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Root canal in a baby tooth?


BrookValley.
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My poor 6-year old had an awful cavity in a molar a couple years ago. They fixed it and put a crown on the tooth, but it has now decayed further and become infected under the crown. :(  The pediatric dentist "strongly recommends" a root canal on the tooth because they don't want space to become an issue for the adult molar when it emerges. The other option, of course, is pulling the tooth and adding a spacer to preserve the space for when the adult molar erupts, but they say they don't want to do that.

 

:confused1:  My first reaction is bull----, pull the tooth and give him a spacer. I had one root canal when I was a teenager and it was a horrible, awful, painful experience. I would prefer the pain of birth than having a root canal. I have no desire, unless it is absolutely necessary, for my child to go through that. Also, it is a baby tooth. If it were an adult tooth, I would reconsider. I understand the space issue, of course, but...they can put in a spacer. It just seems ridiculous to perform a root canal. Of course, I could be wrong.

 

So why is the dentist recommending a root canal? Is there any good reason for this? I will be researching this further on my own and consulting another pediatric dentist for a second opinion, but thoughts from those who have been through this with their kiddos would be welcome. :)

 

For the record, we all take excellent care of our teeth, and we don't do juice or soda or eat a lot of junk. My poor kid just really got the short end of the stick genetically when it came to teeth. :(  I feel the need to say this because I was absolutely horrified when he started having dental issues. I feel so guilty, even though we've been told there's likely nothing we could have done to prevent it.

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A 'kiddie root canal', called a puplotomy, is a simple procedure. For the child it is no worse than a regular filling. It is over quickly and it spares the tooth, leaving it to hold space in the mouth for a permanent tooth.

 

My youngest two children had very week enamel. So, even with sealants they still had cavities. They also had the type of teeth that would show a small spot on exam or x-ray but, once the dentist started drilling, would reveal itself to be huge inside. It lead to some pretty radical dentistry. In fact, my daughter had a real root canal on a permanent tooth at 10. Yikes.

 

At any rate, the pulpotomy is really not difficult for your child. The roots are shallower and far easier to remove. Leaving the real tooth there to hold space is less expensive and more comfortable for your child.

 

NB: I'm not a dentist - just a mom of some kids with crappy teeth. 

Edit: It was kids 4 and 5 - not 5 and 6. Soooo many bad teeth I can't even remember any more.....

 

 

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I am not a dental expert, but frankly that sounds rather quacky to me.

 

That is my initial reaction.

 

A 'kiddie root canal', called a puplotomy, is a simple procedure. For the child it is no worse than a regular filling. It is over quickly and it spares the tooth, leaving it to hold space in the mouth for a permanent tooth.

 

My youngest two children had very week enamel. So, even with sealants they still had cavities. They also had the type of teeth that would show a small spot on exam or x-ray but, once the dentist started drilling, would reveal itself to be huge inside. It lead to some pretty radical dentistry. In fact, my daughter had a real root canal on a permanent tooth at 10. Yikes.

 

At any rate, the pulpotomy is really not difficult for your child. The roots are shallower and far easier to remove. Leaving the real tooth there to hold space is less expensive and more comfortable for your child.

 

NB: I'm not a dentist - just a mom of some kids with crappy teeth. 

Edit: It was kids 4 and 5 - not 5 and 6. Soooo many bad teeth I can't even remember any more.....

 

And this is kind of what I was wondering about. For *me* the procedure was horrible, drawn out, and painful. The tooth eventually fused to my jaw bone, and eventually the root canal failed and I had to have the tooth removed, anyway. I had to have the extraction done under sedation because it was complicated and the tooth came out in many pieces. With all that, I can't imagine doing that to a baby tooth. But if it is different, than that may make sense and may be why they recommend it.

 

I actually like these dentists and would like to trust them, but the idea of a root canal for a six-year old on a baby tooth really throws me for a loop.

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I've had two crowns. I also had a bunch of teeth (molars) pulled as a tween because my ortho wanted them out.  some took a few years to come in.

2dd had to have a root canal when she was four because the tooth abscessed.  she handled it just fine.  same issue of spacing.  she did have to have it pulled when she was six.  she didn't have a spacer.  don't remember if that was pertinent to the issue she does have with another tooth's spacing that didn't respond well to trying to fix the position.

 

I'm sure the dentist's skills has a bearing on how the patient handles it.

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My DS11 is about to have this done. He had a metal crown that at some point came off. I had forgotten that there had been a crown. Current dentist thought it was just a tooth that had broken and put in a filling in August. Now the tooth has abscess.

 

The dentist did give the option of pulling it and putting in a spaces. The X-ray shows that the tooth would not likely fall out on its own for 2 to 2 1/2 years. Although this is late for most kids, it falls right in with when his sister lost her baby molars. DS would t then have a spacer. The spacer was explained to us as something that would is not permanently mounted but comes out for cleaning. My DS would lose his head if it wasn't attached so I am not too interested in continually replacing a spacer.

 

We are going with the root canal option with a new crown. I just hope DS doesn't loose the crown again.

