Takin' One for the Team

At my son's cleaning visit, the dentist recommended I take my son to see an orthodontist.  I wasn't surprised really.  Unfortunately for him (and our bank account), he has a curse courtesy of hubby and me.  You see, we both have small mouths.  I also cursed my son with rather large teeth.  Large teeth in a small mouth is not a good mix. 
In fact, I was expecting the orthodontist to recommend that we needed to start appliances immediately.  What he recommended was that we have 2 teeth removed sooner rather than later so that his teeth could shift around before they started to permanently attach in their current locations.  One of those teeth was already loose but was behind the adult tooth.  This made it hard to wiggle and get the tooth out.  So the orthodontist recommended he chew on something like taffy or Starburst. 

Say what?!?  Yep.  The orthodontist recommended that he eat candy to get his loose tooth out.  We scheduled the tooth removal for a couple weeks after the orthodontist visit (the dentist was busy and it would give us more time to get the loose tooth out).  The first three nights after the orthodontist appointment my son diligently age his Starbursts.  They loosened the tooth some but it just didn't seem like it was going to come out.  Life got in the way for a while and we didn't really focus on the tooth until the night before the appointment to have them removed.

We got home late from a friends house (as in 10:30).  My son asked if he could try the Starburst one more time.  At first I told him no because I didn't want him to get sugared up before bed.  He reminded me that if he didn't get it out on his own it would cost me more money.  And you know what, he was earnest in wanting to save me money. 

As my regular readers are aware, my family has been spending lots of money on dental work as of late.  My daughter had 10 fillings, Hubby had 2, and I had 2 as well.  All within the last 7 months or so.  Luckily my son has been cavity free.  But he knows how expensive all this has been.

So I gave in and let him try one last time.  We had one last 2 pack of Starburst left, and although he winced a few times with the first one, it didn't do much other than loosen it up a little.

But that second one... well, the tooth came out!  Not without some pain.  Oh, and the tooth got stuck in the Starburst and he accidentally bit into it and then swallowed it.  Oops!  Guess we found the down side  :-)

Who knew that Starbust could save money on dental work?  How much money you ask?  According to the dentist's office $140.  So what did I do... I took him to Wendy's to get a Frosty on the way home as a thank you for saving me money and for being such a good patient with the one tooth that was removed.

Ignorance is Bliss

Do you remember how a couple weeks ago I mentioned that I went to see a new dentist.  Well, that visit was a new patient consultation so they did x-rays and looked around.  Today I went in to have my teeth cleaned and get a couple fillings that they found I needed during the new patient visit.

My least favorite part of seeing the dentist is the scraping the hygenist does.  So when the hygenist looked in my mouth and said, "Looks good.  I don't see a lot of plaque." I thought, I've got this in the bag!  NOT!

She scraped on my teeth for close to 30 minutes.  Perhaps what she meant was, "Looks good.  I don't see a lot of plaque for someone who hasn't had a cleaning in 3 years."  All I know is that I was glad when that was over.

As I'm moving to the other room to get my filling, I'm joking with the assistant / office manager about how it's hard for me to decide if I would like the cleaning or the filling less.  She said the filling and I disagreed with her because of just how much I hate the scraping.

Going into today, I was told there were 2 little cavities that would be really easy to deal with.  As the dentist was cleaning the area for the second cavity she found out that a filling in the same area had a bunch of issues so she took that out and had to put in a new one.  That meant a lot of extra grinding (and keeping my mouth open).  Add to the fact that it went from the top of my farthest back tooth to the back side of it and it made for some serious contortions for the dentist and my mouth.

Although my mouth is still numb, I can tell my jaw is going to be sore and I'll probably get a headache too (tension in my neck). 

Do me a favor.  If you see me in the next couple days, please don't yawn.  I'm not sure my mouth can take it.

Here Comes the Drill

It's official... I have a new dentist.  She happens to be the same dentist my daughter saw for all her fillings and her tooth being pulled, but it's the first time she's inspected MY teeth.   Now that we have dental insurance, I could actually go in and have my initial visit.

And what do I think of her?  So far I like her too (my kids already do).  She and her staff are very nice and thorough.  I admit, I went into this appointment with some trepidation.  You see, every time I went to my previous dentist I was told that I needed to floss better.  I wasn't the most regular flosser back then, but I wasn't horrible either.  Now I floss every night no matter how tired I am.  The only times I missed brushing and flossing was when I was so sick I couldn't handle the thought of putting something in my mouth.

So how did today go?  She applauded me on being a regular flosser.  Then she told me that I don't need to... SAY WHAT?!?  Apparently, rather than using floss I need to use something a little different because the gaps at the base on my teeth are so big that floss doesn't do the job.  She also helped explain why I tend to have issues with cavities between my teeth (just like my daughter, I might add). 

Although I DO need a couple fillings because of the gap / floss issue, I'm hopeful that the new method of cleaning between my teeth will prevent any future cavities.

Paying the Piper... Yet Again

My regular readers know that over the last 7 months, my daughter has been to the dentist MANY times in order to get fillings.  To the tune of $1000+.  Today we got to add another $200 to that amount. 

