Opt Out at Dental Visits

I have to recommend Dr. Ken (Wiedenfeld) in Victoria. He and his entire staff are fantastic. He never, ever, ever gets flustered (even when my daughter nearly bit his finger off!). The children are never crying...they are "singing". He and his staff are all helpful, supportive, knowledgeable...I really could go on and on. He has always listened to my concerns and answered any questions I had. Good Luck!

my husband is a dentist so i asked him for you, and he said he's fine with no flouride or nitrous, but starting at age 5 he really needs to take xrays so he can make sure he doesn't miss signs of decay. when a parent asks for no xrays, he lets it go once but tells them that on their next visit to him he needs to take them. hope that helps

Personally, I only opt out of the flouride treatment. (We have never had a need for Nitrus as my kids haven't had cavities). I never had a problem with the Dentist...only the Hygenist. She was extreemly rude and almost combative in front of my son and other patients. I filed a complaint and the only reason we are still going there is that she was already planning on leaving and is now gone.
You are the parent and while they can say the disagree, they do not have the right to tell you what you must do. There is a listing of Holistic Dentists you can get online.

Blessings,

Any decent dentist will support your choices as an individual and as a parent. If they give you a hard time, time to find a new dentist. I'm sure you have your reasons for not wanting to use those things with your kids dental visits, as do I, and I do my research. The last thing you need is a lecture from your dentist!

My daughter doesn't like the laughing gas either so we don't use it, and we always opt for the flouride free toothpaste for my youngest because he still swallows instead of spitting the toothpaste out.

Sometimes Mom knows what is best for her kids :)

Best,

D.

Our pedia-dentist is Dr. Traylor in Baytown. He was thrilled at my answers to his questions on how I take care of my boys' teeth. I told him I've only used Tom's Natural toothpaste...flouride FREE. He said he did the same w/ his own daughter. His exact quote was, "I would rather fix some little problems here and there when they're adults, than fix the damage flouride does to their teeth." And, we don't do refined sugars, chemicals, or food coloring, etc in our diets. Now, we haven't had to deal w/ dental work that involves the other things you were asking about. I was surprised to not get an eye-roll from him...every other nurse and doctor has!!

If you don't want it for any reason JUST SAY 'NO'! I only allow xrays & gas in an emergency, fluoride my kids got them once at age 7 and never again. I have my dentist use the toothpaste cleaner with fluoride in it. If they refuse then I refuse to come back and find a new dentist which I go and interview before I bring the kidos. I don't let many doc's give me anything unless they explain it first or I know I need it. I have been known to carry a drug book with me so I know what the affects of each drug is before I except the prescription. You are in charge of your own Destiny! Don't let any one take that away or hurt it.
Best wishes!
K. www.FreeGasAtLast.com/Id

As a mom who just had a child have quite a bit of dental work done, I don't recommend opting out of things like the x-rays. Had we not had them done on my son we would never have known that he needed to have a tooth pulled, cavaties filled, etc... Things were not bad but they could have been had we not been proactive about it. The laughing gas or something similar is intended to help your child relax. We ended up making 2 visits to the dentist in a 24 hr. period because my son got so worked up and upset (even with the gas) we went back first thing the next day to complete the work after he had some rest and could calm down.

It is to each their own but please keep in mind that what you prefer may not be what is best for your child. I would talk about everything with your dentist and devise a plan. If you opt out this visit, complete it at the next one kind of thing so you know what to expect and you both agree on it.

Good luck!

Why would you want to opt out? As a mom with a little one (now almost 7) who has really soft teeth and has had unfortunately extensive work I am not sure why you would want to. Had we not done yearly xrays we would have set her up to have her "grown-up" teeth to be in just as bad of shape as her baby teeth.

I know if you go out there and read every thing you see you will be so freaked out you won't let your kids leave the house. So I encourage you to visit with your dentist, one you completely trust (maybe someone from your church?), and share your concerns. If you have a good dentist, he will know and understand your concerns and know where the concerns come from and if there is any real crediblity to those claims. Once you have talked with him - not the assistant (even though they are great and extremely knowlegedable - you can make an informed decision.

For example, my daughter was on a medication for eczema a few years ago and when I went in to the doctor to ask him about the medication and the "new studies" they had just completed. He was able to right away say that study was not a true scientific study and that he has done the research and at that point, he would still keep his own kids on the meds. It made me feel better just to visit with him and know that he was up-to-date on all the latest.

Maybe you could even make an appt to just visit with your dentist without the children to make sure you can really talk without distraction.

I know all you hear is really scary and there could definitely be some merit behind it, so just talk to him.

Good luck. I know you will do what is best for your child!

I work for a wondurful dentist. On the fluoride, we highly recomend it however, it is your option. On the xrays, there is no reason to opt out. They are needed in order to make a complete diagnoses. There are some things that are hard to see without them. If the primary teeth have problems and are not taken care of, you run the risk of having the same problem on the adult teeth. They have to last many more years than the primary teeth.

If you do not already have a dentist, I recommend Dr. Matthew Daggett. I am not positive if he accepts children as patients, but it's worth a try. He is a Holistic dentist located on Hildebrand and I believe he would be supportive of your request. Good luck!

I am a dental hygienest and we often have parents who opt out of optional dental treatment. We have them sign a waiver and let them know if we see something that looks like it may need and xray but overall we feel it is the parents choice for deciding treatment for their child.

My children are now 30, 28 and 27. The first time they had fluoride two of them got sick to their stomach with it. Then I heard it was found when they were trying to make rat poisoning. Reading a bit more I decided to tell the dentists I didn't want it for any of us. The dental workers would sometimes gently advise me of "the benefits" of it but they respected my wishes. None of my children had any cavities growing up. I've also kept x-rays to a minimum, only accepting them when I was convinced they were necessary.
Now I also want to say that my mother died from side effects of medicine many years ago so I had some fears about using them. I raised my children with chiropractic care, herbs and supplements. And I, myself, have a high pain tolerance but now that my daughter is grown I know she doesn't and she may have needed something where I wouldn't and didn't realize that then. I'm NOT saying she lived in great pain and I didn't treat it. Also when she started taking meds she had some real side effects, as we really are sensitive to drugs. But I wanted to repeat the message I saw someone else gave you, that what may be best for you is not necessarily best for your child. I hope you understand what I mean and this was of some help. Pray about everything and try to respect the individuality of each child in all areas of their lives. What a job child rearing is! But relax and enjoy it too!!!