Dental treatment for two year old - please give me your thoughts!

[MittensKittens]

My son, who will be two at the end of the month, has cavities on his front teeth, and minor discoloration on another tooth. Since I first noticed this, I have been reading about alternative dentistry, xylitol and healing cavities. I decided to give this a try before heading to a dentist, but the cavities have continued to developed in the few months since they appeared, and there are no signs of “arrested caries”. I really don’t want this to go on, so I am now reluctantly considering approaching a conventional dentist to get these cavities taken care of.

Reluctant, why? Mostly because we live in Eastern Europe, there are no holistic or alternative dentists available, and I am highly skeptical of the conventional ones. Many dentists here do not fill toddler cavities, but simply drill out the decay and leave a hole. Would that not leave the teeth even more vulnerable than they currently are, and likely lead to more decay?  

There is no way my son would sit still for treatment. That leaves two options – me holding him down forcibly while he has treatment, if that is an option, or general anesthestic. I am concerned about the risks of general anesthestic for a two year old (or anyone, for that matter).

I don’t want my son to have rotten teeth! Do you have any advice? We are vegetarian, my son nurses lots (which I am sure any local dentist would say caused the cavities), and don’t drink lots of juice. I brush my son’s teeth with a xylitol, non fluoride tooth paste, though our local tap water does contain fluoride. I’m inclined to think I should give up on the “heal cavities at home” theory and “just” head to the dentist, but then I am concerned about the quality of dental treatment and the risks involved.

I’d really appreciate some tips, or shared experiences! 

[~savah~]

We had a very similar experience. I tried to heal our daughters cavities, but it didn't work and her cavities got worse very fast. In the end, after many tears on my part, we opted for GA. DD was a month over two at the time she had the work done and everything went perfectly. In the end I am so happy that we got it done.

[MittensKittens]

Originally Posted by ~savah~ 

We had a very similar experience. I tried to heal our daughters cavities, but it didn't work and her cavities got worse very fast. In the end, after many tears on my part, we opted for GA. DD was a month over two at the time she had the work done and everything went perfectly. In the end I am so happy that we got it done.

Thanks for your reply! How many cavities did she have, and where? How did things go with the GA? And what kind of fillings did you get?
 

[~savah~]

She had six cavities in her four front teeth. Her side teeth were so bad that her dentist had to put caps on them. We did composite fillings. Everything went well with the GA. We ended up having it done in the dentists office with an Anesthesiologist. When we got there he tried to get her to drink a liquid to make her sleepy, but it tasted so bad she wouldn't drink it. Then DP took her to the chair and the knocked her out with gas. That was the worst part because she was flailing and making noises, she didn't remember it at all though. When the dentist was done with the work the moved her onto a mat with blankets and I sat there until she woke. The Anesthesiologist said that sometimes they will give children some medication to make them wake up, but that they seem to come out of it better if they don't have it. They told me I could nurse her when she woke up but just to be careful because she might experience some nausea. So I nursed her when she woke up and she was fine. She was a little sleepy for the rest day but other than that she was fine.

FWIW no one ever said anything to me about it being the fault of the nursing. The dentist even told me it was fine if I nursed until three hours before her appointment. Hugs to you. I know how stressful being in this situation is.

[Arduinna]

As a child I had a lot of dental work and as a result of how I was treated ( this was the 60's and 70's) I have major fear of the dentist that haunts me to this day. I would not under any circumstances allow treatment on a child being held down. I would do GA. As for the rest, I can't believe they think that drilling out the cavity and leaving a hole is going to do anything.

[MittensKittens]

Thank you both for sharing experiences. I am glad your DD is OK now - and has healthy teeth - Savah! At what point did you give up on the idea of healing cavities? Arduinna, thank you so much for mentioning that. Due to my fear of GA, I was leaning towards idea of holding my son down. I thought of it as something unpleasant that lasts a certain amount of time, and has no risks - like GA. But your perspective made me change my mind about that. I don't want my little guy to have traumas!

About drilling and leaving the area open, I won't have dental work done until I find a dentist who will fill after drilling. Of course, the drill and not fill approach will mess teeth up even more, yet it is surprisingly common here. But then, they also think antibiotics will work for a viral infection.

[~savah~]

I think we gave it around 4-5 months. The thing is *I* was not being diligent enough  with the things that we needed to do. I still believe that it is possible to heal cavities, it just wasn't going to happen for us. Our dentist had given us other options; one being nitrous in the chair and the other being an IV drip, also in the chair. But we didn't feel like DD would have been able to handle either of those options and we probably would have had to do the GA anyway, which is why we chose to go with the GA.