Pediatric Oral Surgery ???

[kricau]

Ok, I am hoping that some other moms can give me a bit of encouragement. My 3 1/2 year old daughter has to go to the hospital to have some dental work done :( They have tried to do it at the office but she would not hold still and was screaming pretty bad. Then tried again with Versed -oral sedation. But she still got all worked up. So they are going to do it at the hospital under anesthesia :( It's only a couple of fillings. But there is one tooth (the front right) that is pretty bad. A hole formed in the back of it and just keeps getting bigger, no matter how much I brush it or pick out the food particles. That one might have to be a baby root canal if the nerves are damaged :(

 

I feel like such a horrible mom but bad teeth run in our family. I have to get a filling every time I go to the dentist. I wish we wouldn't have started her at the dentist till she was older (like my first daughter). But then we would still be dealing with a bunch of cavities (like my first daughter). At least she was old enough to not freak out every time we walk in the doors of a dentist (or doctor) office :(

 

So has anybody been through this before??? Please let me know your experiences, good or bad.

 

Thanks

[Lisa in SC]

My oldest son had to have 3 cavities filled under anesthesia when he was approximately the same age as your child. We had to do this due to his intense anxiety at that age. We tried several times before opting for hospital and anesthesia. It went very well. He was only lightly anesthetized, and suffered no ill effects. He has abnormal enamel, so has needed more dental work than any of my other children.

 

This was the only time that we needed to go that route. We transitioned to a fabulous pediatric dentist who used just a bit of nitrous. Now, at 13, he needs no additional help beyond novacaine when necessary. However, I wonder about the expense of a root canal. I'm no dentist, so I have no idea if this is feasible, but I might consider discussing whether it would make more sense to pull the tooth. That may be terrible advice, I really don't know, but it is something I would at least ask (I realize you may have already done this).

[kricau]

Thank you :) That's what I needed to hear that someone else had the same thing, and everything went ok. Thank you again

[Lisa in SC]

Any time. :001_smile: It can be nerve wracking when our babies need to undergo any type of procedure. Best wishes for a stress free (or at least as stress free as possible) resolution to her dental problems! :grouphug:

[Sparkle]

My son had to have this done when he was young. I forget how old he was but maybe 4 or 5? Anyway, he had general anesthetic and a whole bunch of teeth worked on. He did just fine. No problems, and the whole thing went quickly. No regrets here.

[LittleIzumi]

Dd had 6 teeth fixed under general. She was absolutely fine. It was less traumatic than when they tried to fix them in-office. :glare:

[Dory]

Bad teeth run in my family too. My oldest two both had to go in for surgery at the same time. One was 3 and the other 4. I had them seal all the teeth while they were under and we haven't had to deal with another cavity since then. I'll be sealing all their adult teeth as well.

[MamaT]

My youngest daughter had several fillings under anesthesia at 3. She did just fine. I know it is scary when they have to put your little one to sleep. :grouphug:

[Ann]

My oldest at 3 under several cavities filled under anaesthetic. My youngest went under at 2 for cavities. Both did great and there have been no problems with visiting the dentist either. I think the first time it was harder on me than my son. Just be aware that they can be really upset as they come out of it.

[Tiramisu]

One dd had 4 cavities at age 2. It was traumatic because I'd never dealt with cavities before or any kind of serious medical treatment. We did do oral sedation, and it might seem easier but it didn't work all that well with her. Maybe it was similar to what you went through. She wouldn't knock out and got pretty hyper, so they had to give her a lot of gas on top of the oral sedation to finally calm her down. It was stressful dealing with all that and wondering about how much medication she was receiving and what to do if she had a bad reaction and needed medical care. I know you aren't looking forward to it, but it may be a better route based on your previous experience. And then you'll know that you'll be in a hospital in case anything unexpected comes up...but it won't. It will be fine. :001_smile:

[Slipper]

My oldest had dental work under anesthesia recently (due to her autism). I wanted to mention that while she is out, they can do other things so if she needs sealants, do that. If she needs more x-rays, do that. Once she is out, they can do a lot of treatments. I know it's hard but I am sure she'll be fine. The hardest part will be the "nothing to eat or drink after midnight". Oh, and after my daughter woke up from anesthesia, she was very, very dizzy. Be prepared to carry her (so no extra stuff to carry if you can help it) unless they wheel her out in a wheelchair or wagon. And the car ride home might make her throw up.

[Lisa in Jax]

Ok, I am hoping that some other moms can give me a bit of encouragement. My 3 1/2 year old daughter has to go to the hospital to have some dental work done :( They have tried to do it at the office but she would not hold still and was screaming pretty bad. Then tried again with Versed -oral sedation. But she still got all worked up. So they are going to do it at the hospital under anesthesia :( It's only a couple of fillings. But there is one tooth (the front right) that is pretty bad. A hole formed in the back of it and just keeps getting bigger, no matter how much I brush it or pick out the food particles. That one might have to be a baby root canal if the nerves are damaged :(

 

I feel like such a horrible mom but bad teeth run in our family. I have to get a filling every time I go to the dentist. I wish we wouldn't have started her at the dentist till she was older (like my first daughter). But then we would still be dealing with a bunch of cavities (like my first daughter). At least she was old enough to not freak out every time we walk in the doors of a dentist (or doctor) office :(

 

So has anybody been through this before??? Please let me know your experiences, good or bad.

 

Thanks

Our son, who was adopted from an orphanage at age 4.5, had had no dental work before we adopted him. He needed 8-10 fillings and a root canal when he came home. Because of the extensive work needed, the dentist asked if we'd let him have the work done under anesthesia so he could do it all at once. It went fine.

 

Expect to watch your child very closely the first hour out of anesthesia. Our son thought he could walk when he was still woozy, so it was a bit of a struggle for the first half hour or so. He kept getting up, and we had to be sure he didn't fall down b/c his balance was off. After he fully came out of anesthesia, he acted like nothing had happened, and he had no side effects or memory of the dental work. To this day (9 years later), he has no fear of dentists, b/c his first visits were not scary for him. :)

[kricau]

WOW!!! :) Thank you SO much everyone. That was exactly what I needed to hear. That others have gone through the same thing, and everything went fine. Bless you all for replying. I love this message board, it has been a God send. I never got into Facebook or Twitter cause it seemed like a waste of time, but this is so helpful. To have a panel of other moms who are going through the same things in life :)