Strep and Cavities

[Guest Angela Shaw]

I just took dd to the dentist becasue I thought she had a new cavity. She went from having no cavities as a little girl to having severe cavities in the last 3 years. (it began when the ocd began but she always brushed and flossed twice per day until recently - one new adult tooth in a six month period rotten half away though she brushed and flossed twice per day) UPon telling the hygenist about Lilly's PANDAS issues, she piped up that cavities are aslo caused by a strain of strep (though if I understand correctly) it is a different strain than the one that causes strep throat. She wondered aloud if there could be a connection...that perhaps dd had an over growth of strep in her mouth that lead to her cavities.

 

has anyone else had their pandas children be very succeptable to cavities?

 

Angela

[TiredMom]

I just took dd to the dentist becasue I thought she had a new cavity. She went from having no cavities as a little girl to having severe cavities in the last 3 years. (it began when the ocd began but she always brushed and flossed twice per day until recently - one new adult tooth in a six month period rotten half away though she brushed and flossed twice per day) UPon telling the hygenist about Lilly's PANDAS issues, she piped up that cavities are aslo caused by a strain of strep (though if I understand correctly) it is a different strain than the one that causes strep throat. She wondered aloud if there could be a connection...that perhaps dd had an over growth of strep in her mouth that lead to her cavities.

 

has anyone else had their pandas children be very succeptable to cavities?

 

Angela

 

 

I found this:

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/...80102122300.htm

[peglem]

Way, way back when my daughter was only about 4 years old....She began some very serious behavioral episodes...teacher and I cold not figure out what was going on. (she was already in a special needs school). After about 2 weeks, she woke up with a swollen cheek. Boy, did I feel like i deserved the crappiest mom of the year award! Turned out she had 10 cavities, 2 abcesses!!! I have often wondered if/how that contributed to the PANDAS. Since those teeth were taken care of, she has not had a single dental problem until just recently (10 years later), just had a root canal- and that was in a baby tooth. She has 2 baby teeth that have no permanent replacement backing them up.

[Megs_Mom]

YES! No cavities until 5 - then 4 in one year. 2 so bad that she had 2 root canals at 6 years old! We also hypothesize that this may have been from acid backwash from her stomach issues that seem to be caused by PANDAS. But when we got all 4 cavities at once, i asked 2 doctors if I should be concerned about anything else- I was thinking vitamin deficiency. But they all just said "no, sometimes it just happens - be sure to floss". I swear, if doctors would use those wonderful brains they are born with to do more than spout platitudes....

 

We had to cancel this summers appts due to extreme OCD - we have finally rescheduled for 3 weeks from now & I am in terror of what they will find.

[dcmom]

Megs Mom- we just went to the dentist after about a year. Couldn't even consider going in the midst of pandas. I was terrified too, because of course during the worst time she would only eat pancakes and syrup AND I had to literally pin her down to brush her teeth.

 

Her teeth were ok- but he did have some concerns. I have decided to try to take her every 3 months for a cleaning and check up to stay ahead of any issues (some others on the forum had relapses recently with dental issues).

 

Does this ever end? I mean, pandas just impact every single minute aspect of our lives

[bubbasmom]

Yes my son has. Our dentist says its one of three things, the strong antibiotics, the bacteria, or kids who have a lot of strep tend to be MOUTH breathers. When you are a mouth breather at night you have no saliva to move the bacteria on and it just sits there.

I just took dd to the dentist becasue I thought she had a new cavity. She went from having no cavities as a little girl to having severe cavities in the last 3 years. (it began when the ocd began but she always brushed and flossed twice per day until recently - one new adult tooth in a six month period rotten half away though she brushed and flossed twice per day) UPon telling the hygenist about Lilly's PANDAS issues, she piped up that cavities are aslo caused by a strain of strep (though if I understand correctly) it is a different strain than the one that causes strep throat. She wondered aloud if there could be a connection...that perhaps dd had an over growth of strep in her mouth that lead to her cavities.

 

has anyone else had their pandas children be very succeptable to cavities?

 

Angela

[EAMom]

I've started giving my kids Xylitol gum. Xylitol is anti-bacterial/anti-cavity. Spry makes some (Whole foods, or order online). There are also some regular sugarless gums that have Xylitol (I just looked through the sugarless gum selection at Target and picked the one with Xylitol as the first ingredient--eg Icebreakers "Ice Cubes").

 

Bubbasmom...was your dentist implying that strong antibiotics might cause cavities? I would think the opposite?

[matis_mom]

We just went to the dentist last week because our PANDAS dr. wanted to make sure there wasn't anything funky going on there. The dentist said in the mouth it's usually strep B, but went ahead and checked, no problems, thank God!

 

Besides the antibiotics, ds is on tons of probiotics, some of which are in powder form, and I think that helps keep the mouth healthy. He also takes silver every day, which he swishes around the mouth at night AFTER brushing his teeth. Both of these things are easy to implement and certainly safe, so those of you with teeth issues might want to check them out.

 

Also, I would recommend BIOTENE mouth wash, which is designed to dissolve biofilm. I saw it recommended in an autism/pandas presentation.

 

Hope this helps! I know the last thing anyone wants is to have to deal with the dentist ON TOP of all the other doctors appointments, meds, supplements, learning issues, etc.

 

Isabel