Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Frustrations with Dentists

First off, it's important to know that I hate going to the dentist. Therefore, Mike took over the duties of getting the children regular dental appointments. He does a great job. Every 6 months all the children and Mike go to the dentist for check-ups. If a filling is needed, the appointment is scheduled as soon as possible.

In late August, Allie's appointment discovered that she had a small cavity in one of her baby teeth. Since she's only 4, all her teeth are baby teeth. That same week, the cavity was filled. Less than three months later an abscess appeared on her gums. The ER doctor thought that it might have been caused by a popcorn kernel or hull. Today, we learned from the dentist that the tooth is so bad, they want to remove the baby tooth "roots" and hope that the tooth stays in place to keep her teeth from moving. I want to know how a four year child, who brushes her teeth 3 times each day and goes to the dentist every 6 months needs a "root canal" on a tooth that received dental care less than three months ago.

Did the dentist do a poor job with the simple filling? Does she genetically have bad teeth? How can we keep something similar from happening again? I'm frustrated because this is not an area where I'm knowledgeable. Maybe it's time to simply switch dentists. My confidence has been greatly shaken.

1 comment:

Kari said...

Sorry she's having those troubles. It's important to have a dentist you can trust. If you were here, I'd recommend MY dentist. He's the bomb!

That sounded funny didn't it?!?