Thursday, January 7, 2010

Toothfairy Gone Mad

Since she comes to collect precious baby teeth when they fall out, I am guessing the toothfairy has something to do with making those little tooth buds while babies are cooking in utero. Surely the fairy dust she sprinkles on the gums of babies with Down syndrome must be quite magical because it causes some interesting tooth development.

Babies with Down syndrome often have their teeth come in late (nursing mothers stand up and cheer!) You can expect your baby’s teeth to arrive in any old order they choose, including perhaps not at all for some teeth. (Uh, maybe that fairy got a little too wild with her wand...) And, some teeth may be irregular... as in extra sharp, big, small, or even funky shaped.

What does all this mean (aside from that the toothfairy needs to stop partaking of fairy dust before going to work)? Not much for the under 10 months crowd because tooth eruption tends to be delayed in children with Ds. Babies without teeth can still eat anything that can be mashed by powerful gums and that includes soft well-cooked meats. Your baby can still hurt you by biting you with her gums (nursing mothers can stop cheering now.)

mam_toothbrushOnce your baby’s teeth start arriving, sometimes molars first as was the case with Summer, you should brush them after meals and bottles. (Uh huh, fun fun.) There are lots of baby toothbrushes out there to choose from. Our pediatric dentist recommends the Mam Training toothbrush ($5.99 at Amazon.com as part of a set) and I find it easy to use. It has a long handle and a rounded brush on one end, as well as a gum massager on the other. And don’t forget to floss your baby’s teeth (more fun). I prefer to use floss rather than the fancy new disposable flossers that are out there mainly because it is easier to maneuver around with it in a wriggly baby’s mouth. Good luck finding kid-friendly flavored floss at the drugstore... I score the bubble gum variety when we take the older kids to the dentist. However, since babies with Ds tend to enjoy strong flavors, cinnamon or mint probably works just as well.

There is really no pressing reason to visit a dentist prior to age three (unless some teeth do not come in) but you may want to start shopping for a pediatric dentist who has experience with children who have Ds. We visited a dentist at 15 months because there were signs that teeth might be missing. The dentist confirmed this to be true and suggested X-rays at age two. (We won’t need to do that because she got them for Christmas.) So aside from blog research, some incorrect dental conclusions, and a fancy toothbrush, I can’t think of any good reason to go back before age 3... unless of course, that the toothfairy comes back around and does something crazy with her wand.

Your Turn
While you are here, please take the tooth poll located over in the upper left column. If you leave me a comment saying that you participated in the poll (or that you would have if your baby already had that first tooth :-), you will be entered into the Winter Giveaway. The winner will receive a First Years Star Teether, a NUK straw cup, and bubblegum flavored dental floss. (You are invited to take the poll even if you aren’t interested in the giveaway.)

25 comments:

  1. I think I'm the first voter. My bear cub's first tooth arrived at 8 months. A molar (I think) broke through the surface of the gums during her stay at the hospital for her heart surgery.

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  2. I was the second voter :) E's first two teeth - his bottom middle ones, which really surprised us! wow, the first teeth and in the right order and everything! - came in at 10 months within a week of each other. Now he's 13 months and we've seen nothing at all since the first two...

    One thing to add that is solely our dental hygienist's experience BUT - as she put it: "you'd be hard pressed to find anyone else in [the local area] who has worked with as many kids with Ds" as she has (she used to work in a practice that specialized in dental care for people with disabilities) - she has found that their teeth either seem to come in with bad decay OR that they have slower than normal decay rates. I don't think that that should affect how we care for our kids' teeth one bit but the decay may be something to watch out for when teeth are new as a trip to the dentist would obviously be warranted then.

    We were really thrilled to find out that the hygienist of the dentist were were already going to is so experienced working with kids with Ds. If anyone is in Minnesota and wants a contact to this dentist, please let me know via my blog; I am happy to share their contact info with you. :) Jen @ only who i am

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  3. I would vote if I could. We are at eight and a half months and still no signs of teeth! Maybe we will be in the 9-10 month range?

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  4. Sean's first tooth arrived the same week as his first birthday!

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  5. Ozzie's first tooth started coming in at 9.5 months. (I voted in your poll) By 11 months he had 4 and the nursing hit a little snag! Luckily, he got over that biting stuff (well, mostly got over it!) But this post mostly reminded me to take out that baby book and add some stuff... Thanks!

