Cavities in Baby Teeth- WWYD???

[love2all]

My 6 yo went to the dentist for the first time ever last week and he has 6 little cavities...OMG : .. (his 9 yo sister had 0!!!!!! )
Anyway- the dentist recommended him having them all filled at the hospital while under general anesthesia...CRAZY????
What would you all do?? They are his baby teeth and at this point do not bother him at all.. he eats a good diet- low sugar, all organic etc.....
A little background on my family- my kids were born at home, do not get vaxed, have all been to the doc once in their lives, I guess I want to know if anyone thinks this is absolutely neccesary- being put under is a big one.....

[rockinmama]

Woah! That is a big one, especially for teeth that will fall out eventually. Unless they seem to bother him, i wouldn't consider minor surgery for a 6mo old. The real question is why he has them in the first place. Bad enamel development? My friend's child's teeth turned black and kind of rotted away when he was just a baby and she took him to a chiropractor and he did a little tweak in his neck to stimulate a gland and all was ok after that.
Good luck to you guyz!

[Ruthla]

I'd get a second opinion before putting him under general anesthesia.

My dd (now 8) had to have 9 cavities filled when she was 6 or 7. It was done in the office, under local anethesia, but it took 3 or 4 separate visits. This was only for the teeth he bothered fixing. There were more cavities in front baby teeth that were going to fall out within a year or so that he just left alone.

Was this a general dentist or a pediatric dentist? I strongly recomend seeing a pediatric dentist if your child needs fillings- its possible that a general dentist isn't comfortable working on an awake child.

[Ravenmoon]

6 years old or 6 months old?If your kid is 6 years old then i would hold off.My dd is 7 and in the last year she has lost her two bottom and two top teeth plus one more bottom that just came out the other day.Now if it is any back teeth i would get them filled.These stay until around age 12 and keeping teeth like that in can cause health problems and more intensive decay then your babe would like to deal with.If your babe can handle nitrous or a general and sitting while the dentist works,go for it.Administer Arnica the day before and the day off plus Bach rescue remedy.Or if they are like my dd who could not sit still or deal with it she was put under at the hospital and they were able to complete everything in an hour.It wasn't all that bad and she recovered very well.

[kimmysue2]

Ah yes been there. My son had 6 cavities He is almost three. We were able to fix three of them but the other three are on the inside of the tooth and to far back. So they said hospital while under general anesthesia too. I was really upset. I mean general anesthesia is not sometime that is a breeze. Its a major deal. We decided to wait. He did fight the first three but we were able to do those. Since we will be going back every 6 months for cleaning they can see if the cavities are getting worst. Other wise I will wait until he is older and not put under to fit the teeth.

I do now use an electric brush three times a day and check the cavities to see of I can tell if they are getting bigger or bothering him.

Makes me mad I did not go as soon as he had teeth but the Dentist was like Oh you have to wait until his is three. I SAW the cavities that is why I went in, to a different dentist too.

[Pilgrim]

I am sort of in your boat at the moment. My dd has cavities, only she is 19 months old! First, there is a *really* long thread in the dental archives about general anesthesia. Lots of good info there.

What I am doing is getting a second opinion. The first dentist wants to do GA, and I am very nervous about that. However, I am unwilling to allow the cavities to stay, as I don't want to jeopardize her future dental health and her general health as well.

We have an appointment next week with a different pediatric dentist who offers in office IV sedation as well as hospital GA. At least I can talk over the risks of both with him, and try to make a better decision.

One thing I know about my DD is that she HATES anything near her mouth, and for us, I think some form of "knocking her out" will be necessary so she isn't traumatized.

Good luck with your decision!

[grahamsmom98]

Our ds had 4 cavities filled last year (he was 5 years old then) WITHOUT anesthesia!!

Look in the Yellow Pages for dentists that use the water laser. This is what we did as I wanted to spare ds the needle for as long as possible (no vax, so no experience with being jabbed!).

You can do a search on the internet for the water laser (I think it is called the Hydrolase), and find lists of dentists across the US that do this.

The dentist was great. Ds was in the chair for less than 40 minutes (from sit-down time to giving the dentist a hug after the procedure!) to have 4 cavities filled. There was NO discomfort (according to ds), he said it tasted a bit weird (not bad, just weird) and there was quite a bit of water splashing on his face (he had on special glasses to protect his eyes). The only part he didn't like was the thing they "wedged" in his mouth so he could relax it and not have to consciously hold it open! He has no fear of the dentist, which will certainly make future visits easier!!

The dentist used tooth-coloured fillings (say NO to any dentist that wants to use amalgams!!!).

These were in ds's back and side teeth, so we wanted to have them taken care of. Even if these had been in the front baby teeth (soon to fall out), I'd still have them filled as cavities can get worse, and I wouldn't want to risk starting something bad that could get up to those secondary teeth still forming in the gums!!

Anyway, this worked wonderfully for us. Perhaps it would work for you. Certainly worth a try!!

I would not allow our son to undergo general anesthesia for routine cavities under any circumstances. There's more risk with the anesthesia than from any dental complications!! FIND ANOTHER DENTIST!!!

[love2all]

Thanks for the replies-
We have decided that there is NO way our ds is going to the hospital for this......
we have not decided what we will do, he is a little 6 yo but very mature and way able to sit still for a period of time. We will now research what might happen if we do nothing at this point. The hygenist only found 1 cavity because the other 5 are tiny and not noticeable. These are all teeth in the back of the mouth and do not bother him....
Another dilema is that this is free health care thru the county health dept. so we cannot afford to shop around for a holistic dentist, I am able to say no to the GA and we will go from there.....
I appreciate all the thoughts

[Clarity]

Talk to a ped dentist - I had a number filled at a younger age using nitrous oxide. I think 6 is old enough to sit well. My 2yo niece just has 2 done the same way. As was suggested, doing it over several visits is a good plan. Even though this is free care, a more old fashioned dentist who still uses nitrous might be an alternative to a ped dentist if that's out of reach. They may be loathe to pay for the repeat visits - that might be the push.

In general, many people think the pediatric dental association's suggestion of the first visit within 6 months of first tooth eruption is a money issue. I don't - I know far more kids whose mouths wre a wreck by three that could have been easily fixed or prevented earlier for far less money. my godson's speech development was affected to a large degree by all his extractions, root canals, spacers, etc. His Kaiser HMO ped said " don't bother until he's 3." Despite his advanced decay. GRRRRR. If you *see* a problem go immediately. And go periodically for a peek even if they're not old enough to sit for a cleaning.

With what we know about the effects of dental bacteria from decay and gum disease on the heart and with preterm delivery, I think I personally would treat baby teeth because I suspect it has an impact on overall health we haven't studied enough about yet.

[love2all]

I was so proud of my dd, not ever having been to a dentist and, at age 9 not having any cavities... imo I would not bring a baby to a dentist. But that is neither here nor there, my ds that has the problems is six and I think I will call the hygenist in the am and see what she thinks- independently of the doc...