Sorry, long ..
My 2yo just went for his first dental appointment yesterday at a strictly pediatric office. The dentist turned up 8 small cavities. (He had a lot of acid reflux for the first year or so of his life due to undiagnosed food intolerances, and got all his teeth in early, so that doesn't surprise me much.)
Here's what I don't get.
Dentist says he has gingivitis. She bases this on the fact that his gums were red and bleeding AFTER she brushed them DIRECTLY with the power brush for a LONG TIME. He has no symptoms of gingivitis. He's borderline anemic and his gums are PALE if anything, never inflamed, swollen, etc. Never once.
This same dentist told me almost in the same breath that breastmilk is "almost as bad for the teeth as juice."
Four of these cavities, also, are right in his front teeth, and I never thought they were cavities. Long story short: he had iron supplements for 3 months, they stained his teeth, the stains went away everywhere but there and in a couple of molars. She says that this is because the enamel was softened (probably due to the reflux -- he got his front teeth in waaaay early so they'd've gotten a nice acid bath several times a day) and then the supplements stained the weakened enamel and made cavities (what).
But those dark areas feel RAISED above the tooth surface, not pitted INTO it.
She wants to fill all these cavities or supposed cavities with no sedation or anything, just strap him down to a board for half an hour and go to while he screams.
This child's face is covered with broken capillary freckles today from the screaming yesterday while she just looked at his mouth for ten minutes. I really don't want to put him through that again with another dentist, but I really REALLY don't want to put him through fillings that aren't necessary.
But if what's going on with his front teeth is something else, I want that dealt with. I thought it was bacterial plaque or something and have been scrubbing at it with baking soda. It hasn't been budging, and it didn't for her yesterday either, so maybe she's right and it's cavities. But his teeth looked perfect before he got the supplements ..
Plus -- gingivitis? Really? She based this on his gums being red/bleeding when brushed directly with a very powerful spinbrush. I think my gums would bleed too.
EDIT: She says the cavities are superficial, not infected, probably not causing him pain. I have no problem with getting them filled if that would help him in the long run, but .. I dunno. Help?
My 2yo just went for his first dental appointment yesterday at a strictly pediatric office. The dentist turned up 8 small cavities. (He had a lot of acid reflux for the first year or so of his life due to undiagnosed food intolerances, and got all his teeth in early, so that doesn't surprise me much.)
Here's what I don't get.
Dentist says he has gingivitis. She bases this on the fact that his gums were red and bleeding AFTER she brushed them DIRECTLY with the power brush for a LONG TIME. He has no symptoms of gingivitis. He's borderline anemic and his gums are PALE if anything, never inflamed, swollen, etc. Never once.
This same dentist told me almost in the same breath that breastmilk is "almost as bad for the teeth as juice."
Four of these cavities, also, are right in his front teeth, and I never thought they were cavities. Long story short: he had iron supplements for 3 months, they stained his teeth, the stains went away everywhere but there and in a couple of molars. She says that this is because the enamel was softened (probably due to the reflux -- he got his front teeth in waaaay early so they'd've gotten a nice acid bath several times a day) and then the supplements stained the weakened enamel and made cavities (what).
But those dark areas feel RAISED above the tooth surface, not pitted INTO it.
She wants to fill all these cavities or supposed cavities with no sedation or anything, just strap him down to a board for half an hour and go to while he screams.
This child's face is covered with broken capillary freckles today from the screaming yesterday while she just looked at his mouth for ten minutes. I really don't want to put him through that again with another dentist, but I really REALLY don't want to put him through fillings that aren't necessary.
But if what's going on with his front teeth is something else, I want that dealt with. I thought it was bacterial plaque or something and have been scrubbing at it with baking soda. It hasn't been budging, and it didn't for her yesterday either, so maybe she's right and it's cavities. But his teeth looked perfect before he got the supplements ..
Plus -- gingivitis? Really? She based this on his gums being red/bleeding when brushed directly with a very powerful spinbrush. I think my gums would bleed too.
EDIT: She says the cavities are superficial, not infected, probably not causing him pain. I have no problem with getting them filled if that would help him in the long run, but .. I dunno. Help?
