Zirconia Crowns

wow. well.
my kid had pretty gnarly oral surgery with nitrous. i was a wreck. he quite enjoyed it.
i think the main issue here is you, hon. i say this as gently as possible. it concerns me greatly that this is devastating you so.
this is not a devastation issue. this is a punch-the-pillow and make-a-voodoo-doll-of-the-old-dentist and then move on issue. the absolute worst thing it can be is a become-a-terrible-mom and subject-your-preschooler-to-cosmetic-oral-surgery issue.
the sensible response would be to teach your little girl to say 'they're fillings. no, you can't touch them! ew!'
and i'm sorry to be blunt, but the negative experiences that your daughter is currently experiencing are due to you, not her teeth.
take the dentist money and get some deep counseling, hon. do it now. this response is way, way over the top. do this for you, and do it for your child, and do it for your family. please.
sending you good wishes.
khairete
S.

Oh my god! Seriously? This is about how they look? My son had eight of his molars crowned and they are molars!!! No one can see them. I had actually forgot he had them until he started losing his baby teeth and had an oh yeah moment. Perhaps in a playground setting where light hits them kids may notice but not in school, just never. 10 years? Try 6 to 9.

I just can't believe you are making your baby go through this for your mental health issues. Really I keep shaking my head, words not coming because, who goes I had miscarriages, describes them, and uses that as justification that their mental issues mean more than your child's health? So you have had a lot to go through so you will do this to your daughter because YOU think it will make you feel better? Damn right you have a bad therapist! Never in my life have I heard of a therapist that would tell you to make your baby undergo an elective cosmetic procedure that may make you feel better.

Ya know what is sad, I told you my son had the same thing done and was never teased for it. He has autism! he was easy pickings for being teased and was never teased for his crowns! I work for anesthesiologists. We have the largest mobile anesthesia practice in our state. I know a lot about this but no way I am giving you information you will use to hurt your child.

I'm not sure why you are replacing the stainless steel crowns with different crowns. It seems like a needless procedure if it is for vanity.

I'm not going to comment on the dentistry, because I don't know. My mouth had a lot of silver fillings in my back teeth (my dentist currently doesn't know how they're held together as they are mostly fillings from when I was a kid) and no one ever said anything to me.

What I want to comment on is your anxiety. Are you seeing a therapist? It is possible that you have a chemical imbalance that needs medication to help, or at the very least, someone outside the situation who you can talk to. I would highly recommend it, as mental health is also important and there is no shame in seeing someone.

Fast forward....You are going to be responsible for creating terrible Dentist angst and anxiety in your daughter...I truly believe this is way too much dental chair time for a 3 year old on teeth that are going to fall out very soon....fall out anyway....fall out and be thrown away.

You need to take a step back and really think about what's more important: white teeth and who knows how much $$ or lots of play time with friends and family and hopefully a less emotional mommy.

Hon, this is temporary....and you are quite upset over something cosmetic. When you said a 'long and sad story' and I saw 3 years old, I thought it was a typo and you meant to say 30 years old....

BTW, my son had a couple of deep cavities on baby teeth from sucking ring pops at Vacation Bible School all day, and we capped it and I opted for the cheaper metal look, because the tooth is going to fall out anyway.

If we were discussing permanent teeth on an older child, I wouldn't even comment. The choice is personal and no judgement passed. But a 3 year old undergoing multiple visits with conscious sedation would have me saying "NO Thank You!!" We'd rather swim and play with friends and wait for the Tooth Fairy.

And I'm curious, do you live a rather jet setting, global life style and your daughter is doing fashion modeling already that she would benefit from having white molars?? Is there a misguided belief in your family that white teeth are the only acceptable childhood option, otherwise, it's OK for you to snap at her and become emotional over this??

SWH:

So surprised - another deleter who doesn't want to hear realistic opinions.

Bye to you too.

