Celiac Surprises.

Who knew celiac disease could ruin your teeth? Anyone? I mean, we knew it could ruin your life, but your teeth?

Jackson is ahead of schedule as far as teeth falling out and growing in are concerned. He just turned 6 and he has lost 7 teeth. Most of his friends haven't lost any. As his adult teeth have grown in, we've noticed they've looked, well, weird. They have this yellow/brown discoloration to them, and some of them have raised areas (especially his 2 front teeth) that are discolored. The dentist said, "His enamel didn't form right. We'll wait until his teeth grow in all the way and then seal them. Just make sure he brushes well." That was 6 months ago.

We went to the dentist today. Jackson has 6 cavities despite regular brushing and flossing. The 4 in his back molars are pretty huge. This new dentist said, "He has enamel hypoplasia so this many cavities isn't unusual." Apparently, when he was a little guy and his adult teeth were forming, he was nutrient deficient - aka gluten intolerant - and so his enamel didn't form to protect those adult teeth. Hence the 6 crater sized cavities and the weird discolored front teeth that makes it look like we just got off the bus from BFE Ozark Mountains.

The treatment? After fixing the cavities, most likely under mild sedation due to the fact that the teeth with enamel hypoplasia don't numb well, we get to put silver crowns on all his molars. It's a good thing I have a full time job! Instead of a college fund to send him to dental school, we now have a "Dentist Fund" so that my 6 year old doesn't have to get dentures.

Thanks again, Gluten!