Juliata Maris

Of course the tiniest spot in the hardest place to see has now become my entire personality for the day. I noticed this little white bump/spot near the back molar area and I honestly can’t tell if it’s irritation, a canker sore, something from biting my cheek, gum tissue, or something dental-related that needs to be looked at. It’s right back there where the cheek and gum meet, so every picture looks worse and more confusing than the last.

I’m trying not to jump straight to worst-case thinking, but it’s hard when anything in the mouth feels like it could either be totally harmless or somehow turn into an expensive dental visit. I don’t have major pain, but it feels noticeable enough that I keep checking it, which probably isn’t helping. If it needs an exam, X-ray, or some kind of treatment, I know that can easily turn into a $300 to $1,200 situation depending on what they find, so I’m hoping it’s something simple that settles down on its own.

Has anyone had a small white bump or sore-looking spot near a back molar like this, and did it go away or did the dentist need to treat it?

Well, this is one of those parenting moments where I’m staring at my kid’s teeth like I suddenly went to dental school. My daughter is 6 and her adult teeth are starting to come in, but one of the baby teeth still has not come out yet. The adult tooth looks like it’s coming in above or behind it, and because everything is so crowded right there, it’s making it hard for her to wiggle the baby tooth loose at all.

She was seen by the dentist back in May, and they knew about it then, but they just told us she needed to keep working on it and get it out. Now it’s still hanging on, and I’m stuck between not wanting to rush her into having it pulled and also not wanting to wait too long if it’s going to make the adult tooth come in crooked. My husband is worried about it, and of course now I’m thinking about whether this is going to turn into an extraction visit that costs $250 to $900 depending on what they do. I know kids’ teeth can move and adjust, but it’s hard not to second-guess everything when it’s your own child.

Has anyone had this happen with their 6 year old, and did the dentist end up pulling the baby tooth or did it finally come out on its own?

Not me shining a flashlight into the back of my mouth and suddenly becoming suspicious of one tiny dark spot. I noticed this on one of my molars and I can’t tell if it’s just staining sitting in the grooves or if it’s actually the start of a cavity. It doesn’t look huge, but it’s in that little pit area where everything seems to collect, and now of course I keep checking it every time I brush.

I’m trying not to panic because I know molars can have stains that look worse than they are, but I also don’t want to ignore it and then find out later that it turned into something deeper. Dental stuff gets expensive so fast too, and I’m already thinking about whether this is a simple “watch it” situation or a filling that could be $200 to $600 depending on what the dentist says. I’m planning to get it checked, but I’m curious what others have experienced because this is exactly the kind of thing that makes me second-guess everything.

Has anyone had a spot like this in the grooves of a molar and it ended up just being a stain, or was it actually a cavity?