About the Dentist...

The week before last, I took all the kids to the dentist for their routine 6-month dental check-ups and cleanings.  Everything is usually fine, so I wasn't expecting anything unusual.  The kids don't usually have any cavities and if they do, it might be (1) little one or something small.  Well, this time, the dental assistant seemed very concerned when she called me up to discuss their dental situation.  All the kids were fine except Jarem who had 7 cavities!!  I was in shock! 

The dentist came and talked to me for while and said that he didn't feel it was a care issue or a diet issue since none of the other kids had issues, but he was very concerned and referred me to a pediatric dentist near Nashville.  He felt like there must be an issue with the enamel on his teeth or a problem with his immune system in fighting the pockets of bacteria.

Eric and I took Jarem to his first appointment with the pediatric dentist this past Tuesday morning (the same morning that everyone else had to be somewhere too).  This dentist will sedate kids for treatments such as this so they are not traumatized and our regular dentist recommended this as a good option for Jarem's age.  The way it works is that he writes a prescription and the parents pick up the medication and bring it with them to the appointment (meaning that we wouldn't be able to get any work done on his teeth that day). 

Our other dentist had made the appointment and I guess there was a miscommunication in what was to take place at that appointment.  I thought Jarem would be able to at least get started with his cavities being filled.  I was pretty bummed that Eric had taken a half-day off work and we had made the trip just for an evaluation.  I expressed my concern to the dentist.  He was very understanding and said that he had two patients that didn't show, so he had time if we wanted to get started, but he would have to do it without the sedation.  He felt that Jarem seemed calm enough about the situation that he would be fine.  Jarem came through like a champ!  The dentist filled two cavities that first day including the worst one (the one which had been bothering him) which went to the root, so he had to have a cap put on it and a pulpotomy.  He just laid there very calm through it all.

I lucked out and was able to get in on two cancellations for the next two days in a row.  So Jarem and I (Eric only came the first day) made trips to Nashville to the dentist Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of last week.  Jarem didn't have to have any sedation and it all went great.  In fact, he only had to have a shot on the first day, and the other 2 days he just had the nitrous oxide gas.  I really liked the dentist and am even tempted to switch my other kids as well.  He is Dr. Clark Higgs if anyone is interested, I would highly recommend him.  He is very calm and great with kids.  He is very fair and tries to save the patient money where he can.  I felt very grateful that we only had to pay $294.00 for everything.  We do have insurance, but our out-of-pocket for our other dentist is usually $105.00 per cavity.

Jarem is now finished, and we are really vamping up his dental hygiene including flossing, fluoride rinse, and making sure Eric or I brush his teeth twice a day.  Before, he was good about brushing, but he brushed his own teeth usually before bed and I brushed them in the morning and he didn't floss or use fluoride rinse.  I have heard that his type of situation often gets better with the permanent teeth, so we are hoping for that!

Funny thing is, he asked me Saturday when we could go back to the dentist.  He didn't even mind it.  One of the days he and I went out to lunch at Chili's after his appointmnet and we had a good time together since the other kids were all gone to camps and stuff that week.  I think he liked the one-on-one time we had even if it was going to the dentist! :)