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So my 15 mo ds is going to need dental work....


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I don't know if anyone remembers, but I had taken ds in to the dentist about 3 mos ago....the dentist said he had tooth decay due to night nursing. So I've stopped nursing at night and have been brushing his teeth 2-3x/day with Tom's Strawberry toothpaste.

 

We went back to the dentist yesterday and he was very, very pleased to see that the decay has stopped HOWEVER enough damage was sustained that he wants to do some restorative work which will mean general anestetic for the little one. I'm so sad and a bit worried about this. He just seems so young to have to go through this. This dentist has been doing this for 35 years and says he does similiar work about 8x/week. He does it at the hospital and has an anesthesiologist working w/him...he feels it's perfectly safe. Of course, the disclosure papers are horrifying to read...I'm so discouraged over this.

 

Has anyone else gone through something similiar at all w/their little one? I just want it over and done with.

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Wow, it just seems...well, I don't know--how bad is the decay? I guess I'd trust the Dr if he's someone you've known a while. Is it so extensive that there would be issues like difficulty eating normally? I know the baby teeth are "place holders," and missing some can shift everything around--so I understand if pulling the decayed ones isn't an option.

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My foster daughter was 2 1/2 when she needed some major dental work - 2 cavities and 2 caps due to night time bottles. Her dentist wanted to put her under to do the work. All of the other foster parents in my support group said this was normal and no big deal. I was so uncomfortable that I got another opinion and found a dentist that would do it without putting her under.

 

The dentist uses an oral medication that made my dd loopy. I have no idea what they used or if it was worse for her than being put under general anestetics. Anyway, they did all the work at once and my dd did great. She is now 9 with no other major side effects or major dental problems.

 

I glad you stopped the night nursing and started brushing because you probably won't have to deal with this again.

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We did this when my youngest was 2. I had conversations discussing my concerns with the dentist and the anesthesiologist. It really was a hard decision and thankfully everything went ok. Does the dentist think your son won't sit still for the work?

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I am pretty uncomfortable with general anesthetic for a child so young. Two of my children had decay that needed fixing under age 2. Both of them had oral sedation ( the kind that makes them loopy.) While it did not make the procedures tear free (one child was quite freaked out by having strangers in his mouth, let alone the papoose board) they didn't remember it later that day.

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I'm a big fan of general anasthetic (spelling?) for dentistry. My youngest had what the dentist referred to as "bottle rot", despite never having had a single bottle, and barely any solid food until age 2. We opted for the general, and it was easy on us all- she needed 6 cavities filled and 2 caps, at the tender age of 2. Our insurance would nto cover the outpatient facility or the anaestheoligist (crap- thats a toughy! you know what I mean, right?) so spent about $2000 out of pocket, but our insurance recently changed to cover it for procedures on kids under 4. So your insurance may cover it.

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My kid with pitted enamel had to have ongoing fillings and crowns beginning around age 2 or 3. We gave her oral sedatives prior to the appointment, and in office the dentist gave her gas plus the novocaine injection. The sedative was Valium, but it caused her to vomit, so we discontinued that step.

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I would get a second opinion. My sister tried a new dentist recently that said she needed 5 fillings and her wisdom teeth extracted. She went back to get a 2nd opinion from a dentist that she had seen in the past and he told her that she only needed 1 filling and that her wisdom teeth were fine. He said that the other dentist wanted to fill stains on her teeth and not decay. My sister when 3 or 4 went to a dentist who put the wrong size cap on her tooth. That caused the tooth to abscess and have to have it pulled and it damaged the teeth next to it and they had to be capped. I'd have a second opinion and make sure you are going to a pediatric dentist.

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