My family lives overseas. Our dental and medical needs are limited here. My husband took my daughter to the dentist today because she had a blister type bump on the outside of the gum under a filled tooth she had worked on last year in the states. They took out the filling, put medicine in the tooth and put a temporary filling it. They want us to come back in 2 days so they can perform a root canal. She still has all baby teeth and the tooth mentioned is the second to last tooth rom the back. I felt red flag signals as a mom when I heard this? Can anyone expand on the typical procedure or options that may be available. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
L.
My oldest daughter had a pulpotomy (sp?) done on a molar when she was about 5 1/2 - she ended up a little sore for about 2 days or so & really couldn't eat or let anything she drank hit that side, but she said it felt better shortly afterwards.
She was given laughing gas b/c it is a long time for a child to sit, plus that way she wasn't trying to fight it. Good luck!
Just wanted to let you know that this type of thing can happen to anyone following a dental procedure and does not necessarily mean anything was done wrong. Baby teeth have fairly thin enamel (outside layer of tooth) and big pulp chambers called root canals. If a cavity is large enough it can penetrate close to or into pulp chamber infecting the blood and nerve supply to the tooth. This usually results in an abscess which is the body's way of trying to take care of the infection. But unless the infected nerve is removed the infection and swelling can persist and in rare instance cause an infection in the body. The tooth you are talking about should stay in your daughter's mouth for another 5-7 years. Early removal of a baby tooth can lead to a host of problems potentially causing space and bite issues in the future. First, please make sure the dentist is very qualified and experienced especially in pediatric dentistry. If you do the root canal your child would be tooth would be numbed, then a hole drilled thru it, and then the nerve and blood supply are removed with a series of small files. Typically some medicine may be placed into the canal and then a temporary filling placed. This allows for the tooth to heal and to make sure all the infection is out prior to putting in a new filling. Then usually the tooth is drilled down and prepared to have a stainless steel crown put on. Unfortunately, teeth that have had root canals are weakened and can fracture more easily. A crown helps strengthen and protect the tooth. Your other option would be removal of the infected tooth. If you choose this option please make sure that a space maintainer is put in to hold the place for her permanent premolar to come in sometime between age 10-12 usually. I know it seems really scary and probably even more so because you are in unfamiliar surroundings. Just make sure the office is clean and reputable. Also, be very vague with your child. Parents sometimes feel the need to "prepare" the child and very frequently frighten the child unecessarily. Tell him his tooth has an ouchie and needs some medicine and the dentist with make it feel better. Don't mention the word shot! Good luck! I hope everything turns out well!
I definitely agree with Molly, go along with your dentists suggestions on this. If the decay is allowed to remain in there, it may become VERY Painful and it can also start decay on the permanent tooth that is right there under it and the permanent tooth can be decayed before it even emerges!! Do NOT "just pull the tooth"...it is a "space holder" and since it is one of her molars she needs that "space" to be held for quite a bit longer!!
Don't go into too much detail about what is going to happen, just that the Dentist is going to help her tooth feel "all better". You would be amazed at what these pediatric dentists can get a little one to do....my oldest daughter had HORRIBLE teeth, and when I knew they were going to have to start using a deadening injection, I figured the fight was on...but she never even knew he was giving her a shot!!!
The key to this is to stay CALM....if you are scared and apprehensive she is going to pick up on it from you and then SHE will be scared too. Just follow the dentists' lead and be there as a calming, reassuring influence for her!!
Good luck
My grandson had a root canal this year. He's 7. I'd not heard of root canals for baby teeth. We ended up with 3 dentists saying the same thing; that he needed the root canal. Molly R. explained this very well.
The first pediatric dentist said that they would use general anesthesia to do this. He also needed to have 5 teeth filled. They would do all the dental work at once. The dentist that his mother had do this did not use general anesthesia tho I suspect he did use some sort of tranquilizing medication and completed all of the work in 3-4 sessions.. Even tho my grandson has difficulty sitting still this worked.
This dentist specializes in pediatric dentistry, has several things in his office with which to distract children and has written several articles/pamphlets. My grandson wanted to go to each appointment and was disappointed when it was over. I hope that you have an understanding dentist who can make this a good experience for you and your daughter.
We prepared him in a way similar to the way Molly R. described.
We had something similar. Our daughter's tooth was hallow in the middle - the dentist said "it was born that way".
She too had the gas. It helped because the procedure is a little long and sounds funny.
