MY 3.5 year old DS has 4 cavities!!

[SeeDisney]

HI DIS friends,


My little boy has four cavities! Two on his eye teeth and two in his molars. Obviously, the dentist is going to fill them, with NO NOVOCAINE or gas. He said they're surface cavities and he really shouldn't feel any pain.

I have seen a number of candy wrappers under his bed during the past couple of months, from Halloween, Christmas. He's been hiding them and probably eating them during night time.

Anyone went through the same for their young child. I'm very sad that he's going to go through drilling, etc. Please reassure me that my boy will be fine and truly not feel pain. The dentist will let me be there while he's proceeding. The dentist is hoping he can fill all four cavities at one visit.

I know not to say anything to him to build up any unneccesary anxiety, etc.


Thanks for your input.

 

[Sonya]

I"m sorry. I know I'm an adult but I had surface cavities before and they really don't hurt. It feels weird to have them working on you but it does anyway. For me the shot is worse than doing surface ones. Good luck!

 

[Minnie824]

My DD4 had one cavity she had to have filled last year. I was SO nervous they'd have to numb her but they didn't. She was a little nervous, but sat nice and still and it didn't take long. She didn't feel anything either. He'll do fine.

 

[tar heel]

My son had two cavities when he was that age, had them fixed without me in the room and came bouncing out like nothing had happened!

The dental hygienist told us that some people are just unlucky with their mouth PH and that makes them more prone to cavities. Neither of my older children have ever had one and they both went through stages when their oral care left a lot to be desired.

 

[laurie31]

Agree with above poster. My brother and I are adopted. I think I have a filling in every tooth in my head and my brother doesn't have a single one. My mom was always perplexed by this as she made sure we both brushed but when I met my birthmom I found out all my bio family has problems with cavities and tooth enamel. Both my dd's have tons of teeth problems and poor DD1 had to have a ROOT CANAL when she was 3. We see a pediatric dental specialist. Anyway, my dd's have done fine with their multiple fillings and DD2 had to have CAPS because 4 of her teeth came in with no enamel! They are not scared of the dentist or anything.

(and DH and I joke because other that the teeth things, my bio family is very healthy - no cancer, no heart disease, etc. I was actually relieved to find out it was genetic, because I had been feeling really guilty about all my girls' problems. Turns out they're not my fault! Yay!)

I hope your little guy does fine and like you said, don't tell him much at all beforehand, kids that age imgine the worst sometimes. No need for him to worry about it.

Laurie

 

[wdwgirl03]

Awww, I'm sorry. That really stinks. I'm 20, and have yet to have a cavity. (not that I'm complaining or anything...)

 

[mom2kazkids]

DD had a cavity that was filled when she was 3, between two of her back teeth. (Teeth are really close together, and this cavity formed between the teeth.) She did really good with the whole thing, numbing and such.

Now today I found out DS 5 also needs to have two cavities filled. He has been wearing a dental arch expander since last July, and it is hard to clean his back teeth that it is cemented to, and both of the back teeth (one each side of the mouth) have cavities that need to be filled. The best part is today they needed to recement the appliance because it was loose, but to have the cavitites filled they need to remove the appliance then reinsert it for about another 4 weeks. With him they plan to use gas and numbing. Good thing both of my kids like the dentist that we go to, so I am hoping that it will not be a problem.

Barb

 

[kldmom2000]

My now 5.5 yr old DD went to the dentist for the first time just after her 3rd bday as her pedi recommended and she had FIVE cavities!!!!!! We had religiously brushed her teeth every morning and evening and still, FIVE cavities! The first pedi dentist we took her too was a complete jerk! She was scared and he refused to do it in the office-he wanted to book an OR for her as he didn't want to "deal" with her crying (hers were also surface cavities) We only had health insurance and not dental... the OR was going to cost nearly $14,000 after paying for the OR, the anesthesiologist, and the dentist! FOR BABY TEETH!!!! We hunted for a new pedi dentist... he was WONDERFUL... he filled them over the course of 3 visits-no novacaine as they were surface ones. He was soooo fast about it too w/ no pain! The culprit he believed in our DD's case was SIPPY CUPS! Bad! Bad! Bad! We went home and threw them all out! So far, so good.. no more cavities and my 3 yr old so far is cavity free as well.... GL to you!!!!

