It was discovered at her last dental appointment that my three year old has tooth decay. She has some pretty obvious spots on her molars and a little between her teeth. (We've severely cut down on her dried fruit consumption :/) My problem is that I'm torn over how to proceed. DD was pretty freaked out and squirmy at the visit and the dentist said she would probably need to use a papoose board during the filling. For those of you who don't know what it is: it's full body restraint. The child is place in what looks like a spinal immobilizer that medics use. Her head, arms, legs are strapped down. I'm very leary about sedation for my wee one, so I'm not sure what the best option is... Has anyone/anyone's child experienced this method of restraint? She's so young and I don't want her to be traumatized by dental visits. Unfortunately, inaction isn't an option for us anymore... she had tooth pain the other night and I really want to get this taken care of. I'm feeling a bit negligent. Thanks alot in advance for your help wise mamas.
Hi Sarah,
Unfortunately, I was not given the choice. I found out AFTER it was done that a dentist on the south side of milwaukee had used this on my son. I was furious. He was so traumatized. In my opionion, it is torture. I know sedation is scary, but it beats instilling a life long fear of the dentist.
We go to Progressive Pediatric Dentists in Oak Creek. They can pre-medicate kids and they have nitro available as well.
I know in cases where there are many teeth to work on it can be done under sedation at Children's Hospital.
To me, to think about it from a 3 year olds point of view, it would be very frightening. And, in my opinion, we expect too much of very young children when it comes time to things like this.
Good luck in your decision..... I know that either way, it will be difficult.
D
I agree with both you and the reponse left already. We had a friend whose son needed a tooth pulled and the first dentist they went to suggested this restraint. She didn't like it and ended up using sedation at Small World Children's Dentistry in Brookfield. I've never been but their website is www.SmallWorldDDS.com. Just in case this is closer to you.
Good Luck!
I've never used it, but think that it would have to be the last resort. If it were my daughter I would have the Doc put her under for the short time it will take to take care of business. Being strapped to a board would freak me out...
I can't imagine restraining a 3 year old at the dentist is a good thing, although I don't have personal experience with it. My 4 year old son had to be sedated to have 2 teeth extracted due to an accident at school. Our dentist could have pulled them in the office, but refused because it would be so traumatic to him.
Sedation isn't something I jumped up & down to have done, but it has saved us from abject fear of the dentist & that's absolutely priceless. Plus, our kiddo was only out for a short time & came out of the sedation with absolutely zero ill effects.
Good luck!
My stepson has had to use one multiple times due to stitches. He freaks out while it is going on but in the end he is over it. He had it done for the first time when he was 1 and to this day he doesn't really even remember it an he is 11.
Really, this is a personal choice that only you/your family can make. It sounds terrible but I work at a group home and some of my ladies I work with have to do something like that. You need to outway the pros and cons. There is always a risk with putting your child under. There may be lasting effects of using that board as well. You need to outway them. Have you got a second opinion?? Maybe called around and asked what other pediatric dentists suggest??
Tough decision and I can't say I would know what to choose either. Good Luck
Hi Sarah
My daughter is six and had her first fillings when she was 3 we used a type of sedation that didn't really knock her out but relaxed her. You go to the appoinment 15 minutes early she drinks this what they call juice and goes to play well she then started to get a little sleepy so she came over and sat on my lap went back with dentist and does not remeber it except that her mouth was numb and she hated that. good luck in your decision. Tiffany
My daughter had fillings at age3 and we didn't use a papoose board or sedation. We did regular novacaine shots in the mouth and laughing gas. My daughter is a horrible dental patient and we've had decent experiances. We see a pediatric dentist maybe that's why. I don't think I would let someone pappose my daughter or sedate her for a filling that seems extreme. We have done the pappose board in the ER when she needed stiches but that's a different situation.
Using a papoose board is very frightening for children. She will definately be afraid of the dentist from then on. I highly recommend sedation- she will not remember the procedure and hopefully as she gets older will learn to like the dentist. My child has needed several medical procedures- he is also 3 yrs old. He remembers the pain and continues to be scared. With the last procedure, we had him sedated and he did much better.
