I don't know what to do anymore! My 13 month old DD has 6 teeth - 2 bottom teeth, and 4 teeth up top at the front (no molars yet) - and her 2 side teeth up the top are orange/yellow from the gum to about halfway down the
tooth. The other teeth aren't stained.

She HATES having her teeth brushed... it is really traumatic for her. She screams and wrestles DH and I, to the point where both of us have to hold her down quite forcefully just to spend 20 secs brushing her teeth. We do this every night, and still these orangey stains (I'm assuming plaque) won't go away. I'm also worried that I am traumatizing my baby - I don't want her to be this fearful every night.

We are using a baby toothbrush and just a scraping of adult toothpaste. I've tried rubbing her teeth with a wet fashwasher also.

Do I have to take her to the dentist?

Id definitely take him to the dentist and voice your concerns. Under 5's get free dentist check ups at your local community health centre.

I don't know what to do anymore! My 13 month old DD has 6 teeth - 2 bottom teeth, and 4 teeth up top at the front (no molars yet) - and her 2 side teeth up the top are orange/yellow from the gum to about halfway down the
tooth. The other teeth aren't stained.

She HATES having her teeth brushed... it is really traumatic for her. She screams and wrestles DH and I, to the point where both of us have to hold her down quite forcefully just to spend 20 secs brushing her teeth. We do this every night, and still these orangey stains (I'm assuming plaque) won't go away. I'm also worried that I am traumatizing my baby - I don't want her to be this fearful every night.

We are using a baby toothbrush and just a scraping of adult toothpaste. I've tried rubbing her teeth with a wet fashwasher also.

Do I have to take her to the dentist?

Adult toothpaste can be quiet strong, the first thing i'd be trying is kids toothpaste, i think oral-b (with winnie the pooh on the front) doesn't have that yuck toothpaste taste might be a better one to try her on until she gets comfortable with brushing

My DS is the same at 21months, it is quite a struggle to brush his teeth, we use macleans baby toothpaste though and let him brush first before we hold him down as he had started to get stains too, they have disappeared now thank goodness

I give DS a baby toothbrush and he tries to brush his own teeth, while he's doing that I get the actual toothbrush with paste on it in there and that seems to work for us.
I'd definitely go to the dentist, we had a check up the other day just to check that everything was going ok for him, they might also have other ideas to help with the brushing.

Has she been on antibiotics a fair bit? This can affect teeth and leave them looking stained.

She needs to get used to a tooth brush, and using adult tooth paste won't help! My dd says that its 'spicy' but loves her kids toothpaste. Give her the toothbrush to play with, then brush your teeth in front of her. Put some kids toothpaste on your finger, let her taste it and let her see that the same stuff is going on her toothbrush. You can get bubble gum flavoured toothpaste which most kids love.

Stop holding her down to brush her teeth... it might take a while but by making it fun and not making a big deal about it she'll eventually enjoy it. Expect that she may not get her teeth brushed properly for a little while, in the short term this will be fine.

Hi,

Don't use any toothpase for a child of her age. You can use a child's toothpaste from 18 months.

There is a condition called "fluorosis" (maybe spelled wrong sorry) that causes staining. It can happen when people swallow toothpaste.

Since she is using adult toothpaste this could be why her teeth are stained. It isn't normal for a 13 month old to have stained teeth whether you brush them or not.

At her age it doesn't matter if she doesn't brush her teeth as long as she has a good diet and drinks a lot of water. You can leave it and try again in a week or 2 by just letting her put the toothbrush in her own mouth without any toothpaste.

You could also buy a book about brushing teeth and read it to her smile
Good luck!

http://www.ada.org.au/app_cmslib/media/lib/0805/m128283_v1_oral%20hygiene_factsheet_.pdf

You need to take your daughter for a check up.
Sounds like she has fluorosis from too much fluoride. Stop using adult toothpaste and get some baby toothpaste that doesn't have fluoride in it.
The dentist may also have some ideas of making teeth cleaning more enjoyable.

Definitley DONT use adult toothpaste - it is far too strong and a terrible taste and shock for little ones ( I accidently put adult toothpaste on my little ones brush and she screwed up her face and bawled) We always use the "first teeth" toothpaste (Wiggles) and I inadvertently grabbed my tube of toothpaste instead.
Also, I have been told that the offical guideline is not to use toothpaste until 18 months of age ... (Although I started with the kids one at 15 mths) Before that, just brushed with a toothbrush and tap water ...
My little one's teeth are fine.

Hi ladies, thanks for your responses! I should have explained, I used to use baby toothpaste, but she already had the stained teeth before then. The reason why I tried adult toothpaste was cause I googled the problem and there was a dentist on another forum that suggested it to someone else with the same problem (it's literally a scraping, not a glob or anything!) but it's not working either so maybe I will have to take her to the dentist. She has only had antibiotics once, and that was awhile ago. Thanks again everyone!

DD hated brushing her teeth, so I started making a game out of it. I would lie her donw on the bench with a towel for a pillow (our ensuite has a large bench/basin) then I would get her to do an animal noise (lie a lion or something so she would opend wide)& i would do a quick brush while her mouth was open, then I would get her to do a few noises with no brushing, then would start again, till brished all her teeth. Took a few months, but now she happily brushes her teeth everynight (we finish it off for her).

Hi,

Don't use any toothpase for a child of her age. You can use a child's toothpaste from 18 months.

There is a condition called "fluorosis" (maybe spelled wrong sorry) that causes staining. It can happen when people swallow toothpaste.

Since she is using adult toothpaste this could be why her teeth are stained. It isn't normal for a 13 month old to have stained teeth whether you brush them or not.

At her age it doesn't matter if she doesn't brush her teeth as long as she has a good diet and drinks a lot of water. You can leave it and try again in a week or 2 by just letting her put the toothbrush in her own mouth without any toothpaste.

You could also buy a book about brushing teeth and read it to her smile
Good luck!

http://www.ada.org.au/app_cmslib/media/lib/0805/m128283_v1_oral%20hygiene_factsheet_.pdf

I agree, I have been a dental assistant for 10 years and I hardly ever brush my 18 month olds teeth, it is too much of a struggle and will only lead to further dislike of brushing. I use the towel after bath while he is on the change table and just wipe the teeth over, the ones I can get to quickly that is....

Hi ladies, thanks for your responses! I should have explained, I used to use baby toothpaste, but she already had the stained teeth before then. The reason why I tried adult toothpaste was cause I googled the problem and there was a dentist on another forum that suggested it to someone else with the same problem (it's literally a scraping, not a glob or anything!) but it's not working either so maybe I will have to take her to the dentist. She has only had antibiotics once, and that was awhile ago. Thanks again everyone!

If she already had stained teeth before the adult toothpaste, maybe you should work out why they are stained in the first place? It must be her diet? Not sure how else a baby could have stained teeth but there could be a reason I don't know about.

A friend has an 11 month old with two out of six teeth yellow. It's not staining - it's poor enamel. The doctor and dentist said either:
- certain drugs during pregnancy
- high fever during pregnancy
- physical trauma at the time the teeth were coming through
- just plain bad luck
and it's pot luck whether the adult teeth are the same or better.