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  6. max had his first right before a year, and it was his lower right front tooth:) sharpest little tooth i have ever seen... now he has a matching one right next to it, and two (big) teeth on the top front. super cute:)

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  7. Sigh....Landon is a few days away from 11 months old and still showing no signs of any teeth coming in! I am so looking forward to seeing what he will look like with teeth! Cute as a button I am sure (a little biased you think?:)! lol

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  8. I don't really remember when the first tooth was, but my daughter's teeth actually came in pretty much on time. Our problem was, when the teeth fell out we never found them...not a one! She would tell us one was loose then come tell us she lost one. I often wonder if she swallowed them all. That meant no tooth fairy for us!

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  9. I voted in the poll. My little Emily's first tooth came in at about 13 months...after that, they didn't stop! She's fixing to turn three and has a whole mouthfull...very sharp little things, too! As far as I could tell they all came in a pretty decent order. I didn't know that children with DS had a delay in teething. She also has Type 1 Diabetes, and I thought that might have had something to do with it. It affected everything else, so why not teeth? :)

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  10. Pudge doesn't seem to follow protocol with her teefers...her bottom two front teeth popped up together when she was 7 months old. So far she has 8 teeth to date. We always know when new ones are coming...her face completely swells up like she's been wacked with a board, and she constantly rubs the entire front of her face. :0( I think her teeny sinuses and ears end up hurting as much as her gummers do.

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  11. My baby is 9 months old and still nothing. I don't really mind because she sure knows how to munch food without them!

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  12. Miss Aubrey will be 16 months on Saturday and still doesn't have any teeth! That doesn't stop her though, she eats almost anything that we give her! She is a good eater, so we won't complain. Would love to be entered into the contest though.

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  13. I would have loved to vote but Beau has no chompers yet!! I would love to be entered in the contest.

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  14. So far, we're the oldest tooth eruption in the poll. M was about 20 months, IIRC. She started walking and got her first tooth right about the same time.

    The waiting was driving me nuts! At 2.5, she has 8 teeth that we can see, but I'm not daring to put my finger way back in her mouth to be sure.

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  15. You know I had to give Sheridan a shout out in your poll :) We use the little finger-tip silicone brushes (all his 2 1/2 teeth are right in the front) and they work pretty well. As soon as he has something farther back, I'll check out that toothbrush. I'm too coward to brave my fingers in his mouth.

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  16. No teeth for us here yet. Abby follows in the line of her sister for so many things- developmentally ahead and behind in areas that M has always had strengths and weaknesses, same soft markers for Ds in-utero, same hair color and patterning- same lovely blue eyes- I'm curious if she will be similar here too b/c Maddie is missing her bottom eye teeth- which reading this is a good note to schedule a dr appt and xr for it b/c she's 3 and has all the rest. She was an early teether though- started at 3 mos- Abby is 10 mos no and no sign of anything No need to enter the give-a-way here- we have all of that! Thanks though!

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  17. You know, for the life of me I can't remember when Micah got his first tooth. And while that's horrible, what's worse is the fact that he's going on 7 and won't brush his teeth AT ALL. I wish I'd have started him out with a toothbrush after meals like you mentioned.

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  18. You know - that was something strange I worried about when Vi was born - irregular teeth coming in in an irregular pattern? WTH did that mean?

    You only realize as a mother that that means something really cute!

    http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn271/viviannesmom/crazyteeth.jpg

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  19. Hey, I'm a new viewer :D Please check out my blog and follow me! Tell your friends, cuz I only have 3 followers :(

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  20. Took the poll.

    Little A had her first tooth (front bottom) at 6 months and the second matching tooth at 7 months. She is 10 months old now and there are no signs of further breakthroughs.

    Thanks for the fun poll and chance to win.

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  21. I took the poll. Sophie's first tooth showed up at 15 months, just in time for her 2nd Buddy Walk. At 2.5, she's still teething. At Thanksgiving, she had 4 erupt at once. I also believe it takes her teeth longer to fully erupt, meaning, they don't just show up late, but are slower in coming out all the way.
    ---Jen

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  22. Thanks for this post. My little one with Ds is almost 21 months old and still has 0 teeth. But, I can finally see one of his top teeth. It hasn't erupted yet, but at least I know it's there. I'm really interested in the poll results. I guess we had better head to the dentist for x-rays. I wonder if he is missing any teeth.

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  23. Love your blog! Thank you for sharing such great information!

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  24. Took the poll! Would you believe that at 2 years old Joaquin has EVERY possible tooth he can have at this age. His mouth is FULL OF TEETH!!!!

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