Pediatric Dental Advice - Seeking Words of Wisdom

Brooke, I understand exactly what you're going through. In Feb., my then 3 year old son had to get caps on 4 molars due to cavities. We use FW Pediatric Dental, and they were very good. We used the hospital in NRH, and they were very good also and gave him a little stuffed animal when he woke up. While we were in a room waiting, he got to watch a cartoon, and then they gave him 'happy juice' that just made him very tired. We told him the dentist gave him 'super teeth', and he still brags about them. He was groggy of course and did vomit a little on the way home (probably from the anesthesia). Within 24 hours, he was back to normal. I would recommend having your child's favorite blanky and/or animal with you. Good luck! I will pray that everything works out great for your family too.

If your dentist is not a pediatric dentist, i would defenitely find one and get a second opinion. Mý daughter now 11, has had many dental proceedures thje first big pulpotomty (baby root canal and cap) at barely 4. She was not sedated and has never been. I would defenitely seek a second opinion before sedation.

Brooke, we had caps done this year. The procedure went well, recovery went well, and she's in good shape today!

The lead-up to the procedure was not pleasant. I'm sure ours was an isolated case, but the staff was running an anesthesiologist short because he'd been called to another facility for an emergency. So, we were supposed to be there at 9:00 am; we got there at 8:45am. At 10:45, we still were not being treated, waiting in the waiting room where they were offering everyone lots of water. For a grown-up, not so bad. For a little one who is not supposed to eat or drink ANYTHING, it was hell.

So, all I can offer is this: be prepared. Call ahead. Confirm the night before and the morning of if possible. Ask specific questions about any problems or delays. And be prepared to punt if needed--we were about five minutes away from leaving the facility because they did not communicate well with us.

We went through that as well & thankfully we have a great dentist, Dr. Jack Morrow on Bryant Irvin Rd. in Fort Worth. No problems at all, the dr is great. They give "bubble juice" I think thats what they call it. My 1st child (15 yr old) went through it & my 2nd child (4 yr old) went through it this year. They both still love him despite the work that had to be done. Good Luck!

My daughter had 5 caps, 5 baby root canals and several more fillings done under general anthesia when she was about 3 years old also. It was done down at Childrens by her dentist. My daughter was a 29 week preemie,and one of the issues with being that preemie, is missing the 3rd trimester when the vast majority of enamel is layed down. She simply has very week enamel on her teeth.
I just told her before hand that the boo-boo's on her teeth were going to get fixed. I really never mentioned that the dentist was going to be doing it. I knew that there was plenty more dental work in her future, and I didn't want to instill any fear of the dentist in her. Luckily over 3 years later she loves the dentist.

As far as after care there were no real restriction on her. The teeth were a little sensitive for a few days, but nothing major. I did give her soft foods to eat, not that I was told to, but it made me feel better. Overall, I will say that it was much easier on her then me.

It amazes me that all of this tooth decay is in 3 year olds. I get nervous because my just 2 yeaar old won't let me brush his teeth. I hold him in a headlock with my legs wrapped around his body and I still only get to touch the front teeth a little. I've tried ALL of the advice people gave on how to get him to do it and HE WON'T. I am afraid he will have to have work done at some point.

My older son had 2 crowns put on at the age of 3 yrs and he was not put under. Our pedi dentist is dr Robert Morgan and he is great. One thing he did tell is is with young kids if they will be put under it must be done at the hospital and not in the dentist office.

That is no fun! My daughter had to have some major dental work at 4. That young, the sedation was a good idea. The start of the procedure -- just getting the sedation started was the hard part, after that she was fine. I think we just talked her through it ahead of time, so she wouldn't be terrified at what they were doing. Obviously, there will be some anxiety, but your little one will be okay.

I did lean something years later that I wish I'd learned at your stage. She continued to have dental problems for several years no matter how diligent we were on the dental hygiene. I later learned that it was related to the ph levels in her body (and mouth), which you can address through diet. You can get ph testing strips from any health food store -- buy the ones with the instructional booklet and it will help you understand the whole ph level issue. Interestingly, diet sodas and anything with artificial sweeteners are horrible for ph levels.

I don't know if that relates to your situation. I wish you and your litle one well.

Both my sons went through this and unfortunately they had to do so multiple times. It is tougher on you than on them. Both my sons recovered very quickly.

My sons were born without enamel on their baby teeth, so they rapidly decayed. Do you know if that's the case for your 3 year old? If so, it's imperative that you be tested for celiac. It turns out that because I was undiagnosed during pregnancy, I was not absorbing enough of the nutrients (i.e., vitamin D, calcium, etc.) necessary for the fetus to develop tooth enamel (baby teeth are formed inutero). The body will sacrifice the enamel on the teeth to build bones, etc. Fortunately, my sons permanent teeth were okay.

You can ask your PCP to run a celiac panel or you can get tested on your own:
www.enterolab.com

I cannot urge you enough to have this done, as celiac is genetic and it is the MOST highly undiagnosed genetic disorder in this country. The reason being that the treatment is purely a dietary change (no wheat, rye, barley or oats) and there is no Rx med at this point. I can guarantee once there is, that every doctor will be screening for this. It turns out both my sons have it and it was 7 years after we started dealing with the dental issues that they and I were diagnosed. I would hate for someone else to suffer in the way my family did.

You can also be asymptomatic and still have celiac and have the issue with nutrient absorption. You don't say how old you are, but I was 42 when I reached the point of the symptoms really being overt.

I went through this with my daughter. At 3, she wouldn't even sit still enough for good x-rays, so we didn't know how much work would need to be done.

Our pediatric dentist offered to either do the additional x-rays and necessary dental work under anesthesia in his office or at Cook Children's. We chose Cook Children's and the combination of the medical insurance and dental insurance made that as affordable as having the procedure in the office.

My daughter doesn't even remember the IV being placed because of the Versed they give them to drink first. She has no fear of the dentist because she can't remember any of the work being done. She ended up just barely avoiding caps because he was able to fill everything while she was still and sleeping. He sealed all her teeth while he was there.

I didn't tell my daughter much in advance because I didn't want to say anything that may accidentally scare her.

My youngest had some teeth capped when he was three. He did great! The hardest thing I had to deal with was keeping him away from food before had. He was a sneak thief and got into some M&M's. But he did great he did not even remember. When he woke up he was complaining that he did not get to see Dr. Bill and I told him he would see him. I told him he did.

Good luck and God Bless.

I would highly recommend getting a 2nd opinion before allowing them to do IV sedation on your 3 year old!!

Our pediatric dentist is absolutely wonderful, we've referred about 10 of our friends' children there and all love her!

Her info is: Dr. Sandra McDougal, ###-###-####

(she's located just off Bush tollway & Coit, behind Central Mkt)

good luck!