kids and getting cavities filled?

[msop04]

Thank you for all your replies My husband is nervous about it too. We have never been to this dentist before, he is a pediatric dentist and my husband's sister is his accountant/secretary. He is new to our city though. My husband's sister says he does these procedures every Friday at the hospital..

This is the practice of the pediatric dentists I know...

 

[msop04]

Laughing gas is really only good on a cooperative but anxious child

The kids needs to breathe it in to help them relax. If they fight it, it is not going to be effective and make the whole procedure frightening and worse for them.

It all comes down to how many fills, how deep etc

You have a family member in the practice. If she can report happy patients and parents, I wouldn't worry
He may be new to the city but everyone has to start somewhere. This is a man who has done further study on top of his dental degree to improve the oral health of children. If you are worried about his integrity, there are alot of more lucrative fields of dentistry to specialise in haha!!

+1

 

[livannie]

Thank you for all your thoughts and replies. We went in this morning and talked to the dentist and anesthesiologist and decided to get it done. When I woke up I told my husband maybe we should call and cancel but it was something I knew would have to eventually get done. I was really nervous and worried but they told me they would give them both this drink that would kinda put them out of it and then take them to the operating room and use a gas mask and put an iv in their hand that would keep them knocked out. It went really well for both of them, the one thing I didn't like is that neither my husband nor I could go to the operating room with them but I probably would have cried and my husband would have probably fainted. And they don't remember anything at all, which is good. They each had 4 cavities but in between 8 teeth. My 3 year old had one in the middle of her two front teeth that the dentist said was tough to fix, she also got her tongue tie fixed. We had to be at the hospital at 6 a.m. and we were all exhausted the whole day. I really believe they eat too much sugar. My oldest daughter is crazy about chocolate and my husband is always taking them for rides to get treats by the Maverik that's near our house. But they both brush everyday. I don't want to go through that again, that's for sure so I am going to have to start being a chocolate Nazi. But I am so glad it's over and everything went well

 

[msop04]

So glad everything worked out and both kids are cavity-free!

 

[nottospec]

Hi Livannie,

I am so glad everything went well, knew it would but understand it is the fear of the unknown.

Please take a real hard look at the kids diets, at home and other places like grandparents etc.

It is not just chocolate that needs to be moderated, retentive sugars are found hidden in a lot of things. Look at your cereals, what you put on toast and sandwiches, any snack bars, dried fruits, sugary drinks, treats etc. it is not just the candy aisle that can cause the problems.

I will often give my patients a dietary analysis. Write down EVERYTHING that goes in a kids mouth FOR A WEEK and BE HONEST. Then take a highlighter and mark anything that has sugar. The more highlighter during the day, the greater and longer the acid challenge and risk of decay.

best saying is "everything in moderation". Sugar is the "poison of the new millennia" from a childhood obesity as well as dental health point of view. They don't need it!

 

[hippi_pixi]

I'm a bit late to the game and hopefully the OP's kids have already had their GA successfully. As a dentist i just want to clear a few things up.

Based on my experience It's extremely unlikely that a child under 5 will sit still for a checkup let alone actually having a filling done. The same for extracting teeth on kids under 8yrs old (without traumatising them). I don't like having to put anyone under a general anaesthetic but sometimes it is necessary.

Cavities may sound trivial but once the decay gets into the nerve of the tooth which it will do given time, the child will experience pain and then pain and infection until the tooth is pulled out. Often this needs to be done quickly once the child is in pain which means it must be done whether the child is happy about it or not. I have treated adults patients that are letting their teeth rot away without treatment due to their childhood bad experience.

Decay and early extraction of baby teeth not only has affects on the child mentally but the infection and pus under the baby tooth damages the adult tooth underneath, premature loose of baby teeth can cause adult teeth to drift resulting in severe crowding issues later on, the baby molar teeth are not lost until 12/13 yrs old.

So if children this young have dental decay it is extremely important to treat it even if it means a general anaesthetic, before the situation gets much worse.

Genetics plays no role in formation of cavities. However studies have shown that a parent with poor dental health can pass on bad bacteria through sharing food utensils or using your mouth to clean a fallen dummy, and the earlier a child gets these bacteria the more likely they will experience decay.

In the end as a parent dental decay comes down to oral hygiene and diet. Those are the only things you can control. Plaque and sugar.
Time to be a sugar nazi!