 

[minkydog]

My youngest son Christian had two deep cavities in his back molars. We knew about one, so the dentist needed to fix it. We opted to do a dental block(similar to Novacaine) since DS doesn't handle being put to sleep well. While she was working on the one molar she tapped the other one and the whole tooth caved in. So he had both teeth done at once. It wasn't pretty.

Knowing what i know now, I would say next time we will go to the children's hospital and have him put to sleep. He's severely autistic and we could not make him understand what was happening. Even though putting him to sleep has some real risks(he doesn't wake up for hours) it would have been better in the long run. An autistic child has a memory like an elephant--they never forget a bad experience. GEtting his teeth cleaned has been more difficult ever since then.

I realize that our situation is different from yours, but I wish you the best. I have had surface cavities planed down and they truly did not hurt.

 

[barkley]

both my kids had to have surface fillings when they were around 4-no novacane and they did fine (said "it tickles"). they've had subsequent fillings (not alot) and dentist said it just happens with some kids despite the best oral heath habits.

the kiddo's i felt for were the ones who ended up with tons of metal caps on their teeth (they looked like "jaws" from the bond movies). there were several of them who were kids of co-workers, the majority of whom had let them fall asleep with a bottle and wander around with a sippy cup permanantly attached to their mouths. having to go through something like that can make it so frightening to deal with dentistry later on

we have an awsome dentist-i give him all the credit for my kids looking forward to their visits (cuz both me and dh are complete babies about it).

 

[Chicago526]

I had one done once. The doc offered me novicane. I asked him if it was really needed (the idea of a needle anwhere neer my mouth is ). He thought a moment and said "Well, I only need to drill for a second, it should only hurt for a moment."

I told him to forget the needle and start drilling!

And he was right, it only hurt for a moment, a kind of weird pressure build up followed by split second of sharp pain, then nothing. Very glad I didn't bother with it!

As for the cause, well, no more candy at mid-night for your little guy, and you'll have to take extra care to brush his teeth twice a day. Ask the dentist, he may have other ideas or suggestions.

 

[hydster]

All 3 of my kids have had to have surface cavities filled and all 3 had no novacaine and did just fine. The only thing that really irked me was the fact that the "newer" dentist in the practice is who did them and he filled them with white fillings which my insurance doesn't pay for instead of the amalgam which would have been fine for the baby teeth so instead of them being free I had to fork out 70 bux a tooth per kid...they each had at least 3 so I'm into baby teeth fillings almost 300 bucks for nothing...they will however look pretty for the tooth fairy.

 

[PlutoPony]

DS hasn't had cavities yet, but our pedi dentist sealed his permanent molars AS SOON AS THEY CAME IN. By her count more than 50% of back molars have cavities within a year or two of them coming in - it's just so hard to brush back there that it's almost inevitable if they're not sealed.

Anybody have dental insurance that covers sealing?? Most don't which I don't understand. Wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run to pay $40 to seal a tooth than pay to fill a cavity

 

[hydster]

Our insurance will pay for sealant on permanent molars only. And only on the back last 2 teeth upper and lower. It's stupid that they don't pay to seal them all even though the backs are the greatest risk for cavities. I am glad that mine WILL pay for it though.

 

[christinadei]

My DS5 recently had 3 cavities. ONe just had to be filled and two had to be capped. They were very deep and close to the nerve. OUr family has a history of bad teeth too. We've always been very good about brushing his teeth anyway, i was worried that they woudln't give him novicane and the dentist said that she tries w/o unless they complain of pan, then she'll give it to him. They just used gas on all 3 (2 visits) and he said it didnt' hurt a bit, he came runnign out, showing me his new hip-hop gold (really silver) tooth! So no worries!

