any dentists out there? I need advice re. my son's teeth please

[bonacara]

I would really appreciate some advice, after having been given a treatment plan today that scares me! My son is 5.

About 5 months ago i noticed a small black spot on two of his back teeth. Made an appointment straight away at the local dentist. My son was being a bit difficult so they swiftly referred me onto kings. It took 4 months to get an appointment. We finally went today, only to be told to come back again in another month's time for actual treatment.

In the meantime, even though me and hubby always scrub his teeth properly twice daily, his two teeth have got so bad (according to dentist at kings) that they either have to be pulled or covered in stainless crowns. They say a normal filling is not an option as it would not last.

They want to sedate him and give him local anaesthetic to put the crowns on.

I am not happy and my feeling is I will not go through with this plan, but i would love to hear any opinions, and suggestions. Is this normal? I have never heard of crowns on milk teeth?!

And please do not write giving me a lecture about sugar free snacks etc that's not what I need.

Thanks very much.

[esme]

I'd definitely get a second opinion, my brother always had terrible problems with his teeth (deep cusps apparently) but only had fillings from almost teens, would agree milk teeth rarely have treatment that serious. My friend's daughter's two front teeth went black as they were rotten and then they fell out and new adult teeth came through eventually.

My friend got told off by her dentist for her son having too many smoothies the other day, you just cannot do right as a parent!!

[hazelnunhead]

Hi Bonacara

Sorry to hear abut your sons teeth. My understanding of the use of crowns on baby (milk teeth) is that these silver "crowns" are easy to put on, durable, and they protect the tooth so that it can stay in place until it needs to fall out for the adult tooth to come out.

If you google silver crowns on children's teeth there is quite a lot of articles written on this. I think it is also to prevent the child to have to keep on coming back to get a filling. (I think if the area that needs to be filled is too big, and difficult for the dentist to fill, then they suggest a crown)

I am not a dentist, this is just from my own personal knowledge and reading, so obviously take professional advice on this.

I would say that the dentist at Kings is good though - perhaps you could phone to ask if you can speak over the treatment plan?

Good luck with whatever you decide

[etta166]

It is common enough that I have met at least 3 children with filled/crowned milk teeth. I wouldn't expect the dentists at King's to suggest unecessary treatment, but you should see anotuerh dentist if you are not happy and want a second opinion. Many people reccomend the Herne Hill dentist at the corner of Half Moon Lane for kids, and my children happily go to the Denmark Hill Dentist near to Kings.

[bonacara]

Thanks for your replies, lot to read up on and think about and your suggestions and advice is very much needed and appreciated!

[cactus]

I was horrified when my 5 year old ended up needing 2 fillings in his milk teeth.

Initially the dentist managed to do this without too much of a problem, then about a year later one of the fillings fell out and needed to be replaced. This was done, gently and without any apparent trauma, but then suddenly my son became terrified of the dentist. On the next check up, he needed the other filling replaced, and he became really anxious. The dentist refused to treat him and referred him to Kings. Like the OP, we waited about 4 months for an appointment, only to be told that they didn't recommend any further treatment, except to apply a sealant on his four adult molars to prevent any further decay. This took 2 appointments as he was so terrified, that the students couldn't manage to calm him down to do this simple and painless procedure all in one go.

We later found a much more sympathetic and kind dentist (The Gardens), who managed to fill the other tooth and all has been ok since. The fillings have lasted, and 5 years later we're just waiting for these two decayed milk teeth to fall out.

So, I guess my son was under treated. I was all for having the teeth extracted under sedation, but the decision was to keep them? I would seek a second opinion, as there's clearly not one preferred approach in these kind of cases.

[Fuschia]

Edf member and dentist k Wicksteed at Dental Clinique in clapham (short drive and easy psrking) is a paediatric specialist. Highly recommended.

[KatDew]

^thank you

Although in the interests of honesty I am not on the GDC specialist register for paediatrics. I certainly treat a lot of children patients and I used to teach paediatric dentistry at Kings, however our regulator is extremely strict about the use of the specialist title.

Just to clarify.... But thank you once again for the kind recommendation.

[Fuschia]

'Expert with children' then! :-)

Not often a whole family regards a 70 mile round trip in the holidays for dental check up as an actual treat, but they do.

Having used kings early on with a dentist refusenik, I have to say that the system they have there, with a high turnover of dentists, didn't really work for us. Finding a small, personalised dentist where the children can get familiar and build up a relationship (and watch the parents have their check ups) works best for us - and having a dentist who can explain things clearly so you can decide on the best approach, is priceless.

Having found the perfect dentist about 5 years into being parents, we are now still commuting back from herts for the privelege

[KatDew]

:)

[KikiMac]

I can empathise with your situation bonacara - we had a similar one with my now 3yr old (happened when he was 2). My other half was very anxious about the anaesthetic part of the treatment so we went (privately, unfortunately) to the Eastman Dental Hospital on Greys Inn Road where we saw Ms Anand who did a brilliant job putting on 2 crowns with no anaesthetic or sedation but a lot of finger biting! I'm guessing she's used to it. She just pushed them onto his teeth, so no pain involved, for him at least.

[bonacara]

This is all so helpful! Thank you cactus and kikimac for sharing your experiences with me and fushia for the recommendation, I will contact katdew soon. Love this forum!