Mo goes to the dentist (and mom has some questions).

Soz is right. And as the article above says, waiting until they are in pain means they will be much more difficult to treat. The work required will be more extensive...and expensive!

I spent the first years of my working life as a dental technician. Manufacturing false teeth for dental patient. This included 4 years of trade schooling so I know a thing or 2 about dental health, not as much as a dentist though.

Soz is right on the money (when is she ever wrong?) about place holders and bone loss. Deciduous teeth tend to "drift" if a gap is caused by extraction the result of this is wayward permanent teeth that will cost heaps to correct.

Dental health is just as much a necessity in childhood as it is in adult hood. to say nothing of abscessed baby teeth and the pain and fear caused by extraction.

I had fluoride tablets for many years, no harm done as far as I can see. I'm surprised about the prescription though perhaps this is your doctors way of saying "I'm not sure i can trust all my patients to get the right thing".

There do seem to be some "Marketing geniuses" within the dental industry so I would recommend visiting several different clinics and quizzing them about treatment options.

When the dentist gives a fluoride treatment, they put some sticky crap on their teeth that the kids hate. They sit there for a bit and then the treatment is over. I wonder if that is the treatment that schools provided - they had a dentist come in and put that stuff on their teeth?

Another suggestion if you do not have fluoride in your water is to buy bottled water with fluoride added. I never heard of the fluoride tablets, but that is probably because we have fluoride in our water.

I have a question - why would they use gas on him? The only instance that I can remember of anyone (child or adult) being knocked out at the dentist was for removal of wisdom teeth and once for an implant.

I think it makes the process easier for the dentist and less traumatic for the patient.

With some dental surgery, general anaesthesia seems to be quite common - and asked for - here in Germany. But such has to be done by an assisting anaesthetist.

Gas (Nitrous oxide) isn't commonly used here (according to web-sources, it's done mainly in the USA and Sweden).

Look at all this lovely advice! I'm going to go all through everything again. Thank you all so much.

I think I just need to do it.

It isn't an emergency, I could probably wait until after the holidays and that might make it easier. Money is always an issue but I know that for us it isn't as big as issue as it is for so many. I hate to take time or services away from anyone who needs it more than we do so I will probably stick with just going to a regular dentist.

This particular dentist came highly recommended not only from our neighbors but independently from our doctor.

I grew up poor with few visits to the dentist. I credit fluoridated water with the fact that I still have all my teeth and very few cavities -- I'm a believer. I think my past is what makes me concerned with the idea of filling baby teeth.

The gas they mentioned is not knock-out gas but "laughing gas". Mo (of all people) was so good and so still and so patient at his checkup that I was really surprised that any mention of the necessity of gas was brought up. Maybe I need to discuss this more with the dentist. I just get a little itchy when it comes to drugging kids!

Well, that's what I'd thought (nitrous oxide).

Look out I'm going to growl.



Money for motor bikes and guitars and sundry other bits and bobs but teeth can wait.

Sorry boomer teeth are a health issue. Your son can get seriously sick through abscessed teeth.

Dont wait please.

GRRRRRRR!!!!

see thats my fiercest growl. Are you afraid?

Not afraid but a bit confused.

While I'm tempted to get very defensive here I'll instead say that I don't think that going from Wednesday to Saturday constitutes "waiting". Subjecting my child to a medical proceedure without gathering more information would be a bit more irresponsible, in my opinion.

Cultural difference.

We are soon to enter summer school holidays. I just assumed you meant after school holidays.
I forgot you are not on the same calender as us. I guess you meant Thanksgiving holidays.

Pssst to dadpad...when boomer said "after the holidays," I thought she meant after Christmas and New Years. Wednesday to Saturday is nothing, but waiting a couple of months would concern me. A simple cavity can turn into an abscess if she waits that long. An abscessed baby tooth typically means either a root canal (if keeping the tooth is important)or an extraction, both of which are more expensive. And uncomfortable, to say the least. I wouldn't wish that on Mo.

