Friday, November 18, 2011

Baby teeth

I took my four year old to the dentist yesterday, because he's been complaining about one of his teeth hurting. He's not the best brusher, & despite efforts from our end, I looked & saw a dark spot on his tooth, scheduled the dentist appointment, & expected a filling yesterday. Not quite. It turns out he's broken 1/2 of his back tooth off & because there was no enamel, he has a huge cavity that extends into the nerve. He has to have a crown (not enough tooth left to support a filling) and a root canal (baby version is called a pulpotomy) to get it taken care of. We're scheduled for Tuesday morning, & I'm super nervous! They will be giving him something to relax him, but warned me that he would likely be very swollen & in pain for several days. Just in time for Thanksgiving.













My poor baby! I haven't the foggiest idea how much our dental plan will cover, but I'm guessing this will be a pricey procedure. Fingers crossed that it goes well & he's not in pain/nervous/and that I survive the stress of it all. :-)

Yesterday was not a great day from a stress, financial, or health point of view. I was running late all day, bought lunch (and a cookie!) at the work cafeteria, picked up Wendy's after swimming practice (M is out of town & I'm juggling a million things), & my stomach & wallet are regretting the spontaneous purchases. Better choices for today!

Have you/your kids ever had to have serious dental work done? The most I've ever had was a filling, so I'm nervous for next week!

7 comments:

  1. Poor little guy! :( Why would they just not pull the tooth since he's only 4... It's just a baby tooth right? I'm sure everything will be fine! :)

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  2. I was wondering the same thing as Carla, why wouldn't they just pull it? I remember or reading the same thing very recently and the mom just asked if they would pull the tooth instead and the doctor was fine with it. Sounds like a big expense for something that might not be necessary?

    Either way hopefully your little guy is able to stay calm and relaxed. And it heals up really quickly!

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  3. I was also wondering why they don't just pull it out. Hope it all goes well for you both.

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  4. Apparently, the tooth is a molar that doesn't come out until he's 12, so needs to last for 8 years. It's his very back tooth, and it needs to have a crown to ensure that as the other tooth comes in behind it.

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  5. Poor baby :-( I hope the procedure goes well and your insurance covers most of it!

    A friend brought her daughter to the dentist for the first time recently and she had over 10 cavities... they are doing a bit of work at a time, it's going well but insurance coverage has run out...

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  6. My now 14 yr old had it done at age 5. The pulpotomy and crown. It wasn't bad at all. We had a great dentist. Lots of freezing and there wasn't a lot of swelling. The mommy guilt cost me 2 "Rescue Hero's" (They were the big thing at the time)
    There was another tooth that the pulpotomy didn't work on as the tooth kept breaking. Just put in a spacer for a couple of years.

    I always find that the "thought" of the dentist is always worse than the actual :)

    Hope it turns out that way for your little guy!

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  7. Definitely. My son had his two molar teeth filled last week. He's a chocoholic. Anyway, it was his first time to go through a dental treatment. He was very nervous at first, but everything went well in the end. Thank goodness. =)

    Hertha Gearin

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