Madison went to the dentist for the second time last Tuesday, and was once again, such a good girl!!! Unfortunately, my baby has freakin' cavities!!!!! Ummm, what?!?! Already??? I am OBSESSED with her oral hygiene... I floss her teeth every night before bed, she brushes her teeth twice a day, and I always limit her juice and sugar intake daily (wish Daddy could say the same hehe. Ooooh! Just threw him under the bus!). Anyway, the dentist said that her teeth are just soooooo close together, that some of her teeth are just squished together that its almost impossible to brush those areas. And of course, those areas are the cavity filled ones. Boooo!!! It was like a stab to the heart when I heard about this unfortunate news. Especially, since this mama has never had a cavity!
They want to put her under general anesthesia to fill in her eroding teeth. That scares me. A LOT. So I've decided to hold off on the procedure... I know they're only baby teeth and that they'll eventually fall out. But what if we wait too long and the cavities get worse and worse to the point that she starts getting a painful mouth? Ahhhh!!! What's a mom to do?
Hey Thanya,
ReplyDeleteYou definitely should not wait too long to take care of the cavities. Those baby teeth are going to fall out, but not for a long time and they do have a purpose. The teeth eroding away can also cause problems for the gums and ultimately the permanent teeth.
You don't have to put your daughter under to get the cavities filled. Talk to your dentist about alternatives. If the dentist is unwilling to do it without anesthesia, find another dentist. The process will be more drawn out depending on where the cavities are. Think 2-3 visits instead of one and Maddie may fight going back to the dentist afterward. Lots of things to think about.
The most important thing is to keep Maddie's mouth healthy, the second most important thing is to keep her having a positive attitude about dental care because it will affect her for the rest of her life, the third is mommy's feelings.
I personally, would try to fill them without anesthesia first and if my kids fought it, I would switch. There are just a lot of risks when using anesthesia on such a little person. That being said, these dentist do it all the time and are very experienced. There are vary rarely accidents while under during dental procedures.
Oh, and pull Elbert out from under the bus. Sounds like genetics gave Maddie those cavities. It could be from Elbert or your grandmother. Never know who's teeth they are going to get?
I hope this helps?
Okay, now that this on my thought process I realized something else. Maddie has interproximal decay. That means that the dentist will have to use a matrix band and a rubber dam. The use of these will be very difficult for a toddler to sit through and may be more traumatizing than anything. But you know Maddie better than anyone.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would recommend is that you go into the dentist without Maddie. Have them show you the equipment that will need to be use, on a model if possible. Or if there is a patient at the time being worked on you can peep in and see what is going on. Then you will have an idea of what Maddie will be experiencing and if you think it will scare her or not.
The dentist that I worked for used a matrix band because you have to, but elected to skip the rubber dam because it is that uncomfortable for a patient to have in the mouth. Very few dentist will not use the dam.
Now I have got to get my old job out of my head!
Thanks Krissy for all of this wonderful information!!! I should have known to go to you in the first place! :) I DO want to get her teeth filled and fixed but just the word "anesthesia" scared the bejesus out of me! I will definitely talk to the dentist again about possibly doing the alternative, even if it does take a few trips back. I did voice my concern about it at the time, and he was very confident that its a safe procedure since they use an anesthesiologist from
DeleteOops! My comment got cut off! They use an anesthesiologist from Rady's Children Hospital and do the procedure all the time.
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