Mommy22alyns Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 The girls had a dental checkup today and mostly did well. Rebecca was practically hyperventilating but she calmed down and just held my hand the whole time. Unfortunately, she has a huge cavity in two of her baby teeth. As she is almost 9, it's teeth that may come out within the year. But, they're huge and would require a root canal. In both teeth, I assume. We would have to pay totally out of pocket for it as we don't have insurance. They referred us to another dentist and I took the info. This dentist said that it could go either way - it may not cause her any trouble (they don't hurt her) or she could end up in the ER with an abcess. So WWYD in this situation? I'd hate for her to end up in the hospital of course, but I also don't want to shell out $4K and have her lose the teeth in six months. Sylvia got a 100% clean bill of health, thank goodness! The dentist kind of dismissed the idea of pulling them, not sure if it's not feasible or if the dentist he referred us to would evaluate and perform that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Years ago my nephew had that happen and the dentist pulled the tooth and put a spacer in its place. It stayed in for about 3 years until the permanent tooth came in. It was a LOT cheaper than a root canal. If they do a root canal, what happens when the baby tooth needs to come out? Won't the dentist have to remove it since it'll be firmly attached? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Yep. I'd have it pulled and a spacer placed. It's gotta be cheaper than 4000.00. The thought of a root canal freaks me out. I can't imagine putting a 9yo though one, expecially for a baby tooth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 Okay, I called the dentist we saw this morning and the other dentist would have to evaluate her and they'd perform the extraction. I hope that's what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Okay, I called the dentist we saw this morning and the other dentist would have to evaluate her and they'd perform the extraction. I hope that's what happens. That makes way more sense than a root canal on baby teeth. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 $4k doesn't sound right. And the root canals they do are called "baby root canals" at my dds' dental office--not the same thing as adult root canals. They are a pretty simple procedure that is part of the cavity filling process. Filling two cavities (adjacent teeth? cheaper anasthesia costs) should be in the several hundred dollar range, not thousands of dollars. It might depend on where the teeth are as to when she might lose them. My 11 year old still has her upper molar baby teeth and canines and still has the two primary molars that are furthest back on the bottom. And none are loose now. I would look at some low-cost dental clinics. Our Boys and Girls club does some care. Or call around to get some quotes for getting the cavities filled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
higginszoo Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Yep, since they're teeth that are scheduled to come out in the next couple of years anyway, I'd go with the extraction and spacers, which should be an option. Leaving them and dealing with an abcess is more risk than I'm willing to take, but root canals on teeth that should be coming out relatively soon don't make sense to me, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 $4k doesn't sound right. And the root canals they do are called "baby root canals" at my dds' dental office--not the same thing as adult root canals. They are a pretty simple procedure that is part of the cavity filling process. Filling two cavities (adjacent teeth? cheaper anasthesia costs) should be in the several hundred dollar range, not thousands of dollars. It might depend on where the teeth are as to when she might lose them. My 11 year old still has her upper molar baby teeth and canines and still has the two primary molars that are furthest back on the bottom. And none are loose now. I would look at some low-cost dental clinics. Our Boys and Girls club does some care. Or call around to get some quotes for getting the cavities filled. That makes me feel better too. They're not adjacent teeth, but I was just taking the cost of my root canals and doubling it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennsmile Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Those numbers seem high to me. We had two baby root canals and caps for my oldest when he was 4 and it was $1200 I think out of pocket, no insurance. That was only 5 years ago and he had laughing gas. That said if they aren't bothering her you could wait and see. DS didn't complain till it abcessed and we never went to the ER with it. We just took him to the Dr for the first time and finally were able to get an appt so they could be capped. She may also loose the teeth earlier than if she didn't have cavities in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Have them pulled my ds had a baby molar pulled that had a cavity and was filled and later abscessed. The extraction was no big deal and the permanent molar grew in within the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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