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#1
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Dental work on baby teeth
Hey,
I wanted to see where any of you all stand on this subject. I am constantly wavering back and forth on whether to believe a dentist telling me my kids need work on their baby teeth. Whenever they go to their 6mth cleaning, and the dentist comes in, there is always some *borderline cavities* going on in their mouths. Then I usually am shuffled into the *contract* room, for the list of work to be done, the amounts I will need to pay, and the appts. I have to set up. I am the type to be intimidated at a dental (or medical) office. The last thing I want to do is look like I would rather risk root-canals/ extractions than get these fillings done. But of course it is not as simple as just a couple fillings. There is drilling and shots, crying, anxiety, time, etc. The last straw came a week ago, when my daughter lost a filling on a baby tooth. It was one that was put in 2 years ago for a *borderline* cavity. Well once the filling came out, there was the hole that they drilled to put the filling stuff in. She started having pain a few days later, while I was trying to get her in to the dental office. Now it looks like she will be needing an extraction and is taking antibiotics for the infection in her tooth. I am wondering if I had just left the tooth alone in the first place, there would have been no hole where they drilled to cause the infection now leading to the extraction. Plus, what the heck is a filling doing coming out 2 years later? Eventually these baby teeth will fallout anyway, so what is too much when it comes to treating them? Vickie |
#2
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Dental work on baby teeth
"Vickie" wrote in message ups.com... Hey, I wanted to see where any of you all stand on this subject. I am constantly wavering back and forth on whether to believe a dentist telling me my kids need work on their baby teeth. I don't know the correct answer but my ds has had a ton of dental work done to his baby teeth. I guess I never questioned the need for it?! :-/ He had to have one pulled due to cavity and infection and then they had to put a spacer in to keep the way clear so his adult tooth can come in correctly. That spacer is now causing trouble because they would like to pull the one baby tooth out (so his front permanent teeth will have more room) but can't because the spacer is up against it. He has had 2 other baby teeth pulled already because the adult teeth didn't push them out but came in behind them. He is scheduled to have two more pulled because they are preventing the permanent teeth from coming down. He also has two baby teeth with no permanent one's underneath. Ugh, the kid has cost me a fortune and he is only 8yo and hasn't even had braces yet. The next kid up appears to be just as bad. He has a 2yr molar that refuses to erupt and no one knows what to do with it. The adult molar next to it (not yet erupted) is tilted into it and is stuck there. He has *four* baby teeth with no permanent one's underneath them. He's only lost one baby tooth so it is yet to be determined if his adult teeth will come in as crooked as his brothers but it isn't looking good so far. On the positive side - he hasn't had on cavity so thank god for that. Ugh - that turned into a bit of a personal rant - sorry! I guess the short answer is that yes - I think they need to get the baby teeth filled if they have cavities (especially the molars) because they are important to have around so that the adult teeth come in correctly. It also hurts when you don't. I'm interested in other responses so I'm glad you asked! -- Nikki, mama to Hunter 4/99 Luke 4/01 Brock 4/06 Ben 4/06 |
#3
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Dental work on baby teeth
On Jun 20, 1:21?am, Vickie wrote:
Hey, I wanted to see where any of you all stand on this subject. I am constantly wavering back and forth on whether to believe a dentist telling me my kids need work on their baby teeth. Whenever they go to their 6mth cleaning, and the dentist comes in, there is always some *borderline cavities* going on in their mouths. Then I usually am shuffled into the *contract* room, for the list of work to be done, the amounts I will need to pay, and the appts. I have to set up. I am the type to be intimidated at a dental (or medical) office. The last thing I want to do is look like I would rather risk root-canals/ extractions than get these fillings done. But of course it is not as simple as just a couple fillings. There is drilling and shots, crying, anxiety, time, etc. The last straw came a week ago, when my daughter lost a filling on a baby tooth. It was one that was put in 2 years ago for a *borderline* cavity. Well once the filling came out, there was the hole that they drilled to put the filling stuff in. She started having pain a few days later, while I was trying to get her in to the dental office. Now it looks like she will be needing an extraction and is taking antibiotics for the infection in her tooth. I am wondering if I had just left the tooth alone in the first place, there would have been no hole where they drilled to cause the infection now leading to the extraction. Plus, what the heck is a filling doing coming out 2 years later? Eventually these baby teeth will fallout anyway, so what is too much when it comes to treating them? Vickie I would get a second opinion if I doubted my dentist to that degree. My daughter has 2 of her 6-year molars that didn't calcify correctly. There isn't any decay in those, but we have been watching them carefully and paying extra special care to them. I have had 3 dentists say that she would eventually need crowns on them. Those came in when she was around 4 and she is now 7. Our family dentist has been treating her since she was 3 years old. She just has cavity-prone teeth, or I should say "had" since it was her baby teeth. She did have to have a couple of the front baby teeth filled with the tooth-colored substance that is notorious for not sticking as well as the silver fillings, as well as a couple of her primary molars, all of