Tag Archives: dental sealants

Pediatric Dentist

Why Do My Children Keep Getting Decay?

I am at my wit’s end. I do everything for my children possible, including taking care of their teeth. We brush twice, sometimes three times a day. We floss. I take them to the dentist every year. I also limit their sugar and still they are getting cavities. I want them to grow up with healthy teeth and do not know what I am doing wrong. At our last appointment, my four year old had four new cavities and my seven year old had two new cavities. What can I do differently?

Libby

Dear Libby,

young mother, holding and giggling with two children

It sounds like you are a loving and conscientious mother. That is fantastic and will only benefit your children. You have checked off some important items in caring for your childrens teeth. These include regularly brushing and flossing. You mentioned that you take them to the dentist every year. If at all possible, I would increase that to twice a year. Dental plans generally give you two full cleanings a year.

One thing you did not mention was the duration of their eating. Do they snack a lot or drink lots of juices? Believe it or not duration of eating, not what you eat, is one of the leading factors of tooth decay.

Our saliva contains bacteria fighting minerals, but it can’t properly do its job if they are frequent snackers. While limiting sugars can be helpful, it would be better to have a sugary snack once in a while than to have pasta or snacks a few times throughout the day. Most people are not aware that pasta and other carbohydrates break down into sugar. Many foods do, in fact.

Brushing constantly won’t even help. However, they only prevent decay on smooth surfaces. All those pits and fissures in your children’s back teeth are at a much greater risk of decay. If you have a good pediatric dentist, then they should have recommended you get sealing done on your children’s back teeth. This is a liquid that is “painted” over your children’s back teeth, the ones with all those pits. This dries then seals them up so that food and other debris cannot get trapped there. This should be done after a thorough cleaning by the dentist so that the teeth are healthy and clean when they are sealed.

They should also be getting regular fluoride treatements, which will help strengthen their teeth. We are fortunate to live in a country that fluorinates the water. However, that extra bit at the dentist makes a difference.

You are doing a great job, mamma. Check their snacking frequency and give yourself some grace.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentist Drs. Foreman and Thimmesch.

Pediatric Dentist

Numbing Medicine Doesn’t Work On My Daughter

My seven-year-old daughter developed a cavity on a back tooth, which is weird because they have sealings. I took her in for them to do the filling and they could not get the numbing medicine to work. She is in agony and ended up thrashing about. He did seven shots to no avail. He finally just sent her home without the tooth dealt with. Where do I go from here?

Maggie

Dear Maggie,

Little girl smiling in a dental chair

I am sorry you and your daughter had to go through this. It is agony watching our children suffer. The good news is I have a solution. It appears that your current pediatric dentist is not aware of the connection between anxiety and numbing medication.

If a patient is very anxious, it has the effect of metabolizing the numbing medication very quickly. Sometimes so quickly that the patient gets no benefit out of it. I feel this was what happened to your daughter. Traumatic experiences like this are what keep people away from the dentist in adulthood.

Our goals right now for her are two-fold. First, get the cavity dealt with before it blows up into something more substantial or even a dental emergency. Two, give her a positive experience at the dentist so she can feel good about her oral health care.

I want you to find a dentist who is good with children that also offers dental sedation. It doesn’t have to be a pediatric dentist. There are many general dentists who enjoy treating children and are qualified.

Under normal conditions, she would only need some nitrous oxide to relax her. However, after her recent experience, I am concerned that will not be enough. Look for someone who offers oral conscious sedation. It is so strong that she will sleep through her whole procedure. In fact, some people call it sleep dentistry for that reason. She is still conscious. This is not anesthesia. It just completely relaxes her which will allow that numbing medication to do its job.

Be aware that she will still be woozy for a few hours after that procedure. You might want to set her up a little castle on the couch and let her binge watch something like “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” which will entertain her while simultaneously realizing her life isn’t so bad.

As for her sealants. Sometimes those will come off. Make sure you have the dentist check that the others are still intact.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentists Dr. Foreman and Thimmesch.