Why?  Because when she was 2 she bumped her tooth.  And a couple years ago when we were living in our camper she bumped it again.  But apparently that time she damaged the nerve and last week the nerve revolted.  It started to swell and her gums started to turn dark red.  Never a good sign. 

Friday, I got in contact with her dentist and sent her a picture slightly more detailed than the one below (I love email and tech save medical professionals).

You can see the swelling above her left front tooth.

After she looked at it, she confirmed my suspicion that the tooth was going to need to be pulled.  Luckily, it wasn't too bad yet so we didn't have to schedule something over the weekend.  So, first thing this morning I was able to get her an appointment for this afternoon to get her tooth pulled.  She did great (as usual)!  She is somewhat of a pro at this point with all she's had done.

What you may not be aware of is that my daughter is 7.5, and until today she still had all her baby teeth.  That's right, she hadn't lost a tooth yet.  And I will say this, it's gross interesting to see a tooth pulled that wasn't set to fall out on it's own for some time yet.  It still had the root on it!  Of course my son thought that was a little cool.

Although I am a bit bummed this tooth cost money to come out, we were able to catch it in time to prevent damage to the adult tooth.  And apparently it had a small cavity that was starting to affect the tooth next to it.  So I'm just going to tell myself that it saved me some money.  Yep.  That reasoning works for me. NOT!  Anyway...

And of course, there's the joy in my daugther's face when she smiles and shows her missing tooth.  At the rate her teeth are going, that would have happened in another year or so if it happened naturally.

Ouch! That Hurt...

... my heart and my wallet that is.

Well, my daughter got her major filling done a little while ago and she was such a trooper!  Didn't complain once.  Cooperated with the dentist.  Was talking and making them smile and wonder at how well she was handling everything.

Apparently her nerve was more swollen than the dentist was expecting.  To the point where she used multiple treatments to help relieve the swelling.  Luckily, the dentist doesn't think the tooth will need to be pulled any time soon.  It may need to come out before it would fall out on its own but the goal now is to make it till the adult tooth right behind it comes in.  Can I just say how glad I am that we got a cancellation rather than the appointment that is 23 days away still!

So how did my heart survive?  By taking a book to read so I had something else to focus on.  That and hearing the dentist and her assistant keep mentioning that she was the best child patient they'd had with a filling of that depth and location.  She even mentioned that she had adult patients that didn't do as well.  Hearing that, certainly made me feel more at ease.

If only there was something that helped ease the sticker shock on the way out the door.  Ugh!  Having dental work is not cheap.

Whirlwind of Emotions

Guilt
Anxiety 
Peace 
Stress 
Joy
Love
Pride

These are all emotions I experienced yesterday because of my kids teeth.  You see, yesterday both of my kids had their teeth cleaned for the first time in longer than I'd like to admit.  Let's just say, this is the first time they've been to the dentist since we moved to Florida.

Part of the reason is because money has been tight.  The main reason is because the last time they were at the dentist it didn't go well.  They tried to get x-rays of my son and he gagged non-stop (no vomiting thankfully) and they weren't able to get anything worthwhile.  My daughter did better, but only because I told them not to bother taking x-rays of her teeth.

So how did yesterday go?  Better and worse all wrapped into one.  My son's teeth got a clean bill of health.  No cavities and they were even able to get x-rays.  He didn't complain at all.  They did recommend that we see an orthodontist because his teeth look like they will be crowded, but nothing that's particularly urgent.

My daughter did great getting her teeth cleaned and x-rays as well.  Even with the cavity we knew she had.  Unfortunately, I learned that my daughter's "perfectly straight teeth" are actually so tight that she has cavities between two teeth in 4 different places.  We knew she was going to need one filling but we learned she's going to need more.

The one we knew about is the worst of them all and it looks like we caught it before it got to the nerve.  Moments ago I found out that there was a cancellation that will mean she can be seen on Monday rather than 4 weeks from now (when she was originally scheduled for).  Praise God!  I'm so happy we have an even better chance of getting it dealt with before it gets to the nerve.  Pray for us that Monday will go well.   That we did catch it in time and that we both make it through witout any mental trauma. 

It may have been a whirlwind of emotions for me, but thankfully, my kids seemed to be even keeled all day (and my daughter is looking forward to being able to eat pain-free again in the very near future).  And I think it's safe to say we found a dentist (and team) we all like and trust.

My Poor Baby

I think it's safe to say that the mommy guilt is very strong right now.  A few nights ago my daughter complained that one of her teeth was bothering her.  "The same one from a while ago," as she said.  Last time I told her to floss that area well and she said got something out and that she felt better.

This time, I decided to do the flossing so I could see what was going on.  It was between her back top teeth so it was not easy to reach much less see, so after getting a popcorn kernel out I had her lie down on the couch so I could see the area better.  I noticed that part of her tooth looked funny so I brushed the area a bit more and found that it looks like her tooth formed strange and I think that has created a pocket area where she now has a cavity.