 

[PEANUT1]

bumping this up bc I just found out that my 3 1/2 year old has several cavities. We took her to the dentist (my hubby's uncle) for her first visit, but he said we should go to a pediatric dentist to have xrays and all. The pediatric dentist was so creepy....i can't go back to him. So now I am going to take the xrays and go somewhere else. I feel terrible that she has cavities. I cried after leaving the office. I know its silly and it happens, but does anyone else have experience with this? Someone else mentioned sippy cups....why would this cause cavities?

 

[Cinderella2004]

bumping this up bc I just found out that my 3 1/2 year old has several cavities. We took her to the dentist (my hubby's uncle) for her first visit, but he said we should go to a pediatric dentist to have xrays and all. The pediatric dentist was so creepy....i can't go back to him. So now I am going to take the xrays and go somewhere else. I feel terrible that she has cavities. I cried after leaving the office. I know its silly and it happens, but does anyone else have experience with this? Someone else mentioned sippy cups....why would this cause cavities?

Sippy cups can cause decay if they are drinking them with anything but water in them. Whatever they are drinking pools in their mouth, and sits on the teeth.

This can occur during the day, but the best advice I can give you (as both a Mom and a former pediatric dental assistant-now back to GP) is after you brush their teeth at night, nothing but water to drink, and nothing to eat...or you brush them again is the rule at our house.


Good luck!

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

My now 5.5 yr old DD went to the dentist for the first time just after her 3rd bday as her pedi recommended and she had FIVE cavities!!!!!! We had religiously brushed her teeth every morning and evening and still, FIVE cavities! The first pedi dentist we took her too was a complete jerk! She was scared and he refused to do it in the office-he wanted to book an OR for her as he didn't want to "deal" with her crying (hers were also surface cavities) We only had health insurance and not dental... the OR was going to cost nearly $14,000 after paying for the OR, the anesthesiologist, and the dentist! FOR BABY TEETH!!!! We hunted for a new pedi dentist... he was WONDERFUL... he filled them over the course of 3 visits-no novacaine as they were surface ones. He was soooo fast about it too w/ no pain! The culprit he believed in our DD's case was SIPPY CUPS! Bad! Bad! Bad! We went home and threw them all out! So far, so good.. no more cavities and my 3 yr old so far is cavity free as well.... GL to you!!!!

My DH is a pediatric dentist here in Mass! Maybe he was the good one you went to!?!

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

My DNiece has something like 8 cavities. Several of her teeth got capped. My DSis thought she was being so good with no sippies or bottles at night. Turns out those Gerber fruit snacks were killing her. She figured since it was from Gerber then it was okay. Dentist told her that if she needed to give her any sort of sweet to stick with chocolate. Chocolate apparently comes off the teeth easier then anything gummy. We got lucky because DD can't stand really sweet treats which knocks off all sorts of gummy, gooey, etc. type candies.

 

[linda0706]

DS hasn't had cavities yet, but our pedi dentist sealed his permanent molars AS SOON AS THEY CAME IN. By her count more than 50% of back molars have cavities within a year or two of them coming in - it's just so hard to brush back there that it's almost inevitable if they're not sealed.

Anybody have dental insurance that covers sealing?? Most don't which I don't understand. Wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run to pay $40 to seal a tooth than pay to fill a cavity

Our insurance only pays for 1 sealant treatment so we waited until DD had her permanent molars in, which at 6 years old for her.

Before then she had several surface cavities that were a breeze to get filled.

I love our dentist & dental assistant. We all go to the same one (DH, DD & me) and all have our appointments together in the afternoon so they call it "Smith Day". They also have always allowed me to be in the room w/ DD, which I love. (She's in the room while my teeth get cleaned also. The dental assistant calls us both back at the same time & always asks DD who's going first.)

At one visit she went first & had a little cavity that needed filling. The assistant disappeared for a few minutes then came back to state the dentist could do the filling right then if I wanted. That was GREAT - saved me taking another afternoon off work. Then while I was getting my cleaning we talked about a little wisdom tooth I needed removed - it was going to be a quick/easy pull. I jokingly asked if the dentist could do that right then too. Assistant said let me check--sure enough, THEY DID IT! They squeezed 3 visits into 1 for me! (Of course they didn't charge any less $$ but that was OK)