I would never put my child through that just for my cosmetic ideas. Ive had 2 children when genetic problems with their teeth. My oldest did need one crown and it was the stainless steel type. Sure, I felt bad that it had come to that, I blamed myself for a while but his dentist assured me it was not my fault. It wasn't long before we all but forgot about it and moved on. It only became a problem again when it was loose but wouldn't come out and the crown started causing irritation to the gums, trying to come out, and we had to have it pulled because it was never coming out on it's own.
The worst I did was have them refill a cavity that was done with the silver colored filling and had them replace it with the white filling and from then on we only did white fillings. They were already doing work on that side on another tooth so it was not a new procedure. The reason we did it was because it was hard to tell it from new decay in the area. I needed to see the white to tell the difference of the discoloration of new decay.
You're not going to find a dentist willing to completely redo that much of her mouth for purely cosmetic reasons. If you do manage to find one I can guarantee they are in it for the money and you will be charged more than an arm and a leg and they will completely take advantage of you and not care about the well being of your daughter.

Do not torture your child by having them go through dental work while they're awake. It is terrifying for them.

If she has to have massive work done let them put her out. Our dentist gives the kids a red liquid to drink when they get there and they are groggy but not on IV meds.

I think either one, the red liquid or IV anesthesia would be what I would do. I'd never let the work be done unless kiddo was asleep.

There's a name for your problem. Please get help from a specialist who is not going to enable your dysfunctional behavior. http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/sick/munchausen.html

Please please please get another opinion from an independent dentist unaffiliated with the ones you've been using. I've never heard of a 3 year old getting crowns on baby teeth when they will all fall out and be replaced by permanent teeth. I'm not an expert by any means but this seems excessive. Ask your pediatrician for a referral to a qualified pediatric dentist.

If these caps are on her molars, I don't understand why kids are coming up to her and commenting on her back teeth.

I don't think anesthesia options are your biggest concern here - I think unnecessary procedures and very odd advice are much bigger problems.

ETA - Do be certain that you have a good heart to heart with this dentist. Ask a billion questions. You might want to ask him things like - is this procedure necessary and would you do it to your kids if you were in my situation. And, ask him when those crowns will approximately come out?

Look, you need to stop beating yourself up over this - but also, two wrongs may not make a right. You're upset, but trust your gut and this dentist (or possibly another if you want a second opinion) and do the best thing! Good luck!

Something is odd here. Where did your three year old have general anesthesia for dental work? Are you sure it was general? General requires an Anesthesiologist putting a breathing tube down your throat which then breathes for you. This is done at a hospital or a specialized surgical center. I've never heard of a dentist (not an Oral Surgeon which could be different) using general anesthesia. Did she have root canals? 8 in one day? It all sounds strange? I'd look into the dentist you went to.

I'd also leave it alone for now. Tell her that she has teeth of steel like Superman and she can tell that story to other kids.

If you do go to that other appointment, you should be asking lots of questions about the care that you received from the other dentist!

I'm starting over because I did some research and learned that caps and crowns are the same thing and that zirconia crowns are new. One site said they were very expensive to apply. Another site which is for kids said they're not expensive.

So, I believe that wanting to change her crowns to zirconia can be done. I expect that insurance, haVing already paid for the stainless steele, will not pay again. Her crowns are on baby teeth which will eventually come out.

I still believe that having your daughter go thru a second procedure may not be good for her but that's your decision.

I haven't heard the name, conscious sedation. I've had twilight sedation which rendered me impervious to pain but still aware and allowed me to remember. Perhaps the same. I tried to talk to doctors before I realized they couldn't hear me. I wasn't actually talking.

My grandson has dental procedures with nitrous oxide. He comes out groggy and doesn't remember what happened. He used to be combative and the nitrous oxide calmed him down. Another dentist had required him to have general anesthesia in a hospital. His parents found another pediatric dentist who only uses nitrous oxide. He's had several teeth filled with it. Using it works well for him.

I've had general anesthesia, which has side effects that I wouldn't want a child to have, tho it works for me.

What sedation did the dentist use the first time? If it was successful, i'd use it again.