Teeth 6 Year Old, X-rays, Fixing Under General Anaesthetics

[scarlettsmum]

Been to the 3rd dentist yesterday to get yet another opinion. This time I bowed to the pressure and had X-rays done on her teeth. (i know!) Turns out her teeth are in a really bad state and she's only 6. She has autism, and i guess that makes her hypothyroid or running on stress hormones and so probably things are happening in her mouth that in a healthy person wouldn't. Perhaps wrong saliva composition, lack of minerals (doesn't like milk). I started giving her egg shell calcium, and vitamins D/K, but the damage is already there. The dentist said the damage to her milk teeth is so extensive that it would require 10 or more 90 minutes visits and it would be a torture for her so dentist is certain that only way now is to fix it all at once under general anaesthetics. I'm quite shocked to be honest. Before we were told 6 cavities at other dentists, but since i refused X-rays for her they couldn't see anything else. Now almost every tooth is affected.
I gave her some homeopathic X-ray in 30 C potency and had her stare into red light for 30 mins. Anything else? I'm desperate. She may need another set of X-rays since she moved whilst having her X-rays photos taken in the process and some of her teeth are not clearly visible in the photos.
I was thinking what this could be caused by? Obviously not all autistic kids have this problem and we do give her sweet quality apple juice (but we all drink it and have perfect teeth). Dentist says zero sugar, no juice. I think that although fluoride toothpaste is not recommended, I think with the diet we eat (preschool) and imperfect hormonal balance, perhaps there is a reason to use fluoride toothpaste to kill all as fluoride free toothpaste doesn't seem to do anything. And I think maybe that's where we failed her. not giving her fluoride toothpaste. We live in EU in a country where there's no fluoride in the water so overdose is less likely. I can't think of anything else. Her 4 year old brother has perfect teeth but then again so did she when she was 4. I then didn't go back to see the dentist with her until now again.
Any thoughts appreciated!!

 

[ecstatichamster]

What exactly is the "damage". Very sorry about this, by the way. But can you spell out the issues the dentist would be fixing?

Would her permanent teeth not come in right. Is that what they are saying.

 

[scarlettsmum]

What exactly is the "damage". Very sorry about this, by the way. But can you spell out the issues the dentist would be fixing?

Would her permanent teeth not come in right. Is that what they are saying.

She has many cavities, some quite deep that would take over an hour to fix per tooth. The front teeth could come out within a year, however the mollars take 2 or more years and need to stay in so that the new teeth grow straight.

 

[InChristAlone]

Eek, my son has extensive damage in his teeth as well except he is only 4 and we haven't taken him in yet. I keep watching and asking if he is in pain at all. I'd be devastated if he had to be put under for it. General anesthesia is similar to a coma and can cause a shock to the body. Not to scare you, also don't be too afraid, if she is not in pain the cavities are not too deep. And a hole in a tooth can go a long time before too much damage is done. I know because we avoid the dentist! I don't know how to keep them from going too deep. Other than having a good diet.

 

[scarlettsmum]

Eek, my son has extensive damage in his teeth as well except he is only 4 and we haven't taken him in yet. I keep watching and asking if he is in pain at all. I'd be devastated if he had to be put under for it. General anesthesia is similar to a coma and can cause a shock to the body. Not to scare you, also don't be too afraid, if she is not in pain the cavities are not too deep. And a hole in a tooth can go a long time before too much damage is done. I know because we avoid the dentist! I don't know how to keep them from going too deep. Other than having a good diet.

Janelle, she says that nothing hurts, but I don't want to risk it. She has some very clearly visible black holes in her mollars and I don't think I should just leave it open like that. I had a large cavity when 8 and it was left open/untreated and when my permanent mollar came in it was already infected. So I don't want to chance it. I want to make sure her second set will not be affected by the previous state of her teeth. One can only do what one knows best, I'm afraid.

 

[InChristAlone]

Janelle, she says that nothing hurts, but I don't want to risk it. She has some very clearly visible black holes in her mollars and I don't think I should just leave it open like that. I had a large cavity when 8 and it was left open/untreated and when my permanent mollar came in it was already infected. So I don't want to chance it. I want to make sure her second set will not be affected by the previous state of her teeth. One can only do what one knows best, I'm afraid.

Yikes did you need a root canal on that tooth? My son has one molar that has had visible holes for a couple years now, I should probably get it treated.

 

[scarlettsmum]

Yikes did you need a root canal on that tooth? My son has one molar that has had visible holes for a couple years now, I should probably get it treated.