Good luck.
Absolutely AVOID the papoose board. Here's what they DON'T tell you...a child can actually MOVE the papoose board while restrained. I know this, because at SIX months, my daughter did. I was on that like stink on s***. The dr used one without my knowledge. (ex-husband gave permisssion) When I walked in the room she was screaming and two nurses AND my ex were holding down the board saying, "Gee. Isn't she a strong one?" WEll, you can guess what happened next!! The procedure was stopped before it started and I took my precious one to a children's specialty clinic. And I don't care what they say, to this day she is terrified of anything that looks like a hospital. Don't mean to scare you, really, I don't. I just wish she didn't have to go through that and wouldn't wish it on anyone's child!! You never know how the child will react until it's actually happening, and then the damage is already done. Please see a CHILDREN's specialist, and listen to these other great moms.
Just Me!
Sarah-
Don't know where you live, but all my inlaws live in Elk River and have a practice- great with kids! And no- I don't think they would recommend that or feel it necessary. One of my twins has deep grooves in baby teeth and had 2 fillings- they didn't even use novicaine just topical- usually they are surface and just need to get by til can put on fillers at 6yo.
I'd get a second opinion personally. None of the kids at their office are fearful when coming. ( know this as they have a party room in basement so go there for more than dentist functions)
If you want more info, it's Elk Dental but feel free to email too
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About me 48 yo med prof, wellness coach, mom to 7 yo twingirls
Brenda J
I don't like the idea of her being restrained. It would traumatize me and I am not a child. Do research, etc. Does your child see a pediatric dentist or a regular one? Pediatric dentis have a little bit of different training to deal with squirmy little ones. Were you in the room with her? My children go in alone to their dentist. They behave better when I am not there.
Hi Sarah-
I'd recommend the nitro gas. My girls see a children's dentist in Eagan and both my oldest and middle child have had to have dental work (fillings and tooth extractions). The gas works great. The kids get to pick out a DVD to watch and wear a "piggy nose." When the procedure is over, the dentist switches the gas to oxygen to clean out any side-effects of the gas. She also tells them positive things as they are coming out of the gas. My girls have had great experiences and actually enjoy the dentist!!! They love the individual attention and the ability to choose their own movie with no other sisters making demands.
I chose this route with my girls because I was a child that was restrained on a papoose board to have my teeth extracted. I was tramatized. I hated the dentist and doctors until I was much older (20s). I also have a phobia for small enclosed places that still hasn't gone away.
My daughter had the same dental problems, although hers was caused by acid reflux from birth. My childrens' dentist is the same one I had when I was their ages (7 and 2), so I absolutely love him and remember nothing but great memories with him!! When he told us that our daughter would need to have caps put on her teeth, due to grinding them down, and that he would have to sedate her and put her in a papoose, I freaked out something fierce!!! I made my fiance stay home from work that day so he could go with us to the appt., and we took our daughter in. We were brought into the office, and told how everything was going to happen during the visit. Our daughter was given a small dose of liquid Valium, along with a juice box to wash it down, then we had to go back to the waiting room to wait for the Valium to kick in. Our daughter started looking like she was going to fall down, once the valium kicked in, and then it was time for her to have her dental work done. The nurse came out to get her, and told us that we would have to wait until they got her in the papoose, so she wouldnt freak out and want mommy and daddy. After about 10 minutes, they finally brought us to the back, and we were able to look into the room through a window with blinds on it, so we could see in, but our daughter could not see us. By then, I had started crying, (which I did every time she got shots, or anything that would put her in pain) until I actually looked into the room and saw that my baby girl (she was 4 at the time) was lying in what looked like a sleeping bag, laughing and smiling at a story the nurse was telling her!!! She was still smiling when the dentist came in, did what he needed to do, and she was still smiling when she was let out of the papoose/sleeping bag. All in all, I was the only one that was upset by the entire visit!! My daughter had a blast and wanted to do it all over again the next day!!!
I would be very nervous about using sedation unless absolutely needed for children. I think looking around for a good pediatric dentist is your best bet.
