Whoa... help needed please!

[pishajane]

My 2yo DS just went to the dentist today, and the verdict is surgery... i'm a little freaked out and wondering if there's another option.

He has visible decay between his 4 front teeth, which will all be filled and capped, and slight staining in some of the molars, which will be "fissure sealed" (i think).
I'm unsure of the terminology, but the treatment plan reads:
X rays, intraoral xray, plaque & stain removal, topical fluoride, 8 x adhesive restoration (1 surface posterior), 4 x adhesive restoration (5 surfaces anterior), 8 x restore incisal corner, 2 x pulpotomy... all under a general anaesthetic.

Wow. Is all this really necessary? And can i do anything else instead?
I know the front teeth need to be dealt with somehow, because he does seem to be in pain sometimes, but is the capping the right way to go?
And it seems that they're going to put a composite sealant on ALL the other teeth - is that normal?

I'm sorry, i know this is probably elementary stuff to most of you, but i'm a total novice here I'd really appreciate some advice!
I am going to slog through the sticky tonight to see what i can get from that, but is there any course of action that i could take other than the surgery? The GA alone is scary enough! It would have to be pretty drastic but i'm willing to give anything a go.

FTR, our diet is pretty good by western standards, but probably way too high in grains and carbs. DS eats no candy/sweets, but does eat things like dried fruit.

Thanks for reading, and please please send any advice this way!

Trish

[Slingin'Momto4]

It is scary and I have been there! My now 3 yr old DD had Extensive ECC on all 4 of her front teeth when she was almost 2 and her 2 back molars were also decayed. I went to one dentist he said surgery I left, found another dentist, fell in love but she also said surgery but she also said I could wait until I was comfortable w/her going under GA. We waited until she was 3, we followed the sticky up top and tried to halt the decay but that did not work for us, unfortunately. She ended up needing to get 6 teeth extracted and 6 stainless steel crowns. The surgery went wonderfully, she is feeling MUCH better and she is sooo happy that her "yucky" teeth are gone and not hurting her anymore. I posted about our surgery experience here, its a couple threads down...good luck w/your decision, I know its scary but everything will be A-OK!

[Denali]

I also posted about our experience, my 3 year old son had surgery this morning

It sounds like eventually you'll have to have something done, especially since he's already complaining about pain sometimes, but if I was in your shoes, I'd get a second opinion from another dentist......I think I personally would feel happier if a second dentist confirmed that all that you mentioned is necessary.

Meanwhile, yes, it definitely wouldn't hurt to read the curing cavities with nutrition thread, and I also recommend using Xylitol products on a daily basis.

Good luck

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I decided to have in office sedation instead of GA. No IV just oral meds. Ds lost all 4 top teeth at 2y2m and had 4 crowns, 1 extraction, 1 root canal and a spacer placed when he was almost 5yo.

It took me 5 dentists before I found one that did in office sedation. I could not risk my ds's life under GA for dental work. I have zero regrets about waiting till he was old enough for in office work. So much safer that way.

[pishajane]

Thanks everyone! Wow, lots to think about... DH wants to just get it over and done with, but i am so unsure.
I suppose for DS"s sake we'll just have to do it, but i'm definitely going to make some changes to our diets now.
Does anyone have a link to a "cheat sheet" for emergency dental repair? Or is it more about prevention and maintenance?
Poor DS
Man, i think half the battle with being a parent is overcoming the guilt that comes up when something goes wrong!

[Denali]

Originally Posted by MCatLvrMom2A&X

It took me 5 dentists before I found one that did in office sedation. I could not risk my ds's life under GA for dental work. I have zero regrets about waiting till he was old enough for in office work. So much safer that way.

Just a quick note.....I thought so at first, too, but after some extensive research I discovered that if there's a combination of drugs used in an office setting (which usually is necessary, because using just one drug wouldn't yield a big enough window of time for extensive work), then the risk of severe complications (including death) is also quite high. There were some good links to studies about that topic posted in the "GA vs. conscious sedation"-thread a few months ago.

That was one of the reasons I changed my mind and went for the GA.
(Of course that's not ideal either, and I couldn't sleep the entire night last night for worrying, but on the whole the risks seem to be better controllable )

Originally Posted by pishajane

Man, i think half the battle with being a parent is overcoming the guilt that comes up when something goes wrong!

Been there, too.....but unless someone really neglected their kid (which it doesn't sound like with you ) I think we just have to realize that we're doing the best we can. Some things are probably just genetic, and you can try to work against them with diet or special products but there's nothing you can do about them happening.

DS has never had juice, had no sugar until he was 2 and since then only in moderation, etc. but has worse teeth than the kids around here who eat sweets and drink juice all the time. So I stopped feeling guilty....there's nothing I can do about that fact

I do wish our poor little ones didn't have to go though this

[pishajane]

Yup, i get what you mean! It's so hard to watch them in pain...
I think i'm going to cancel the surgery (it's next week) and wait a little longer. In the meantime i'll make the dietary changes that i can, although after years of eating bread and crackers i think my kids may protest more than a little! But i'll just try to get as much of the good stuff in as i can and see where we end up with DS's teeth.
Thanks for the help! Still tackling that sticky... anyone have that cheat sheet?

[Denali]

From what I've read on this board, the ones who had the best result in healing or at least halting tooth decay were the ones with access to "Heal-o-zone" treatments.

Unfortunately there aren't any dentists in my state who offer it, but you could google it and see if there's any fairly close to you. If I had had access to it, I would definitly added that to the nutritional changes.

[pishajane]

Hmm, i'll check that out - thanks! Never heard of it.
I cancelled the surgery, and dh isn't happy about it, but he's giving me a couple months to see if we can sort ds out. Radical changes are in store for all of us!

[JaneS]

Also be aware that afaik, all composites contain fluoride and most BPA.

[Mere]

Ds too was diagnosed with decay on his front four teeth at 18 months, and around 2 we discovered a very aggressive cavity in one of his molars that literally seemed to get bigger by the day.

Luckily, I was able to halt the decay on his front teeth by religiously brushing every night before bed with xylitol toothpaste and topical flouride paste, and applying MI paste to the decayed areas. We also stopped night nursing around that time too; I don't know if that played a role or not but it seemed the safest bet. All those steps really seemed to work well for the cavities on the front teeth, and the dentist was quite satisfied and said we could let it go unless the decay started up again. The cavity on his molar, however, could not be stopped, so we decided to try to treat it in the office. The dentist was very reluctant at first, as he had never fixed a cavity on a 2yo in the office before. But Ds2 is really mellow, had no anxiety about the dentist, and I felt he would do okay. He was to get laughing gas and the numbing agent (I forget which one they use now). In the end, he did great...right up until the moment the dentist propped his mouth open and started drilling. The dental team was super quick though - the whole pulpotomy took maybe 2 minutes - and then they were done. Because ds2 was crying at that point they didn't do the stainless steel crown, but apparently the plug they put in will last for up to a year.

Ds2 did not like the feeling of numbness immediately afterward, but then we distracted him with those little trinkets they give out and he pretty much forget all about it.

Anyhow, in-office procedures *are* possible with the right child! It wouldn't have worked with my other two kids at that age, but it was fine for ds2. He still even has a good impression of the dentist office; interestingly, he remembers the trinkets and not the uncomfortable parts!