[beejay]

My DD went to the dentist today -- and she needs some work done. A couple filings which is fine, they don't take long but the peds dentist wants to do some crowns. I am not even sure what they are. Are they painful? Has anyone else had dental work done to their kids, my dd is 5 yrs old.

thanks for any input.

[kretzklan]

Jumping over from the Russia board because both my kids (home at 6 and 7) have had extensive dental work. Literally every tooth in their head needed something. We had numerous crowns...those aren't painful per se...but it's all about the person doing the work. We had a ped dentist that had done a great job for our oldest - but when faced with working with a high dental needs kid, well, he had NO bedside manner. After having to drag the kids screaming there one time - I gave up and got a new dentist...it's been great ever since. So, I guess I would ask about HOW they handle the procedure with kids. Do they break it up into small sections? Do they knock them out - offer stress reducing meds? Good luck!

[RuthC]

I'm going to second the earlier comment...it's all about the dentist. All three of mine need regular extensive dental work. The dentist we have had is great...he's even been able to do small fillings without novacaine because my daughter stays so calm because he is calm. I would find a dentist your kids are relaxed and even playful at and also use one that has laughing gas for the kids. That helps too.

[marriedgal]

Our two guys have about 8 cavities a piece (they've been home only a couple of weeks). We're still investigating. They tried to get us into the dentist ASAP, so neither boy got to see the dentist we're used to. One guys told my soon-to-be five year old that he needed to go ahead and start work on crowns and fillings. The second dentist told my soon-to-be four year old that we should really watch his diet and eliminate all sugar except for fresh fruits (very limited fruit juice) and brush after each meal, and start a flossing routine -- then see if we can keep the cavities from getting worse (stabilize the situation). His thought was to try to keep our boy from having any traumatic experiences with dental work. Conflicting doctors. Ai ai ai. We're still investigating what we should do, but thought you might be interested in both opinions.

[kandesmurphy]

In June my son ( he's 2 1/2) had 4 caps put on his top front teeth. The pediatric dentist did the procedure in the hospital under anesthesia. Our son did great. He had a little soreness for a few days but nothing major - he just wouldn't use those teeth to bite anything for a while. But his procedure was very quick - we waited less than an hour from the time he left us to the time they called me back to the recovery area. We were on our way home (and my son was asking for food) within 3 or 4 hours from the time we got there.

[GCS]

When we brought our son home from Russia at 3 years old he needed to have extensive dental work done immediately. He had surgery 10 days after stepping off the plane to have 11 teeth removed and 4 fillings. Then there were the years of getting fitted for new appliances to fill the spots where his teeth were removed.

We were very blessed to find a pediatric dentist who specialized in special needs kids. This was key because he had no language and the check ups and follow ups were going to be rough. I recommend a pediatric dr who specializes in the tough cases.

Turns out our Dr. is an Amom herself and has a DD from China and a DS from Guat!

Good luck!
Christina

[angel_bayou]

My nanny adopted a little girl ans her birthmom was on drugs which caused some MAJOR dental issues amongst other things such as heart meds etc. Anyway she had to be put to sleep as soon as all her baby teeth were out and have caps put on all of them!! She did fine and even came up with her very own name for the caps. She use to tell us to look at her silver hawks!!

[praying4rlittl1]

Emilee also needed extensive dental work when she got home. I have to agree that's a lot is in the dentist. We found an awesome pediatric dentist (who also works in missions abroad) and he was able to check her without her freaking (she was 3 1/2 and spoke NO English at the time). He did her crowns under general anesthesia. She had 10 of them done and did just fine. He was also then able to thoroughly clean her teeth and remove a lot of sticky bacteria. We LOVE this guy and she was SO PROUD of her pretty silver teeth. Looking back, I think her teeth must have hurt her considerably, and in her mind, the pretty silver teeth made her feel not only lovely, but pain free finally.

[beejay]

thanks to all who responded. I really appreciate it, at least I know we are not alone. I knew I could count on you guys!!!