As for the papoose board, I think it is only torture if you make it that way. If you can be there with your daughter and are not freaking out yourself, that will make a big difference. I work in a lab where we draw blood from children (definitely not as involved as getting fillings, but a scary thing for kids nonetheless), and our usual protocol is to not use the papoose, and just have mom or dad hold the child down on a bed while one of us holds their arm in place and the other draws the blood. I can tell you that the parents always make the biggest difference in whether or not the child has a good or bad experience. If you're not freaked out and can distract or comfort your child, it almost always goes smoothly. We do have some parents that actually request a papoose board, and that works for them. They also are right there with the child, touching their chest and face, soothing them.
I'm actually suprised at how many would sedate. It's rare, but sedation can be dangerous. We had a great pediatric dentist, and although they didn't have to use the papoose, I understand why they would rather go that route, rather than sedating a child. I agree with the previous post that how the parent is reacting can have a huge effect on how the child will deal with the situation. It's a tough choice! Good luck!
I worked in a dental office after going to college for Dental Assisting. When working in the dental office we had never needed to use papoose board. Now, if the dentist felt it would benefit the child to go to a pediatric dentist we would do this. BUT under rare situations. There are many different options that you have.
1. If your dentist is not a pediatric dentist then find one, they are better equipped for children and are more comfortable dealing them.
2. Get a second opinion, if you are that uncomfortable there are other dentist out there that may do things differently.
3. Ask what other options are there, that you really don't feel comfortable about doing this.
4. Ask about laughing gas, we did use this in the office to relax the child/adult and it always worked. The child is still able to talk to us but rarely remembers much of the appointment, the children are usually so relaxed that you didn't need to use the papoose board.
5. Getting medication before coming into the office this will work similar to the laughing gas.
I will agree with you that if they really need to use a papoose board they need to make sure that this is NOT a negative experience for your child, personally I would not let them do this unless they used laughing gas, where your daughter would not remember much of the appointment and she would care less if they put it on her after she received the laughing gas. I would not want my child to be fearful of the dentist for the rest of her life. There are too many different options for the dentist to consider, and you pay him so if he can't work something out with you to make this as pleasant as possible then I would say go see some one else. Good Luck and remember one thing, mom's hate to see there children go through things like this but believe me it is not as bad as you may think. I loved working with the little ones and I could get them to do just about anything because I was able to get them to trust me, kids truthfully handled alot of things much better than adults did. Take Care let me know if you have any further questions.
Sandra
I had to repsond because I have been in your shoes. At the age of 2 to 3 my son had cavities in the top of his front 3 top teeth right along the gum line. We also had to have some dental work done to fix these problems. When looking for a dentist to do this work I had been warned that some dentists use this type of restraint and was totally against it. I agreed with you in the fact that I didn't want my child to be scared of the dentist forever. So I specifically found someone that would fill these teeth with no restraints. The dentist recommended that we have my son some medication to relax him before coming to the office. Medication was to be given approx. 1 hour before the visit which was an hour drive. The medication worked great for the ride, my son slept the whole way but didn't really help in the dentist office. Once we were in the Dr. office is was like he had no medication at all. The dentist tried to fill his cavities but my son was so wiggly that it wasn't real successful. The fillings that the dentist did fill were successful fell out later on. After 2 or 3 visits I knew we couldn't continue on this route so I searched for a new dentist. I did go with a children's dentist that recommended sedation. I was like you and was very very leary of the sedation. But the pros out weighed the cons so we went with it. The thing that actually got me was that all the work would be done in one visit. We didn't need to keep going back and back and back. We did the surgery and all went wonderfully and my son actually enjoys going to the dentist now. I believe that it is because the sedation and surgery where done at the hosptial not the dentist office so my son doesn't connect the two. He knows his teeth were worked on at the hospital but know that the dentist office is where they just clean your teeth so he is not really afaird anymore. Hope this helps and you find the right thing for your family.
At 3 yrs old I would think that'd be more than a little traumatizing for her. My son used a papoose board to hold him still while he had a birthmark removed, but he was only a yr old and has no memory of it.
I don't know if this will do any good but try having you NOT go back with her when she's getting her teeth worked on. That's what our pediatric dentist does and it works.