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My 5yods had a baby root canal done in the spring last year.  It really is a completely different procedure than it is in adults and in his case was definitely no more traumatizing than a small cavity being filled (which he had done at the same time).    In fact, the cavity was worse for him because they had a terrible time getting the tooth numb for that work and had to stop several times for more novacain.  The baby root canal was no big deal and the tooth remains in place with no further issue.

 

I think the cost was about the same as it was for the cavity.

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Alright, there's always at least one of us who has a horror story that make you wish you never asked.  Today, I'll be that one.  

 

 

My dd had allergies that made her throw up.  A lot.  It rotted out her molars by the time she was 6.  In Florida I took her to a pediatric dentist who insisted on the root canals one side at a time.  Of course, only 2 visits were covered by insurance, the other two would be OOP.  After the first visit dd had a reaction to the medicine (which the ped dentist refused to admit) and with the advice of our regular pediatrician we didn't ever go back.  We moved to VA very shortly after and found a great dentist but he didn't want to do anything with her because she was afraid of needles, had reactions to medicine and she had two abscesses.  He recommended a ped dentist 2 hours from our house.  We went.  The procedures were done - to the tune of $1200 oop.  My dd had a severe reaction to the medicine and wound up being hospitalized.  $1500.  3 months later she abscessed again and all of the teeth that had been done had to be taken out by an oral surgeon in the hospital. $2000.

 

Almost $5000 to save the baby teeth and NOTHING to show for it.  

 

Oh, and since we figured out what her allergies are and she no longer throws up all the time, she's not had a single cavity - 8 years later.

 

The decision to take them out and put in a spacer versus a root canal is not an issue I ever want to face again and can offer you no practical advice.  The only (irrational) advice that I'll offer is - pull the tooth and run away.

 

I probably shouldn't have even posted.  Sorry.  

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Yeah I have a few dr/dentist horror stories so I am definitely skeptical.  I probably should avoid giving my opinion because of it, but really I can't help it! 

 

See, I think that there are some really crappy doctors and dentist out there and people should be aware of that. So, imo, Rock On, Roy.  Rock on!

 

 

My mil is of the generation that you did what you were told by the doctor/dentist and that was that.  You didn't fight it.  You didn't ask questions.  And you certainly didn't tell them you thought they were full of manure.  

 

Most of my conversations with her, leave me looking like a fish out of water.  I stand there opening and closing my mouth while my brain tries to figure out what or how or even if I should respond to her.

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Yeah one dentist told my husband he needed 12 fillings.  This was basically his first visit to a dentist here in the states.  He has never had dental issues.  I said get a second opinion.  He was like why...dentist says....blah blah.  I said, no that sounds very quacky.  I said get a second opinion.  So he did.  Second dentist told him his teeth were fine.  He has been going to that guy for years now and so far still has never been told he needed fillings.  Um...so what was up with that?  Scary.

 

Very scary.

 

The dentist in Fla told me I needed to have super dooper deep cleanings under my gum line to keep me from getting gingivitis, that of course would be oop because insurance didn't cover it.  When I got here, the dentist laughed and said, oh, that's just how he was going to pay for his vacation.  8 years later my teeth and gums are just fine, thank you very much!

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Sorry. There are no guarantees in dentistry.  Is it possible that the pulpotomy will fail? Yes. It is the best situation in this case.(just by what I am hearing-obviously, I have not seen the xrays...)  A spacer is another option, but it will take 4-8 more years before this tooth erupts.  There is a risk of the tooth that the spacer is banded to  decaying around the spacer.  I have seen this happen. Then, there is another possible extraction. Kids swallow them(I did when I was a youngster)

 

If it is waaay cheaper to get the spacer, and you really can not afford it, then go with that option.  If you can afford it, do the pulpotomy and let the tooth hold its own space. :)

 

 

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We have an awesome pediatric dentist who has handled several out of the ordinary things for us (disabled dd is a tough customer and they are awesome with her). My youngest dd gets cavities easily and they grow big in a ridiculously short amount of time. She had the "baby root canal" as they called it on one of her teeth that then got a silver crown (she has since lost it and has her permanent tooth). It was basically the same as getting a cavity filled. I don't remember the cost being much different than a regular cavity either. I trust our dentist, so when he said this was the best thing to do I didn't hesitate. No problems here.

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Ugh.  Luckily kiddos inherited their dad's teeth, but my crazy bad experiences with a dentist when I was very young have left me very very cautious when it comes to dentists.

 

I would opt to first get a second opinion, and then I'd yank it and put in a spacer if another dentist agreed it needed done.

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  • 8 months later...

I had crappy teeth as a kid and had at least one if not two of my teeth removed. They just removed them and the new ones grow in. Honestly the whole space/root canal thing seems a bit strange. And does it actually matter if one of your molars isn't quite straight?

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I would absolutely get a second or even third opinion. I would not go with just one.

 

I had a root canal done at 8 or 9. I never thought much about it. I was in tremendous pain from the tooth problem itself so couldn't wait for the root canal surgery to fix my terrible pain. I still remember it. . . it felt like a hammer was coming down on my tooth rythmically.

 

Now that I'm older I think it was from, in fact, bad dental care. My parents were "on it" after that -- probably out of sheer embarrassment.

 

Alley

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  • 8 years later...

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