Son Needs Dental Work in Hospital

The same thing happened to my son. I saw several dentist who were all horibble, and terrified my son. One yelled at him, one straped him to the tabble and tried using that gas on him to calm him down, but it never worked. They were going to send him to the hospital to be put under and give him silver crowns on his front teeth. I was freaking out, until I did some more research and found a great pediatric dentist in Aurburn, ca( about three hours away from Reno) That dentist put white crowns on my son's front teeth and filled in the cavitites on his back molars without having to knock him out. My son loved going there. It was a real nice experience for my son and myself. Contact me if you would like more info about that dentist. I would not recomend puting your son under if you don't have to. Good luck.

My daughter underwent this at 3. She didn't have milk rot, just bad teeth. They said there was nothing I could have done. It's genetic (I have really bad teeth, too.)

Don't feel like bad parents - none of us are perfect, no matter what they may act like. The worst for my daughter was waking up from the surgery and the ride home. After that, she was pain free and happy to be able to eat easily again. And showing off her beautiful new white teeth to eveyone she met.

Good luck!

Hi C.,

I have been a dental assistant for 13 years and have had the opportunity to work with small children. It sounds like your son needs alot of work. It is really hard for young children to sit through that much work without developing a dental phobia. It is usually the best answer in that situation to have it all taken care of at once and they dont remember any of it. As far as the financial aspect, there is a credit company called care credit that you can apply for online. If your dentist accepts care credit it may be a way to help you finance it. There are several low intrest options available. You do have to be careful though to choose which option you want. There is no penalty to pay it off early, but if you dont pay it off within the specified amount of time the intrest is really high. I do know that if its over $1000.00 you can choose a 60 month option which would be more than enough time to pay it off. Good luck, and I would be happy to give you any other information if you need.

Try not to beat yourself up about it. I was uneducated as well with my first child. She switched from breastmilk to juice at 12 months, and went to be with it every night. She would not drink cow's milk. I didn't even start brushing her teeth til she was almost 2. I was dreading bringing her to the dentist when she turned 4. I was shocked to find out that she has perfect teeth and no cavities! I think a LARGE part of it is genetics. My daughters teeth should have been rotting, but due to genetics we were lucky. You are not the only one who has had a problem with this. At least you are taking charge now, and won't make the same mistakes with your next child. Good luck, and I hope your LO makes it through with flying colors!

Yes, I went through this as well. My son has weaker enamel and etc. than his sisters (who never had a cavity)....plus his dad was sneaking him the bottle at bedtime when I was at work in the evenings! I was so upset when I found out (and furious with my husband).

I think the big concerns are managing their anxiety. Luckily your son is old enough to talk things over with. You can talk about how he needs to have his teeth "fixed" so that he doesn't become very, very sick and so that his mouth doesn't start hurting a lot. Talk about how the dentist is going to help him, really build it up as a good thing in this respect.

And talk in a brief, calm way about how you will stay there at the office the whole time and be there for him when he's all done. If your dentist won't let you stay in the room with your son, be sure he knows that, but explain why you can't be in there. Try to frame it in a positive way.

And you can plan together how you will share special time together afterwards. Maybe rent a special movie and cuddle together. Or play a favorite game together.

We did this with my son when he had to go back a year later for follow up work and these things seemed to help him. I really emphasized how this was something we had to take care of, to prevent worse problems down the road. We even joked together about how he if we didn't take care of his teeth he wouldn't have any left and then how would he eat his favorite foods.

And we talked about how he was nervous/scared. We talked about times he had been brave and about what a big boy he was and all the things he could do. And I told him that I knew he could do this too. And about how it would only last a little while and then it would be all better. And then I asked him if he could think of something we could do after the dentist that would make him really really happy. And he picked a special toy he had really been wanting.

And so when we went in for the precedure, we reviewed how great he was going to do and how we would go to the toy store later. And we talked about the thing he wanted (a $10 toy) and what he would do with it.

