Dental Work

[l_Kimmie_l]

My son has 7 cavities to have filled. He is just 5 and has PDD NOS. They wanted to do it in the office with him awake. I am worried he will freak out and not let them do it or be tramatized. Last time we did it in the OR and it worked out great. Am I being silly for wanting it done in the OR again? I feel it will not make him scared of the dentist that way and will be easier on everyone.

[AtLeast]

No, you're not being silly. Follow your mama gut. I have had kids worked on both ways, under anesthesia in-office and also with N2O. My first and third needed the deeper anes, my fourth at 3yo did fine with N2O. None of my kids have any kind of other issues, though.

You could always agree to try with the nitrous, see how he behaves with the local anes being given. but if you are feeling he's do better being anes deeper, then request it.

[AtLeast]

dp

[amyltc]

My dd is 5 and just had her first cavity filled. She did great while on the nitrous, it was just afterwards she was freaking out about her mouth being numb. My older dd is more anxious and we used Versed (sp?) with her, that worked really well and it was still in office.

[mmmom]

We sedate in a private office for all of our daughter dental work, including cleanings. It is not ideal as we have to pay out of pocket and bill our insurance company, no direct billing but it is at this point the only way. She has some sensory issues and anxiety, no diagnosis as it doesn't effect too much of her daily life.
We go to a traditional dentist every 6 months and have worked out way up to her allowing the dentist to examine her teeth visually and feel around with his fingers.
I don't know that I would agree to having 7 filled at once
I am sorry your little one has to go through so much, my daughter just had 2 cavities filled and 2 teeth capped

[Erinne]

My dd goes to a pediatric dentist so they have tv's on the ceiling with headphones and that, plus the gas, keeps her pretty calm. Is your son generally the type to zone out in front of the tv? Even if they don't have one there, maybe you could find a tablet or ipod with some videos for him if you think it might work.

[sojomisa]

7 cavities will require 3+ visits to fill. My office will only do 2 at a time, and they have to be on the same side. For that reason alone I'd do the OR so they can do it all at one time.

My DD has enamel hypoplasia. I've literally watched 3 teeth come through and they've had cavities by the time it was completely through the gums. She FREAKS out at the dental office, it's so stressful for everyone. We have 2 temp fillings right now and are waiting on this last molar to finish bursting to see if it has issues. If it does we will go the OR route as well since she requires 2 caps and we don't think she'll tolerate that in office.

Good luck!

[daddyn4wisechix]

I am all for avoiding all of the extra drugs, etc. for anesthesia in an OR, BUT if it will be traumatic it is not just worth it IMO to do it in office. I was told if they will breathe the NO through their nose then they should be fine. If they will be crying, etc. they won't breathe it in (& breathe it in for the entire procedure) enough for it to work. I would feel better if my child had to be knocked out to be in a hospital setting... & I am not one to run right to the doctor. If we go to the doc, it must be necessary.

Also, food for thought is that if your child won't cooperate in office they won't be able to do a good job (if they can even do it at all)... which means you would end up in the same place as before w/cavities once again.

If I were going to use NO in office, I'd schedule for them to do just 1 or 2 teeth & see how that went over... if it was a success, then I'd go back for the others... if not, I'd do the OR. I'd also make it perfectly clear that I was going to be right by my child's side (if in office, I realize you can't be there in a hospital OR) & if DC freaked out that we'd just end the appointment right then & plan for the OR. Just not worth it, IMO.

I am so sorry you have to deal w/this... crappy place to be... BTDT.

[daddyn4wisechix]

Originally Posted by sojomisa 7 cavities will require 3+ visits to fill. My office will only do 2 at a time, and they have to be on the same side. For that reason alone I'd do the OR so they can do it all at one time.

Good point about the several visits... I would do 2 or 3 visits though to avoid anesthesia IF it would go well... but if not, I wouldn't hesitate to go to the OR.

Originally Posted by sojomisa My DD has enamel hypoplasia. I've literally watched 3 teeth come through and they've had cavities by the time it was completely through the gums. She FREAKS out at the dental office, it's so stressful for everyone. We have 2 temp fillings right now and are waiting on this last molar to finish bursting to see if it has issues. If it does we will go the OR route as well since she requires 2 caps and we don't think she'll tolerate that in office.

I am just curious after having BTDT, does your DD have any food allergies??

I am trying to educate our dentists about celiac disease, dental health, & enamel hypoplasia but they look at me like a deer in the headlights.

[iris0110]

I am going to say it depends on the kid. My oldest is PDD NOS with oral aversions. For years "dental work" meant dh or I holding him upside down while he screamed and the dentist attempted to just count his teeth. By 5 though he could nicely sit for cleanings (he does hunch his shoulders up a bit but all in all very nice) and he has handled cavities and a round of orthodontic work like a champ. He does get nitrous when he needs fillings (not for the ortho work, he was awesome for that though he was 10 or so at the time). The trick for him is that nitrous knocks him out completely and he does not feel the least bit ill or upset when he wakes up so going to the dentist is a positive experience for him. My youngest on the other hand was fine with the first pedi dentist we saw. The man was wonderful (seriously sounded like big bird, not kidding) and talked him through all of the work he was doing. He happily lets the hygienist clean his teeth and he let the first dentist do a couple of fillings without nitrous or numbing (they were small and this was recommended). Didn't bother him at all. Then we went back for a few more, different dentist same office and he needed nitrous. He flipped out and we took years to get him to tolerate a simple cleaning again. Part of it is just him, he has defiance issues, but part of it is that he is seriously afraid of nitrous. He needs more fillings and will need sedated in office but I need to find an office that agrees to no nitrous.