$700.00 is a tad high for a few cavities and sealing the baby teeth.
Jane had her teeth sealed twice, a few cavities filled, and four baby teeth
extracted (her jawbone is too small). At the age of seven, she got a
palette cemented in to widen her jaw. She also got retainers on top
and bottom to straighten the incoming permanent teeth. One of her
permanent eye teeth dislocated itself and had to be extracted through
surgery.

I don't care to remember how much money I left at the dentist/orthodontist,
but I never paid $ 700 for cavities and sealing alone. Even half of it would
be on the high side.

I'm moving to San Diego!

(Dentists, like doctors, often lower their fees if you don't have insurance, boomer. I'd ask.)

I was talking about having it done over winter break next month.

I pulled out the estimate. 4 cavities @ $148.00 each, 4 sealants @ $46.00 each (they did say this might be able to be discounted, the sealants, not the fillings) for a total of $776.00. When I see the cost broken down like that it doesn't seem quite so crazy. I think I was suffering from sticker shock. But really, I didn't want to do anything that wasn't necessary because well.... it wasn't necessary. It sounds like this stuff is necessary.

Well, I paid around $80.- for Jane's cavity (1) and $ 40.- to seal her teeth.
Her oral surgery to remove the eye tooth - with an anesthesiologist cost only around $ 1000.00

Eva, San Diego is saturated with dentists, and it probably reflects on the
prices too.

Those prices seem pretty close to what we pay our pediatric dentist, which to echo soz, I highly recommend. Ours doesn't take insurance, so we have to fork over the dough and wait to be reimbursed, but it's worth it. The kids love to go and are constantly asking me to make them another appointment. Ducklet's never had a cavity (knock on wood) but Duckie has had several and has gotten sealants. He gets the nitrous whenever he's getting a filling and I don't really have a problem with it. But that's probably because I need nitrous just to let the dentist near me with sharp instruments. I think the idea is that it has a somewhat numbing effect on the face and makes the injections of novacaine less noticeable, as well as keeping the kid still. I was so worried that I'd pass on my phobias to my kids that I often err on the side of kid comfort.

Sozlet had it (and something else I think, I forget) when she had her fillings at 21 months or so. She was just way too little to be able to hold still otherwise. I was terrified about the whole thing. She came through it fine, and an additional benefit of the nitrous (I think -- may have been the other anesthetic used) was some sort of localized amnesia -- she couldn't remember the experience, and has been (more than) fine with dentists ever since, even though she was delivered to me after the fillings (still out) with burst capillaries all over her cheeks from hysterical crying... ugh, that was one of the low points of my parenting life so far. All turned out OK, though.

SonofEva is 13 now, and hasn't had any cavities so far. (Knock on wood.) He did have two baby teeth extracted, though. They wouldn't come out and were causing the permanent teeth to come in crooked behind them. They gave him nitrous oxide for that (before the numbing shot) and he loved the gas! That was several years ago, and he still asks if he can have the gas every time they clean his teeth. ("No, you can't. Stop asking that!")

Our pediatric dentist charges the same amount as regular dentists. But if you've found someone that Mo likes, and he comes highly recommended, then I think that's great, boomer.

This is just my opinion.

If money was tight (aint it always) I'd forget the sealant.

Sealants fill up the grooves in your teeth. Cavities are much less likely to form and plaque is easier to remove when brushing. If flouride is being taken and proper brushing adhered to there should be no need for sealants.

The longevity of dental sealants can vary. Any sealants that remain in place and intact for three to five years would be considered a success, however, sealants can last much longer.

Heres a page promoting sealants.
http://www.animated-teeth.com/tooth_sealants/t2_dental_sealants.htm#how.last

It may also depend on the topology of the kids teeth. Duckie has many many grooves in his teeth, which is probably why he's more prone to cavities. For him, the sealants were worth every penny. For Ducklet, they're not so important, but if we have the money we do it.