And he did great! It had been so traumatic for both of us when he was 2 1/2 but at 3 1/2 it was a breeze by comparison. When he came out I asked him how it went and he admitted he'd been really scared. I told him I understood, that I would have been scared too if I was him. But I pointed out that he'd done it anyway. And now his teeth were fixed. And I told him that's what being brave is-- doing what has to be done, when you're scared. And I told him he was a really brave guy.

He shed a few tears and hugged me. And I could tell he was really really proud. And later we went to the toy store. And of course I made a point of telling the family, in front of him, how well he'd done.

So just talk to the dentist and find out what to expect -- if you can stay with your son or not, how long it will take, etc. And just make sure to keep yourself calm-- or have your husband go if you get too emotional. Because the kids get more scared if they see us scared.

You can also ask the dentist what medications they will be using, and about the chances of an allergic reaction. When my son went the first time he he broke out in really bad hives and swelling afterwards, a reaction to the meds. So thereafter they used a different one, and no problems.

Also, I was tweaked out about him not having his top front teeth. But once they were out... I realized he didn't look "wierd", he just looked cute! And when he went back to nursery school... no one even noticed. Hard to believe but true.

Ok, if it makes you feel better, Im a dental assistant and my 4 year old daughter just went thru the same exact thing. The doctor was going to do three 40 min. office visits with valium but I decided it would be much less traumatizing for her to do it all in one shot. So we did and it went very smoothly. I had it done at Kaiser in SR and they were all very nice. She wasnt traumatized at all. She vomited a little right afterwards and they gave her some meds for that and let me sit with her right after she woke up. I think this happens to lots of kids, my coworker had to do the same thing with her three year old daughter. Some kids just have teeth that are more prone to this due to their acidic saliva and the structure of their teeth, ie having deep grooves in their molars. I wish you the best of luck and let me know if you have any other questions or need more support. Im confident he'll do fine. (it'll probably be harder on you than him!)
S.

Hi C.~

I'm sorry that you have to go through this. I have not been through this as a parent although I have been through this as a professional. Before I became a SAHM I worked as a pedieratic dental assistant. We never had to do our surgeries in the hospital we were able to put the kids under right there in our office with an anasteologist(sp).
I can tell you that it is the best for the kids it is over and done with and they don't remember. It is going to be hard for both you and your husband to watch them take your baby, but know that he is going to be in good hands. Make sure that you have your husband there with you or family or a friend just for support. Don't beat yourself up over this now you know and wont let it happen again or can let your friends and family members know. I wish you the best of luck if you have any questions. Please let contact me I would be happy to hear from you. Also let us know how everything went.
M.

My daughter had a bunch of cavities at age 5, and I took her to a pediatric dentist who put her under and fixed her whole mouth in one visit. It was totally worth the (large) expense to do it that way. The only traumatic part for her was waking up and not understanding what had happened. She wasn't nauseous but she was very emotionally upset and weepy and confused. It took a hour or two to get calm and re-oriented, and then she was tired for the rest of the day. I'd suggest not making any other plans for the day of your son's dental work.

I was hysterical about her having so many cavities and beat myself up for a long time. It was an expensive and upsetting experience. But it definitely taught me that brushing is not enough, and that I have to take her to the dentist every 6 months. I have pretty strong teeth and at times in my life have gone for years between check-ups with no cavities (when I didn't have insurance). But now I know better, and I do what needs to be done.

Now that it's over, my main feeling is gratitude that the pediatric dentist and anesthesia were available so that my daughter didn't get traumatized and learn to fear the dentist for the rest of her life.

Hello C. -

Our family just went through this in Dec. My 4 year old had 16 teeth worked on and we did it at the hospital. The worst part was having her go under ansthesia (sp?). However, it was the best thing we could do. She got all the work done, and we have been back to the dentist since to check on the work and she wasn't scared or upset. The day we went back for the check up a girl in the next room was crying so hard I think she was making herself sick. My daughter is really into taking care of her teeth now and we have learned a lot. We used CareCredit - It is an interest free credit card specifically for medical expenses. Our dentist gave us the info. They have a website which I believe is www.carecredit.com, and hte phone # is 1-888-893-7864. I hope this helps. It really did turn out well, and the recovery time after the hosiptal was literally like a day and then she was back to her old self!
I hope this helps!
K.