my 20mo ds4 needs 4 crowns and they (of course) want me to wean

[fromscatteredtribe]

i am just so sad.

i told them no, and i look so neglectful. all my years as a LLL leader and the best i could come up with was "no, you are not going to tell em this was caused by breastfeeding."

our copay is 1040.00 and they have to sedate him and heart monitors and all that...so scary

and they told me that stuff sticks to the crowns and that he will likely cut me with his metal teeth while nursing.

i won't wean him, but the whole thing is just awful....

[northwoods1995]

I'm sorry mama. I don't have any good advice for you but I just wanted to offer you some hugs.

[fromscatteredtribe]

thanks!

[kaPOW!]

I've been reading the dental forum posts for months now, as I prepare to go through the same thing that you're dealing with, and I've never read a single post from a mom saying that the crowns cut them or hurt them or any mention of it at all. I wonder if they were just adding that on to be extra special cruel. People can be sick.

So sorry you have to go through this, it is so very heart wrenching. You're not alone.

[usmcwfe]

I'm sorry that you are going through this. My 2.5 year old needs crowns, and recieved the same line of bull from the first dentist we visited. "You HAVE to stop nursing or else... " and the famous "She really doesn't even need breastmilk anymore, is just a bad habit.." So... we found another dentist, a guy who's head didn't spin when we said we were STILL nursing. I have never heard that crowns can be dangerous to mamas, maybe they were trying to manipulate you? Its a very sad, lonely feeling when your child needs work like this done. Our little one needs 2 crowns but we are opting for consious sedation (if she needed any more work, I think we would have it done in a hospital under GA) , although we are constantly reconsidering the whole procedure. But I can tell you that getting a second opinion made a world of difference for us. We have to drive a couple of hours to get there, but I feel very comfortable with this particular office. In any case, best of luck to you and I'll say a prayer for you and your little one.

[USAmma]

Tiffany, I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. I just had a thought-- I remember when Asher was a baby he spit up and vomited a lot. Could he still have some silent reflux going on that might be causing the tooth decay? It would explain a lot (and prevent blaming it on bfing).

[fromscatteredtribe]

darshani....you might be right (it always came out his nose too i remember and sometimes his eye....eww) how do i forget these things??

it doesn;t matter though.

it could have been caused by asthma drugs and inhaled meds and so many other things.

they won't listen

it has to be cared for

and the whole thing is making me nauseous .....

it is dr james michaud of abd dentistry for children and he wasn't the nicest to me but he was a pretty competent and caring doc to my kid

i can't let him be toothless for 6 more years...i just cant ....he has had teeth months before he sat or crawled..... i wouldn't want mine taken out

[SolsticeMama]

Our son's teeth were decayed at 12 months and by 16 months it was affecting him being able to eat (he was in pain), so we PAINFULLY decided to put him under general anesthesia to have 4 top front caps put on. I was adament to the dentist that we would still be breastfeeding (he thought I was crazy) and I didn't care, I just wanted to be honest with him. Anyway, he is over 3 now, and still nurses daily and all the rest of his teeth are healthy and happy. We have had some problems with his capped teeth, no new decay but 2 of them have broken several times and now we just aren't fixing them since they aren't causing him any pain. We're hoping to wait until they fall out..........I just wanted to let you know that we did not wean and all of his teeth are still healthy. (We have them checked frequently, just to make sure) We did switch dentists several times to find one that does not berate us. He simply gives us a range of choices and we tell him what we are comfortable with. We lost so much sleep over our DS's tooth problems, but he has been doing GREAT lately. Good luck with everything.

[SolsticeMama]

One more thing regarding payment: We were given an $8000 bill for the general anesthesia and supporting personnel during DS's caps procedure. We were shocked because we thought our insurance was going to pay for it. We had to work on it for over a year (paperwork back and forth) but the hospital ended up paying for all of it, through a scholarship-type program where they need to spend so much of their money per year on charity cases (tax purposes, I think?) And we have a pretty good income, so if the need arises, this might be something to ask about. (nobody offered it to us, but we asked around)

[blueberrymama]

We had basicly the same thing happen to my oldest, when we went to the dentist they would ask "are you STILL nursing???" every time we went but they never got really rude, I have to say I was always on the defensive when I went in there! LOL We started going when I noticed problems with his teeth at about 6 months and we just kept going every 3 months for checkups I nursed him till he was 22 months old and we just had the caps put on about 2 months ago and he's 3 1/2 now. He never had any problems with pain so we were lucky and was able to put it off till now. He handled the surgery really great too! I was more worried then he was. They wanted to sadate him before he went back but we said it wasn't neccisary because he was playing in the play area and having a good time. He almost forgot to say bye and give us kisses because he was in one of those Cozy Coup cars and was having to much fun with the nurse.
Biggest change was with his teeth being broken off before, his new ones looked huge and he slobbered tons for a few weeks! LOL!
Our co-pay was over $1150.00 and we have very good insurance, at least so we thought. Make sure your dentist office get's it pre-authorized!

[fromscatteredtribe]

thanks. i thought ours was good insurance too....ha...they pay 500 and we pay over 1000

[sarahariz]

Originally Posted by SolsticeMama

We have had some problems with his capped teeth, no new decay but 2 of them have broken several times and now we just aren't fixing them since they aren't causing him any pain. We're hoping to wait until they fall out.........

Interesting that the crowns break. I'm starting to seriously wonder if doing nothing (unless child is in pain) isn't a real option. I spoke to a mom whose son, when 3, was told he needed the four front crowns and other work as well. She decided not to do it because he was never in any pain. Now he is 8. She said his 4 front teeth turned to little brown nubs, but when they fell out and his permanent teeth came in, they were beautiful!

The dentist wants to crown my 26 mo old daughter's two front teeth (if there is enough left of them to be saved) and extract the lateral incisors, plus put stainless steel crowns on the upper molars, under CS.

[ZeldasMom]

There is a mother in my homebirth group with a 2yo child with crowns. She did not wean (though she was advised to do so). There is another mom whose 1yo child is getting crowns today. She isn't going to wean either.

I'm sorry this is happening.

[fromscatteredtribe]

Originally Posted by ZeldasMom

There is a mother in my homebirth group with a 2yo child with crowns. She did not wean (though she was advised to do so). There is another mom whose 1yo child is getting crowns today. She isn't going to wean either.

I'm sorry this is happening.

thanks i am still really nervous, but i know it is the best thing to get the work done and nurse for at least another year or so if he wished

[mama in the forest]

Mama - my firstborn needed crowns on her top four teeth in the front when she was about 25 months old. She was fully breastfed. The difference was that the dentist used a resin bonding cap instead of a metal one. They felt exactly like her real teeth......It looked exactly like real teeth, worked wonderfully, and they lasted until she lost those teeth normally.

This was about 15 years ago though.....are they really wanting to put metal in babies mouths now? What is the rationale?