which required no anesthesia at all and no stress for her, other than nervousness and worry. After the first couple of times of lying on me lying in the chair, she just up and jumped into the chair and was okay with me just being present for reassurance to where eventually I could walk in and out of the room altogether. We had them replaced a few times before they finally fell out altogether. Our family dentist wanted to keep them visible as long as possible to monitor the decay because once they start to "go", they "go" quickly. He had been putting a tooth-colored substance over the top of them to help her with the sensitivity that she was experiencing, but it fell off every 2 weeks since it couldn't adhere as well as it would to a tooth that had calcified correctly. Another dentist said she had something that would adhere better, but when my daughter came walking out a few weeks ago, she had a tooth covered entirely with a black substance, which they call Miracle Mix. I took her back to my family dentist to show him what the other dentist had done and he finally said it was probably time to take her to a pediatric dentist who specialized in it since the tooth pulp is so close to the surface area at this age still. We met with him today and he also said it was time for the crown. She is really nervous about that but also a little excited at not having to go to the dentist every month as well. Nobody knows why that happened to 2 of the 4 6-year molars and contralaterally to boot -- 1 is upper right and 1 is lower left. No medications, high fevers, etc. during the period when those teeth were developing either. I did everything the same with her that I did with my son and he doesn't have a single cavity at all still at age 9. Didn't mean to ramble, but when I saw a discolored spot on my daughter's teeth for the first time, I had her seen. I obviously chose the filling because the spot was an obvious one of decay that would obviously progress. If I couldn't see anything straight up and the doctor was also not able to show me these questionable spots either with pointing directly to them or via x-ray, I would go for a second opinion. |
#4
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Dental work on baby teeth
If the problem is due to soft teeth or something that the child can't help,
then yes you need to have the work done. DD3 has had extensive work done on her teeth already and she is only 10 yrs old. They have put fillings in baby teeth because well they were causing pain. The dentist also put this covering over the molars because they have deep grooves in them that are more prone to cavities. I personally dental care is important. If you are unsure, then see a pediatric dentist for a second opinion and see what they say. -- Sue "Vickie" wrote in message ups.com... Hey, I wanted to see where any of you all stand on this subject. I am constantly wavering back and forth on whether to believe a dentist telling me my kids need work on their baby teeth. Whenever they go to their 6mth cleaning, and the dentist comes in, there is always some *borderline cavities* going on in their mouths. Then I usually am shuffled into the *contract* room, for the list of work to be done, the amounts I will need to pay, and the appts. I have to set up. I am the type to be intimidated at a dental (or medical) office. The last thing I want to do is look like I would rather risk root-canals/ extractions than get these fillings done. But of course it is not as simple as just a couple fillings. There is drilling and shots, crying, anxiety, time, etc. The last straw came a week ago, when my daughter lost a filling on a baby tooth. It was one that was put in 2 years ago for a *borderline* cavity. Well once the filling came out, there was the hole that they drilled to put the filling stuff in. She started having pain a few days later, while I was trying to get her in to the dental office. Now it looks like she will be needing an extraction and is taking antibiotics for the infection in her tooth. I am wondering if I had just left the tooth alone in the first place, there would have been no hole where they drilled to cause the infection now leading to the extraction. Plus, what the heck is a filling doing coming out 2 years later? Eventually these baby teeth will fallout anyway, so what is too much when it comes to treating them? Vickie |
#5
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Dental work on baby teeth
Hi
You might want to look into getting your childs teeth sealed. Sam got his new, permanent molars (2) sealed so the chance of developing cavities is significantly lowered. It's painless and takes about 5-10 minutes per tooth depending on how well the kid cooperates. We will also go back and get his two bottom front teeth sealed as soon as possible (they're not all the way out yet). The Problem with losing teeth early is that the adult teeth may or may not have problems coming in later because there may or may not be enough room for them. Also loss of teeth can cause speech and speech development problems. That's why dentists will try everything to save baby teeth rather than just pull them or let cavities develop. However, if you feel your dentist is overdoing it I also suggest getting a second opinion. Oh, as an aside: The "silver filling" someone mentioned is called Amalgam. You do not want them to use this as it contains mercury and there are studies that show those fillings are harmful. The "tooth colored" fillings usually are a kind of plastic, they don't last as long at the amalgam fillings but as far as I know there have been no studies to show them as harmful, which of course doesn't mean they're perfectly safe, but they're probably safer than the amalgam fillings. Anyway: You can ask your dentist to put in temporary fillings, which are mostly lime/chalk(?) if I remember correctly. They're definitely the least harmful, but they don't last very long either, plus they may be your cheapest option. cu nicole |
#6
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Dental work on baby teeth
On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 22:21:21 -0700, Vickie wrote:
