A Dentist Story, Take 2

April 20, 2011

This story I'm about to tell you is a horror story. Pay close attention, because I'm giving you the moral up front.

Moral: Take your kids to the dentist --- basically, as soon as they have teeth!

I brush my kids teeth. They gargle with fluoride. Silas doesn't even eat candy short of a licorice here and there. I don't remember going to the dentist until I was probably in Kindergarten. 4 or 5 sounds about right, don't you think? At least that's what I thought. Heck, I've never even had a cavity - why would my kids? Apparently my kids have the worst teeth on the planet -- at least it seems that way.

See? Proof. Sorry, my child doesn't normally spit in the toilet. I walked in on this scene.

Do you remember the story that started the chaos that I'm currently living in? If you need a refresher, click here. (Sorry, but this was my 30 Days of Thankfulness post so you have to scroll down to November 17.)

When Silas had the initial abscessed tooth, I didn't realize the full extent of his problems because the "mean dentist" was unable to get full x-rays due to Silas not cooperating. When she actually got a look in his mouth while working on the tooth, she noticed he definitely needed more work, but couldn't tell exactly what that entailed without x-rays. She said I'd need to return. There was no chance I was ever returning to that place, so I finally found a great pediatric dentist that is actually nice to kids. I took him to the "nice dentist" and surprisingly enough if you are nice to children, they tend to cooperate. Shocking, I know. He was not a bit scared and actually can't wait to go back. Silas was able to give the dentist the full x-rays he needed and the damage? Basically $5,000 worth of dental work. Yeah, not exaggerating. That includes a $1,500 cost for an iv sedation since he didn't do well with the twilight sedation and so much work needs to be done.

Being precautious, I decided to take Eli in for his first appointment. The damage? Let's just say the estimate was more than Silas.

Okay all you skeptics out there -- you think this dentist is trying to do unnecessary work and rip us off. Why spend that much money on baby teeth when they're only going to fall out? Believe me, I've heard all the commentary and different opinions. Well, the "nice dentist" showed me all the x-rays and explained to me everything that was going on with both boys.

Silas' teeth -- Silas apparently has very deep crevices in his molars. The dentist showed me some diagrams and explained to me that even if I were scrubbing his teeth as hard as I could, it's next to impossible to get all the food out. In his case, were we to catch this earlier, he would have probably put sealants on all his molars. His front teeth are perfect. We are waiting for Silas' appointment in 2 weeks because the anesthesiologist only comes in once a month and the appointments book up fast.

Eli's teeth -- Eli's molars are totally fine. He has cavities in his two front teeth and I've recently noticed a gap forming between them, where they're basically decaying. His bottom 4 all have cavities, which we didn't see until taking a look at the x-rays. Seeing the aftermath of the top teeth, this needs to be taken care of asap. Dentist said this is the last place he ever sees cavities in anyone. Grrrr. Seriously, what's up with that? Eli's top and bottom teeth have NO gaps, where Silas' have a tiny bit of space. In Eli's case, I should have flossed. So floss, floss, floss people. Don't worry, when dentist is finished with Eli's work, he says he'll look even better than before. I like the confidence, dentist.

Our issue with Eli was that dentist also wanted to to the iv sedation. I begged to differ. Eli is totally and completely opposite of Silas and I had a gut feeling he'd be just fine on the twilight sedation. Why do I care so much? Twilight sedation = $105 a pop. Iv sedation = $750 per hour x's 2 or more hours of work. Add that up. Sooo, I asked him to try the twilight first, even though he was super hesitant due to Eli's age. Dentist wanted to do a test run first, so today Eli went in for his first work up. He took the meds like a pro, had full x-rays, a full teeth cleaning and fluoride treatment, one filling and a little touch up on two of his teeth. He was perfect!!! This means we will be able to complete the rest of the work under the twilight sedation, even if we have to break it into a couple more visits. {Sigh of relief}

To answer questions concerning why spend the money: Umm...let's let their teeth fall out? They're going to fall out anyway. Yes, but they need teeth! Silas' molars won't fall out for 5-6 more years, not to mention they'd turn abscessed just like the prior molar and do you know how painful that is? I recall him laying on the floor in fetal position screaming, "Would somebody PLEASE HELP ME???" Also, not to mention abscessed teeth can become very serious if not treated, even leading to death.

THE GOOD NEWS: Feeling like someone punched me in the gut after Eli's visit, I sat down with the receptionist to discuss the cost of all this. She helped me find a different dental insurance their office accepts that is more cost efficient. Basically, it cut the cost in half. Whew!!!

Not knowing what else to do, Dusty and I laughed the other day reminiscing about Silas' first dental appointment. "Remember when we thought $400 was excessive for the dentist?? Ha ha ha ha ha." {Silence} This situation is so insanely ridiculous, you almost can't help but laugh.

There's no way around it. It sucks. I wish I could turn back the clock and do things differently. Had I known I needed to take them at 1, as the dentist recommended, I would have done so. So if you have young kiddos - TAKE THEM TO THE DENTIST. I mean, maybe my kids just have horribly awful teeth. I don't know. I definitely never would have thought it to look at them. Look at their gorgeous pearly white smiles. Come on. Who knew what was going on in those two little mouths of theirs?