Update on page 2
My heart is just breaking over this. We took dd to a ped. dentist today and he confirmed what I had been suspecting anyway- cavities. I was not expecting 8, though. Her 4 front teeth and her 4 molars are all affected (she does not have her 2 year molars yet). Her right front tooth is the worst off- he said there might be some nerve damage to that one, but won't know until he gets in there to fill it. The other 7 are surface cavities, not giving her any pain at this point. He said we would not need to do caps, that fillings will work, but wants to put her under General Anesthesia. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this- the risks of GA vs. the trauma to her having to have 8 teeth filled in an office. If it was just 1 or 2 teeth I would not do GA- but 8 teeth? I just think that is a lot for her to go through. The dentist was pretty wonderful, though- he also told me that on a scale of 1 to 10 for children's health issues, this is a 1. He said that they will fix her teeth and she will be fine. Our issue is that we do not have dental insurance. We do have medical, which they are hoping will cover the surgery center and the anesthesia- I do not know what we will do if they won't. But the estimate for him today is $2,400 and has to be paid in full before the surgery. I don't know how we are going to come up with that, either. If our medical won't cover the anesthesia it will be closer to $10,000. I am just so sad.
The hygenist asked if she drinks bottles- no, if she drinks from a cup- yes, what she drinks- water only- she will have a sip of juice every once in a blue moon, but it is 99% water still. I said that she is still breastfeeding- she did not ask how often or if she nursed at night- she just asked how old she was and I said "almost 2". She asked how often I brush her teeth- I said twice a day. The dentist did not mention anything about me still nursing, and did not say anything about needing to wean, at night or otherwise. I have read probably every article ever written on the relationship between breastfeeding and cavities, and I am not convinced that it is the cause. But she does not eat sweets, raisins, fruit leather. She does not drink much juice or cows milk. She drinks a lot of water. She nurses a lot. Maybe her teeth were already susceptible to this, and nursing at night triggered it. Maybe if she hadn't nursed so much at night it would not be this bad. There is nothing else in her diet that would cause this many cavities other than being latched on to my breast most of the night. I have been good about brushing her teeth- but obviously I haven't been good enough.
My heart is just breaking over this. We took dd to a ped. dentist today and he confirmed what I had been suspecting anyway- cavities. I was not expecting 8, though. Her 4 front teeth and her 4 molars are all affected (she does not have her 2 year molars yet). Her right front tooth is the worst off- he said there might be some nerve damage to that one, but won't know until he gets in there to fill it. The other 7 are surface cavities, not giving her any pain at this point. He said we would not need to do caps, that fillings will work, but wants to put her under General Anesthesia. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this- the risks of GA vs. the trauma to her having to have 8 teeth filled in an office. If it was just 1 or 2 teeth I would not do GA- but 8 teeth? I just think that is a lot for her to go through. The dentist was pretty wonderful, though- he also told me that on a scale of 1 to 10 for children's health issues, this is a 1. He said that they will fix her teeth and she will be fine. Our issue is that we do not have dental insurance. We do have medical, which they are hoping will cover the surgery center and the anesthesia- I do not know what we will do if they won't. But the estimate for him today is $2,400 and has to be paid in full before the surgery. I don't know how we are going to come up with that, either. If our medical won't cover the anesthesia it will be closer to $10,000. I am just so sad.
The hygenist asked if she drinks bottles- no, if she drinks from a cup- yes, what she drinks- water only- she will have a sip of juice every once in a blue moon, but it is 99% water still. I said that she is still breastfeeding- she did not ask how often or if she nursed at night- she just asked how old she was and I said "almost 2". She asked how often I brush her teeth- I said twice a day. The dentist did not mention anything about me still nursing, and did not say anything about needing to wean, at night or otherwise. I have read probably every article ever written on the relationship between breastfeeding and cavities, and I am not convinced that it is the cause. But she does not eat sweets, raisins, fruit leather. She does not drink much juice or cows milk. She drinks a lot of water. She nurses a lot. Maybe her teeth were already susceptible to this, and nursing at night triggered it. Maybe if she hadn't nursed so much at night it would not be this bad. There is nothing else in her diet that would cause this many cavities other than being latched on to my breast most of the night. I have been good about brushing her teeth- but obviously I haven't been good enough.
Everything in her mouth will be resin (white)- so I don't think it will be noticeable at all.
I am so sorry to hear this. Dental stuff is so hard to see with such a wee one. My DD had her top 4 teeth crumble very rapidly at the age of 18 months so I know that terrible mama guilt feeling. I am so glad to hear that you will be going with GA. I made the mistake of doing restraint and paid dearly for it afterwards with trust issues and tantrums from DD.