Hey, I wanted to see where any of you all stand on this subject. I am constantly wavering back and forth on whether to believe a dentist telling me my kids need work on their baby teeth. Whenever they go to their 6mth cleaning, and the dentist comes in, there is always some *borderline cavities* going on in their mouths. Then I usually am shuffled into the *contract* room, for the list of work to be done, the amounts I will need to pay, and the appts. I have to set up. Plus, what the heck is a filling doing coming out 2 years later? Eventually these baby teeth will fallout anyway, so what is too much when it comes to treating them? Vickie My parents had my four front teeth pulled out when I got cavities as a kid, mostly because they were baby teeth and they would fall out anyway. Huge mistake. I ended up with 5 years in braces because of it. For years before my braces straightened my teeth out, I couldn't chew my food properly because the back teeth became crooked after the extraction. My mom just thought I didn't want to eat meat, so she made me swallow, which meant I swallowed chunks of meat unchewed. I eventually found a way to chew, but I had to chew like a cow, which my mom laughed at and tried to get me to stop doing. That type of chewing, I believe, gave me TMJ. Because of my dental woes, I keep on it with DS's teeth. He's got the molars sealed and two cavities filled. I wouldn't fill teeth that are borderline, because our dentist doesn't. He just keeps a close eye on them. |
#7
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Dental work on baby teeth
On Jun 19, 10:21 pm, Vickie wrote:
Hey, I wanted to see where any of you all stand on this subject. I am constantly wavering back and forth on whether to believe a dentist telling me my kids need work on their baby teeth. Whenever they go to their 6mth cleaning, and the dentist comes in, there is always some *borderline cavities* going on in their mouths. Then I usually am Does your dentist give you nothing to remineralize the teeth before the pre-cavities reach the point of needing filling? There are various ways to fight pre-cavities. Here are a few examples: Xylitol kills the strep mutans bacteria that leads to cavities. MI- Paste provides the building blocks to remineralize the teeth. Tiny amounts of fluoride gel applied directly to the pre-cavity can help the tooth absorb the minerals to become stronger. This web site explains a bit about how cavities develop. http://www.calgaryhealthregion.ca/he...prevention.htm These two California Dental Association Journals are filled with useful articles on preventing cavities that need filling. http://www.cdafoundation.org/journal...203/index.html http://www.cdafoundation.org/journal...303/index.html If your dentist has not given you assistance in stopping tooth problems before they reach the point of being cavities that need filling, you may want to be looking for a more up-to-date dentist. --Betsy |
#8
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Dental work on baby teeth
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 07:59:22 -0400, "Sue"
wrote: If the problem is due to soft teeth or something that the child can't help, then yes you need to have the work done. DD3 has had extensive work done on her teeth already and she is only 10 yrs old. They have put fillings in baby teeth because well they were causing pain. The dentist also put this covering over the molars because they have deep grooves in them that are more prone to cavities. I personally dental care is important. If you are unsure, then see a pediatric dentist for a second opinion and see what they say. I had my molars sealed also, but I was told by a dentist a few years ago that they don't do sealants anymore! I don't know why, I think it's a good precaution. I have been lucky so far that none of my kids have had any cavities. One supposedly needs braces but we're still working on that. I was told my oldest would need braces also, but once her permanent teeth came in, our present dentist says her teeth are perfect. Marie |
#9
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Dental work on baby teeth
On Jun 19, 10:21 pm, Vickie wrote:
I am posting here because I have read all replies, and good ones they were. It helped me know that the majority of parents out there are shelling out the money to have work done on baby teeth. After writing this post, I got to thinking, dang, I must not really trust this dentist and better look for a new one. I want to say first that we are avid brushers in my home and flossers. Both my 11yo and 9yo have soft enamel probs. Both had gotten the sealant put on their teeth, and both are still having these *borderline* cavities. I don't want my kids to suffer any pain if there is a honest to goodness cavity that needs to be filled, so I say fill 'em. It is just the *maybes* I am wondering about. I wasn't informed about a spacer at all. Dentist just said she would have a hole where the tooth had been for about a year. Now I am going to call up and ask, so thank you. I also have a 4 yo that is more than likely going to be having issues also and I don't want anything unnecessary to be done. Regardless of the dentist, I think if they propose work to be done on these *borderline* cavity baby teeth, I will politely say, no, I think we should just watch it for now. That would be ok, right? And then if their next check-up proves to be that a cavity has formed there, I will say "Fill it up!" Vickie |
#10
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Dental work on baby teeth
On Jun 20, 8:31 am, Vickie wrote:
Regardless of the dentist, I think if they propose work to be done on these *borderline* cavity baby teeth, I will politely say, no, I think we should just watch it for now. That would be ok, right? And then if their next check-up proves to be that a cavity has formed there, I will say "Fill it up!" Vickie Rather than just watching it, I would discuss a plan with the dentist on how to harden it back up before it becomes a true cavity. I would schedule an appointment in a few months for a quick check of the spot to see if it was hardening up properly. --Betsy |
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