit.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
18 Apr 07
I'm sorry to say but she's 8 years old she probably is losing her baby teeth. You are spending thousands of dollars on teeth that are supposed to fall out. They are then replaced by adult teeth. I don't agree with your ex allowing her to use the gum like that but the rest isn't going to cause the teeth to fall out. Yes it might cause cavities if she's prone to them but the sugar won't cause them to fall out.
Personally I'd recommend going to a different dentist. If he's having you get caps on a 3 year old and root canals for baby teeth he's not the best of dentists. Get a second opinion on it all.
@kathy77 (7486)
• Australia
17 Apr 07
Yes you are right these drink are loaded with sugar and very dangerous to your daughters life, and of course he would know it. Yes she does need to drink milk for her teeth and health. Oh dear this ex husband of yours gives your family a lot of problems does he, and of course the enamel is their to protect our teeth. No I don't think it is a matter of soft teeth it is a matter of not eating and drinking the right foods and consuming the right drink.
@browneyedgirl (1264)
• United States
17 Apr 07
I don't think an eight year old needs whitening gum. Some people have weaker enamel than others; but some children also have three sets of teeth. My oldest daughter did. Have you asked the dentist about the teeth falling out? What does he/she have to say? Have you tried to talk to her father about your concerns? Perhaps a trip to the dentist with her would enlighten him.
@Jennifer16628 (184)
• United States
17 Apr 07
There are several issues here. First of all....the milk is NOT necessary for calcium. You can use calcium fortified rice or soy milk, tofu, greens, sea vegies (like kelp). Also, a lot of people don't know this but consuming a lot of meat actually hinders the absorption of calcium anyhow. I would suggest getting her calcium supplements. Also, make sure she brushes her teeth right after taking vitamins (if they are the chewable kind). Vitamins are great but not left on the teeth. Next, maybe dad needs to take her to the dentist where he can hear from a professional (since he obviously doesn't want to listen to you) what is necessary and what will happen if things continue the same way. You could be the one to set it up, talk to the dentist about why you are doing this (I am sure he/she would help) and even pay for it so all he has to do is go, listen, and learn. Also, has your daughter heard the consequences yet? I wonder if she knows what will happen or if she just doesn't care (not necessarily unusual :) ). Good Luck.
2 people like this
@sanyah1988 (306)
• United States
24 Apr 07
The problem is what the dad is doing I had the same problem with my sons dad by the age of 2 he already lost 3 teeth way before his time but now that I have changed the way things work his teeth are healthy you have to let the dad know that you are concerned about your daughter tell him to start caring so that she can have a beautiful smile and chance so far. I think you are donig really great but
1 person likes this
@charlestchan (1415)
• Malaysia
17 Apr 07
haha.. i don't think it's a matter of soft teeth.. but.. did you actually consult a dentist? i think not many can actually give an exact answer to you.. unless there are some dentist here... i think if the problem persist, you better get consultation from professionals.. it might not be serious as we know kid teeths will grow back.. but.. if this is a different case... i would strongly suggest you to get some consultation from the pro :)
2 people like this
@Lydia1901 (16351)
• United States
24 Apr 07
I think you need to talk to him and lay down some ground rules about what you want your kids to drink. Talk to him and see what he thinks about that.
@vanities (11395)
• Davao, Philippines
18 Apr 07
why not tell your ex about your sentiments with regards to the health of your children..maybe he needs a constant reminder of what is right and proper things to eat for your children
@Calais (10893)
• Australia
17 Apr 07
Sounds like he dosnt care at all about the kids health. She is 7 and maybe she needs to look out for self while with her father. She is old enough to make decisions forself now. Im sure that you have spoken to her about it. Maybe show her some disgusting photos of teeth and tell her that she will have false teeth by time she is 10 if it keeps on going on..lol. Im sorry it might sound harsh but it might just work.
1 person likes this
@kurtbiewald (2625)
• United States
18 Apr 07
too much soda maybe
thats very bad
actually my sis told me that about my neice, I had actually forgotten that its normal, I was real scared about the lost teeth, for a minute or two
its been a long time for me
@fredgame (1260)
• China
18 Apr 07
Well, it's rather pathetic to hear this. I think you should let the girl's father know about the results of his librality for the girl's desire for sweets is. I think if he is respoonsible he should be in a good position to help alleviate this critical situation since he is a man he maybe able to contact other expert dentists to remedy the situation. GOOD LUCK.
1 person likes this
