I have a five year old with lots of dental problems. She needs crowns on two molars and the other two need fillings for decay along with a few other teeth. I think this problem stems from her being so scared and uncooperative at the dental offices. We’ve tried three different dentists hoping for a different outcome each time, but to no avail. She just loses her mind and they can’t get any work done on her. Do you have any recommendations for a parent in my situation?
Melanie
Dear Melanie,
I can tell that you care a lot about your daughter as well as her oral health. I think I can help you with this. Even with her being uncooperative at the dentist, this is a lot of decay for someone so young. I’ll go over how to prevent that in a moment. First, let’s deal with your immediate problem— getting her the dental care she desperately needs.
I would go to a pediatric dentist (or general dentist who works with children) that also offers dental sedation options. They can give your daughter a medication which will complete relax her. In fact, she will be very likely to sleep through her dental procedure all together. This will give her the treatment she needs in a way that eliminates her anxiety. Depending on the type of sedation used, she may not even remember the appointment. As she builds up more appointments where things go well, she’ll become more cooperative.
As for the amount of decay she has, it makes me wonder how much she is snacking and drinking throughout the day. One of our biggest weapons in the fight against decays is our saliva. This is because it contains vital minerals that fight against the bacteria that leads to decay. If your daughter is snacking a lot or drinking a lot of sugary drinks during the day, then her saliva will not have an opportunity to do its job.
Limit her to one snack a day and try to give her much more water than juice or soda, both of which contain lots of sugar and citric acid that will damage her teeth.
I hope this helps.
This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.