Hello everyone,
My son is six. He has a habit of crunching things and grinding his teeth at night. Consequently he has chipped the crowns from one of his baby premolars in his lower jaw. By the time I noticed it, and we had taken him to his dentist who referred him to the Dental Hospital the decay had progressed to just above his nerve and this is compounded by the fact that there are no adult tooth ready to come through under this and its partner on the other side of his lower jaw. From the 'outside' it doesn't look too bad but obviously there is a lot more going on inside. He has a reasonable, arms length relationship with the specialist community dentist, but he has never really done that much to him other than ask him if he can look in his mouth and popped a bit of paste on the fissures of his molars.
Now the Dental Hospital dentist is saying that he needs the tooth extracting under general anaesthetic or be put through the equivalent of a root canal treatment for baby teeth. The general anaesthetic is really scarey for me and my husband thinks that they are suggesting this because it is easy for them. After talking to the dentist at the Dental Hospital I was told that filling is multiple visits, with injections, and sitting for goodness knows how long. They also said that it might not work and that the crown would be softer than in an adult so it would have to be checked and changed regularly and that to top it all it would fall out eventually and leave him with a big gap. Even sedation wouldn't make him compliable or able to cope with the proceedures. The dentist said that removal would be a one off solution and that maybe his other adult teeth would migrate to some degree and close the gap.
I am really confused, I am scared of the anaesthetic and how he would cope with the medical proceedures, but the idea of him having injections in his mouth and drilling makes me want to cry for him. My husband thinks they are fobbing us off and as he has had a root canal he knows it is not that bad, but all I can think of is how scared and upset my son will be. I don't know if I have too low expectations for his ability to cope, or if I am copping out because the hospital is the quick and easy option for all of us. I am going to see his own dentist (specialist community dentist) and my husband is taking him to his dentist for a second opinion.
Has anyone here had any experience of this or advise? I want to do what is right but I am having trouble separating idealism (saving the tooth under any circumstances) and the possible reality of what treatment he can deal with. Thank you.
