OMG, just help me...what's wrong with dentists those days???

[midnightwriter]

DD is 8. Had 8 cavities filled in with a holistic dentist this summer.
One baby tooth got abcessed. No pain, no fever, but a gum abcess, and the dentist did a route canal thing on that tooth. Then the tooth got abcessed again. The dentist prescribed 10 days of antibiotics. It got better, but 2 weeks later it got abcessed AGAIN.

The holistic dentist is 4 h away. We got to a local dentist. First she says she puts mecury into baby teeth, because they last longer. Okay.

Then she says an infected baby tooth can't be healed with antibiotics, she needs an extraction and a spacer. The tooth won't fall out until she is 12 or so, she says. After her mercury approach, I am not even sure I trust her.

So I need to find out if this is true. DD is VERY sensitive. this is very traumatic for her. She is on antibiotics now for a bacterial rash (her 4th time in her entire life). The dentist wanted to pull out the tooth right away, but we decided to wait out and see what the antibiotics might do.

Any thoughts on that? Is this a general opinion that a baby tooth won't heal if infected?

I'm so stressed out over this, but not showing it to DD. But OMG, I have a headache just from thinking about it.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

After 2 abscesses I would have the tooth out because it will just keep getting infected. My personal opinion is after 1 abscess the the tooth needs to go just because there is a defect there allowing in infection that cannot be fixed with abx. and because it can cause a lot of pain and spread to the brain just isnt worth the risk.

My ds lost a molar and he needed a spacer really it isnt that big a deal.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Tooth wont fall out til shes 12?!?!

I had braces on all my ADULT teeth when I was 9! Im pretty sure that dentist is a DUD.

If shes 8, id say pull the baby tooth.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I think it is 1 set of molars that do not fall out until 12 let me do a quick google..... yep the second molar falls out between 10-12 and the canine (cuspid) falls out between the ages of 9-12 years of age http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...ed=0CC0Q9QEwAg

[midnightwriter]

Thanks! Just DD is the worst person for this to be happening to. She is highly sensitive, has some general anxiety, and just endured 8 fillings. For her it is not JUST an extraction. It will be very traumatic. The spacer will be very traumatic. She doesn't tolerate foreign stuff in her mouth.

I guess I feel I can't trust anyone. If after one abcess there was no chance to save the tooth, why the dentist put her through a route canal??? And if it is possible to save, then maybe we could at least wait until this second ecourse of antibiotics is over? She has no pain with the abcess, none at all. If the tooth falls out within the next 6-8 months, maybe we can help her somehow not to have another abcess. Maybe some supplements and so on (I'm grasping for straws here).

And I think I need to go to yet another dentist, because this one, with mercury for kids freaks me out. And just another visit is traumatic for DD. I guess I should have called before going there, but she was recommended to us.

Gosh, I'm so stressed over this, I'm seeing red. Thanks for listening.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Yes I would find another dentist who used the white fillings. There is really no reason to use the silver fillings any more. The dentist that my family uses (family dentist) does not even have the silver stuff in his office any more.

[midnightwriter]

Originally Posted by MCatLvrMom2A&X

I think it is 1 set of molars that do not fall out until 12 let me do a quick google..... yep the second molar falls out between 10-12 and the canine (cuspid) falls out between the ages of 9-12 years of age http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...ed=0CC0Q9QEwAg

Thanks! Well, it is her canine. And if it falls out between 9-12, it could be 9 as well! She is 8y5m.

If it was me, or my other kids, the extraction wouldn't be a problem at all. But for DD. OMG. Just O.M.G. She is the wrong kid for that....

[midnightwriter]

Originally Posted by MCatLvrMom2A&X

Yes I would find another dentist who used the white fillings. There is really no reason to use the silver fillings any more. The dentist that my family uses (family dentist) does not even have the silver stuff in his office any more.

well, right now it is not an issue, she doesn't need another filling. But the mere fact that they routinely use them, and encourage them, OMG!!! WHY????

[fairymom]

Just to put this out there my DDs were tooth pulling fanatics! And made teeth loose early just to pull them- both have made 2(?) teeth come out "too" early and we haven't had an issue, didn't see a dr over it or have spacers. Actually YDD had to have a tooth pulled early, by the dentist (cap wouldn't stay on) and they said nothing about spacers. What they both did learn was not to pull their teeth out early because mainly it hurts like hell to have the adult ones come in on a fully healed gum (just like teething as a baby). My DD lost their K9s at 9.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

It depends on the tooth whether it will need a spacer or not and it also depends on when they expect the perm tooth to come in. DD lost a molar about 2 years ago but because she was about a year give or take away from the new tooth coming in the dentist didnt do a spacer. But for ds it will be several years before the tooth he lost will come back in and because of the tooth it was a spacer was needed to make sure that the other teeth didnt migrate into that spot.

If it is the front 4 teeth then a spacer isnt needed because those dont migrate. At least that is what the dentist told me when he pulled ds's top 4 teeth when he was 2y2m old.

I am glad she dosnt need more fillings right now and hope she dosnt need any in the future but just in case it is good to shop around for a dentist now just in case. It took me 6 tries before I found the one we have now that I love. My dd actually loves going and ds got mad yesterday when dd went and he didnt get to go.

He had extensive dental work, 10 fillings, 4 silver crowns, 2 root canals and the extraction, done at a ped. dentist where they did oral sedation and I was so worried that he would be scared of the dentist after that but apparently the meds. did the trick and he has no memory of it.

[Drummer's Wife]

12 is probably a guess for the molar to fall out; my DD had a cavity in a molar a couple weeks ago and the dentist did decide to go ahead and extract it. She's 9.5 years old, and b/c he could see the tooth in the gum, and pulling the baby one somewhat stimulates it to drop earlier, she didn't require a spacer.

We considered filling it/capping it, but the problem is that if the cavity is so bad - the tooth often can't be saved (and the cap won't stay on). You run the risk of it spreading to the molars touching it, or causing a worse infection in the mouth, sinuses, etc.

My DD did okay with the extraction. He numbed it, of course, and used laughing gas. When she had a hard time was afterwards when she realized what had happened (she didn't feel it coming out), and she saw the tooth and the blood. As the shot wore off, she started hurting and swallowed blood which made her throw up. Not to make it sound really awful, b/c she was over it the next day (I let her stay home from school and we went to the mall). I am sure it was better than the alternative.

General anesthesia is always an option if your DD might have a hard time - but to me, that is scarier than local anesthesia and laughing gas. Plus, like with my DD, your DD might have a hard time with it afterwards - and being asleep during the procedure obviously won't help with that aspect.

eta: I didn't read all the posts before replying.

[midnightwriter]

Thank you for the replies, though I'm not liking what I'm hearing I was hoping of course to find out that maybe we can avoid the extraction.

For DD the taste of blood in the mouth is awful. Even from flossing. It freaks her out.

None of the options will be easy for her. All will be pretty awful. I don't even know which one to go with. I guess I'm hoping for a miracle. That the antibiotics for her rash will help with the abcess for now, and that the tooth falls out early!

[karanyavel]

As someone who has experienced several abscesses both as a child and as an adult, I'd definitely get the extraction done. Abscesses usually come back, even if antibiotics clear them up for a while, and a dental abscess can have serious repercussions if not treated or allowed to recur over and over.

Since your DD has anxiety, could she get a sedative or at least nitrous oxide for the procedure? I used to have huge dentist anxiety as a kid and nitrous really helped. An oral sedative would probably be even better.

--K