This is very surprising to me because she has my husband's teeth.  You see, he can (and in fact did) go without seeing a dentist for 5 years and have the dentist tell him that his teeth are perfect.  In fact, the dentist pretty much called him a liar when my husband said he hasn't been to the dentist since he'd seen him 5 years prior. 

There are a couple difference between them though.  1. My husband is a religious flosser.  I'm pretty sure my daughter isn't (but she's going to be) and 2. My daughter still doesn't use florinated toothpaste.  You see, neither of my kids are good at spitting (my son in particular) so rather than have them swallow florinated toothpaste I've opted to use non-florinated toothpaste.  Needless to say the spitting practice has commenced in our house because this needs to change.  Yesterday!

Not only was I able to get my daughter a cleaning appointment for next week (the required precursor to getting the tooth fixed), I am planning on attending a pediatric dentistry talk given by our new dentist tomorrow night.  I'm hoping it will give me some insights on how best to deal with my kids dental issues.

More than that, right now I'm just praying that what they have to do isn't very invasive.  My hubby had a tooth pulled when he was a kid (to make room for his adult teeth) and it is a traumatic experience he still remembers with horror to this day.  I just pray she doesn't have one of those experiences (especially since her brother is already paranoid of the dentist too). 

It's bad enough that I didn't catch this sooner.   I'm not sure I can handle the guilt if she has a really bad experience too.

Night and Day

Yesterday, I took my son to the dentist for a cleaning.  The last time he had been was a little over a year ago.  I know you're supposed to go to the dentist every 6 months, but our living arrangements have been less than conducive to such things.  Not to mention, the last dentist appointment didn't go all that well so I was working up the courage (and praying they forgot how bad it went).

At that appointment they tried to get bite-wing x-rays, a panoramic x-ray, and the standard cleaning.  None of then went particularly well.  There was lots of crying, squirming, and gagging.  Yesterday, was different... only because they didn't try to get a panoramic x-ray.  Otherwise it was very similar to last time... crying, squirming, and gagging, but more of it than last time (at least that's how I'm remembering it).  I even tried bribing him with cash (it got him to handle the x-rays and the flossing better than last time, but didn't work with the cleaning one little bit). 

Today, I took my daughter (Note: I knew not to take them at the same time because I knew they would play off each other because they did last time).  Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it went MUCH better than her appointment last year and worlds better than her brother's appointment yesterday.  In fact, I would say this was a wonderful appointment.

I've been trying to figure out why my older child seems to have a bigger issue with the dentist and I've come up with a few possibilities.  The first is that he has a gag reflex that his sister doesn't have.  The second, and maybe more important one is the hygienist.  I found out after my son was done, that they did not schedule him with the "child" hygienist.  My daughter however, did get her.  She explained everything to my daughter, she gave her time when she needed it and she didn't push the x-rays before the cleaning. 

Neither of my children were found to have any cavities.  In fact, the hygienist today said they wouldn't even consider taking x-rays unless there was concern after the cleaning.  Yesterday, my son was forced to try to do the x-rays before the cleaning and with his gag reflex, that really got things off to a bad start.

I think what I've learned from all of this is that for the next cleaning I'm going to make sure 1. My kids don't go at the same time, 2. I make sure they are scheduled with the "kid-preferred" hygienist, and 3. I'm going to make sure the order of procedures is such that there is the least stress in the beginning as possible. 

I'm just happy that one of my kids did well.  If she hadn't, I think I would have had to have a nice strong drink when I got home.

Going Out of My Way

I have never been a fan of the dentist.  I've never had a root canal and I've not had that many fillings either, but it seems like every time I go to the dentist for my cleaning I end up with a TMJ-induced headache and canker sores a couple days later. 

Hubby doesn't like the dentist either.  In fact, it's safe to say he HATES the dentist and he has every reason to (lets just say he had a bad experience as a teenager and leave it at that).  Anyway, the dentist I had when I was in braces has an office near where I used to work.  When I stopped working, I used a dentists more local to our house and regretted it.  I then decided, the drive was worth it.

Today, I had a dentist appointment around lunch. Being that the dentist's office was 30 miles away, I knew it would take a while, but last night I received an email from a friend (thanks Jennifer) letting me know that there was a big celebration that would have traffic on my normal route a bit backed up so I found a longer route that would completely avoid the area in question. 

I pulled up to the dentist with two minutes to spare.  Good thing, because I parked way across the parking lot so that I could park in the shade.  You see today is supposed to get close to 100.  I am a firm believer in going out of my way and parking far away from the store/ doctor/ dentist if it means parking in the shade (especially if you know you are going to be inside for more than 5 minutes).  It was SO worth it, because when I got back to the car almost an hour later, it didn't feel that bad. 

The thing that gets me, is that people give me a look when I park way out in the parking lots.  It's like they think I'm crazy for passing up the parking space that is closer to the store.  Yeah, I walk outside in the heat longer, but I will be getting into a car that feels like it's in the 80's rather than the 100's.  Which of us is smarter?  Hmmmm....