I would take the professional's advice. Try to play it up to your daughter. Explain that her tooth is sick. But it's no big deal because the dentist knows how to fix it. And then she can have lots of her favorite foods like Go-gurts, ice cream, jello, etc. We stocked up on these favorites to have them on hand. Although our daughter faired VERY well and ate regular food on the other side of her mouth that night.
You can ask the dentist if Advil or Tylenol BEFORE going in for the procedure will minimize swelling and pain without having any negative side effects.
Our daughter's tooth got drilled, cleaned and then a crown applied. It saved what was left of her tooth and more importantly protected the nerve and jaw from future infection and complications.
That was 2-3 years ago and we've had no problems since.
FYI - we were told NO taffy or super sticky candies like Gummie Bears. We are very careful about this particularly with birthday goodie bags and Halloween candy. They can adhere to the crown and pull it off or loose; that can lead to an infection.
I know it's scary to hear "root canal". I sincerely believe that we've come a long way in medicine and dentistry. I hope your daughter does well. Just be glad that you have a dentist who knew what he was looking at.
Put on your Mommy Brave Face and Smile. Tell her everything will go well and she'll be just fine.
It's good to question, but I see no red flags here. She wouldn't lose that tooth naturally until she's 11 or 12. That's why the dentist recommended the root canal. My daughter had the same thing happen as yours at the same age. After a bad experience with the dentist who did the fillings, when the abcess developed we went to a new pediatric dentist who was really fantastic with her. We learned that kids just don't have the deterity to brush well enough at that age (dentist said they really don't have it until they learn to write cursive!) and we should have been doing it for her.
I agree with what Mom on the GO wrote. You have to deal with this and she gave good advice. Get a pediatric dentist if you can. While my daughter did have pain, looking back, it hurt me far worse than it hurt her. She got over it a lot faster than I did. If you can get a feel for the dentist beforehand, and you feel he/she is attentive to your daughter's needs, then you can feel confident he/she is doing a competent job. (I decided I would never go back to the dentist who did her fillings that went bad b/c his manner with her was so bad - and that was way before I learned he didn't get all the bacteria out). Ask if you can stay with her. A good and caring dentist will allow it.
The only option besides the root canal is pulling it. If you go that way (clearly your dentist thinks he/she can save the tooth though), make sure you get a spacer put in to maintain the space for when the adult tooth comes in. (we have experience with both root canal and extractions of teeth that couldn't be saved!)
Good luck to you and your daughter! I'm sure you'll be fine.
P.S. Our dentist said no more sticky, chewy candies/fruit chews either.
If you were Stateside you could go to a Pediatric Dentist and he would put your child to sleep and work on the tooth in the operating room of a hospital. This is common with Pediatric Dentists. They are specialists in baby teeth and children's teeth. Since you are overseas I think I might just tell them to pull it and be done with it. That way you won't have to have it drilled on and her going through all this, the tooth will be coming out in a few months anyway.
Dear L.,
Root canals are very dangerous due to your high risk of infections. With no doubt if it's only her baby teeth your talking about, I would simply have them pull it, which would End of problem! GOOD LUCK!
L.
The latest reason for saving baby teeth is that it does protect the permanent teeth-and they don't come in right away so you want to make sure there is the correct space for those permanent teeth-if you pull the baby teeth now the remaining teeth will move around to fill the space needed and then that presents problems later when the permanent tooth has really no place to go-so that means trouble. Also if you cannot afford to go to the dentist all the time check into special clinics for kids they are out there! And now go out with your children and buy them some fancy toothbrushes-maybe the battery operated (about $4.00) or some design they like and any and all toothpastes are great-ask them to choose-they will use it more if they get to be involved and then make a special time every day of brushing!!!!!! You can be involved too-it won't hurt for the kids to see you doing it too!!!! and finally ok when you are done with the dentist it is ok to get your child something cold and icy to eat-quite often it would be recommended to help the mouth recover gently from the work done. Just stay away from the nuts/berries in the icys.
Get a second opinion on this!
definitely get a second opinion. I have never heard of a root canal for a child. Unless her teeth are rotting, I can't imagine the need for a root canal. I don't understand why they wouldn't just pull the tooth. She's 5, so it will be coming out soon anyways.
I had a root canal on a tooth at about that age. It was done in the dental office, with just local/injected anesthesia. I had no problems afterwards, until the tooth was ready to come out. At that point (several years later), Only half of the tooth came out and the rest had to be pulled. You've received a lot of advice, but I would recommend not waiting too long. The potential for it to be more painful for her is too great.
When you get red flags LISTEN!!! Go get 2nd and 3rd and 4th opinions until every part of you agrees that it is the right thing to do and who to do it with.
Good Luck!