I would if I was you, it only gets worse in my opinion. So we have been to see the actual dentist who'll do the work today and she told us that she has 11 teeth that need fixing (cavities). One of them, a mollar, is particularly bad and she needs to apparently cut out some of damaged nerves and disinfect it, pour some stuff in and try to save the tooth in the process. If not possible, she'll have to do a crown. Is this a root canal? She said that she could pull it out completely, but that when the permanent tooth comes in, there is a high chance it will grow crookedly and will grow in a space that needs to be occupied by two different teeth. So she thinks just pulling it out is a very bad idea. The other cavities are small to medium sized ones. She thinks the lack of fluoride toothpaste caused this...possibly. She wanted to do two separate visits each time under general anaesthetics, which we refused. I can just about very reluctantly agree to one, but two?! Crazy. Anyhow, we agreed to multiple visits instead, praying that she'll cooperate on a bribe, a toy each visit perhaps. With the really bad tooth they plan on giving her Valium type drug to knock her out.

 

[InChristAlone]

I would if I was you, it only gets worse in my opinion. So we have been to see the actual dentist who'll do the work today and she told us that she has 11 teeth that need fixing (cavities). One of them, a mollar, is particularly bad and she needs to apparently cut out some of damaged nerves and disinfect it, pour some stuff in and try to save the tooth in the process. If not possible, she'll have to do a crown. Is this a root canal? She said that she could pull it out completely, but that when the permanent tooth comes in, there is a high chance it will grow crookedly and will grow in a space that needs to be occupied by two different teeth. So she thinks just pulling it out is a very bad idea. The other cavities are small to medium sized ones. She thinks the lack of fluoride toothpaste caused this...possibly. She wanted to do two separate visits each time under general anaesthetics, which we refused. I can just about very reluctantly agree to one, but two?! Crazy. Anyhow, we agreed to multiple visits instead, praying that she'll cooperate on a bribe, a toy each visit perhaps. With the really bad tooth they plan on giving her Valium type drug to knock her out.

Yeah I guess my approach of wait and see isn't so good when it comes to teeth. I have a hole in my wisdom teeth I need to repair its been there for about 2 yrs now so I just figure it can keep going but another hole has formed so I think it is getting worse but not getting to the root obviously or I'd be in pain. I'm still on the fence as to whether drill and fill lasts longer than leaving it open. I had a filled cavity go bad... the decay kept going underneath and I ended up with a severe tooth ache that needed a root canal. I hope your daughter does well with the all the work needed done.

 

[scarlettsmum]

Yeah I guess my approach of wait and see isn't so good when it comes to teeth. I have a hole in my wisdom teeth I need to repair its been there for about 2 yrs now so I just figure it can keep going but another hole has formed so I think it is getting worse but not getting to the root obviously or I'd be in pain. I'm still on the fence as to whether drill and fill lasts longer than leaving it open. I had a filled cavity go bad... the decay kept going underneath and I ended up with a severe tooth ache that needed a root canal. I hope your daughter does with the all the work needed done.

Janelle, I had a cavity in my wisdom tooth and was told they often get cavities because they are difficult to reach with a toothbrush and clean. Instead of repair they suggested to take it out completely. So I had it done and am really pleased about the decision. I too had a cavity and it was getting painful underneath it. However I was ignoring regular check ups and when I finally came in to have it looked at the damage was far more severe and deeper compared to having it checked over on regular basis and had it done when and as needed. I am coming to the conclusion that no matter how good our diet is once the tooth is damaged it needs to be dealt with. Unfortunately our diet/teeth will never be of those studied in Dr. Weston Price book. I think it was a little irresponsible of me to even think that this is achievable and lead me to decisions such as avoiding dentists, using fluoride free toothpaste, refusing treatment, X-rays, etc. I think I needed to make this reevaluation to make peace with myself and to stop resisting the reality. Do what feels right for you, be it waiting or making that appointment. In my case I feel I have done enough waiting after seeing the extent of damage done in my daughters teeth especially considering that only two years ago she had perfect teeth. It happened way too quickly for my liking and I don't want her younger 4 year old brother end up with the same problems. At last check up he was cavity free and I hope to keep it that way.

 

[Lilac]

I ordered the Sensodyne toothpaste mentioned in this thread. My mother was having tooth pain, she used the toothpaste, and she said it took away the pain. I haven't heard her mention needing to go to the dentist since.

Remineralizing teeth/reversing erosion??

You can get this UK toothpaste through U.S. Amazon.

 

[scarlettsmum]

I ordered the Sensodyne toothpaste mentioned in this thread. My mother was having tooth pain, she used the toothpaste, and she said it took away the pain. I haven't heard her mention needing to go to the dentist since.

Remineralizing teeth/reversing erosion??

You can get this UK toothpaste through U.S. Amazon.

I use Elmex, which is very popular in continental Europe. However these toothpastes, including Sensodyne, only address teeth sensitivity, not pain caused by cavities, abscesses, etc.