Buying some time

I mentioned a while back that BC had a less than pleasing visit to the dental clinic at the RCH.

I was disappointed to be told that they wanted to put him under a GA and do some serious work on his teeth.

I know his teeth aren’t great. He really didn’t like them being brushed when he was little, he breastfed a lot through the night, he drank far too much juice, some people just don’t have good teeth…. I could go on.

The simplest fact is though that his teeth just weren’t a priority when he was little. We had bigger fish to fry. It was hard to worry about the risk of a cavity in his upper left incisor when he would only eat pureed food, had trouble drinking from a sipper cup and wasn’t making much of the usual progress towards speech.

So now here we are. Lots of teeth that are ‘compromised’ to say the least. EIGHT in fact.

I know how many because I have now had three dentists inspect the current state of play in his mouth.

As I said above, the first dentist said they wanted him under a GA and they wanted to probably fill and possible extract. They scared me by telling me that if they didn’t do it he would end up with abscesses, excruciating pain and the need for even more dental work.

So I signed the form for the waiting list and cried all the way home. It wasn’t so much about the dental work as the bloody GA. I just don’t like them.

It’s probably got something to do with THIS being our first ever photo of our beautiful son.

I know a GA for some dental work is far from the same thing, but I just don’t want to ever see him helpless and drugged in a hospital bed again, unless it’s absolutely necessary.

So I decided to get a second opinion.

The second opinion was from a free dentist visit as part of BC’s kindergarten program.

And this dentist pretty much said exactly the same things. Good mum will get the GA and all the works. Bad mum won’t.

So, naturally I decided to get a third opinion. And, at the recommendation of BC’s wonderful chiropractor, got the name of a good holistic dentist.

And that’s where we went today. If this dentist agreed with the first two, I was ready to go. I just wanted to have the peace of mind that it was definitely the best plan of action.

The dentist looked at the state of BC’s teeth. He agreed that they weren’t in great condition, but concluded that there was no active decay.

He also said that he could see no need for immediate action. No need for a hospital admission. No need for a GA.

Guess whose advice I am taking?

We bought a tube of this toothpaste from him which he said will ‘re-mineralise’ BC’s teeth.

Neways – Ultrashine Radiance toothpaste

Unfortunately, BC doesn’t much like the taste. I am hoping it will grow on him.

We’re going to go back to see this dentist in 6 months. Sooner if there’s any indication his teeth are worse.

He hasn’t at all suggested there won’t be the need for some serious work in the future, but he said that it’s best to ‘buy some time’.

I agree.

So that’s what we’re doing. I am going to be seriously watching his sugar intake (good-bye juice and nutella) and making sure we get 2 good teeth brushing sessions in a day.

His teeth are now, belatedly, getting as much attention as possible.

And I am totally aware that I am not only buying time for BC to be just that little bit older and more able to cope with dental work and a possible GA, but I am also buying time for me. I am not quite ready for that hospital experience just yet.