Baby root canal??? Scared mom HELP!!!
Hello everyone I recently took my four year old son to the dentist after he was complaining of pain in his teeth. Turns out he has two horrible cavity's, I take all the blame for giving him to much juice at a young age, (also bad teeth run in the family). The first dentist I went to told me that he would need two root canals and four fillings and the cost would be around 2000 dollars!!!! they wanted me to do the procedure right that second even though my son had an infection caused by the cavity, and to my understanding no work can be done on the teeth until the infection has been cleared?, I let them know that I would need to talk to my husband before anything was done. They then prescribed him antibiotics. Six days later his gums began to swell so I took him to another dentist who was very impatient with my son, and she prescribed him a stronger antibiotic. Thank god the swelling went down, and he is no longer complaining about pain. But now that the infection is cleared up its time to figure out what to do about those bad teeth. Ive done a bit of research and found out that a baby root canal isn't always necessary and that pulling the teeth can also be an option. I'm also frightened of him possibly needing to be put to sleep which I DO NOT WANT, but I don't want to traumatize my son either. At this point I'm not sure if the dentist cares about my son or the money, and I'm also confused with the lack of options the dentist gave me, I'm nervous and scared for my son ;( Im hoping to make a decision on what to do within the next week and I just really need some good advice from moms who have maybe been in a similar situation.
Tags: canal, dentist, pediatric, root
Views: 110
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Shelly Ann on -
I am afraid I do not have experience with baby root canals. It does seem a bit extreme for root canals. Root canals are horrible to go through as an adult. Did the second dentist give you an opinion on this? I would search for a kid friendly dentist, preferably one that only worked with kids and did not accept any other patients. We have a few in our state that are in different counties but it is worth the drive in my opinion. Good luck.
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Permalink Reply by Kelli L Avery on -
I am shocked that any dentist would want to do any work let alone a root canal on a child on first examination. That alone would make me leary of this particular dentist. My main issue is if it is a baby tooth, it is probably not worth putting out the money for a root canal if the tooth is going to fall out anyways. However if it is not a baby tooth, then a root canal will block the nerve and no more pain. If it is a baby tooth, tell them to pull that sucker out, and only use Novocain. The adult tooth will come in and fill in the gap. But most importantly I would get a second opinion from a childrens dentist. NOT a dentist who also does children, but one that is mainly a childrens dentist. Good Luck!
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Permalink Reply by Cheryl Henderson-Khalid on -
Actually it's scarier than it sounds. My son had a baby root canal when he was 3 1/2. His problems are basically genetic -- dad's family has problematic teeth. The baby root canal is actually a pulpectomy; part of the root is left intact.
They took him to the hospital where he was sedated for the procedure. His cavities were filled and the pulpectomy took place. He was eating normally by the end of the day (soft foods the first day) and didn't complain of pain afterwards. He was back to aggravating his big sisters the next morning. Your son should be fine. :-)
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Permalink Reply by Christy Watkins on
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That is so scary!
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Permalink Reply by Nightowlmama on -
not that I've had experience with this but I certainly would tell you to get another opinion.
both my sons have had cavities and the dentist filled them with NO Novocaine They weren't deep so it was just a few minutes of screaming but the doc said not to worry he's just scared its not that they feel anything. There was something about baby teeth that he says they can get them worked on with out novicane. ALL 4 of my kids did this and they still love our dentist.
AS far as that root canal I'd get another opinion and too be honest I'd tell them to pull it. Its a baby tooth and has the life expectancy of only 3-5 more yrs if that at the age of 4. depending on what tooth it is. Good luck with your decisions. its certainly not easy one.
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Permalink Reply by Aggie Gavagan on
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I would take him to a dentist that specializes in children. Your son is going to loose those teeth anyway so it really makes no sense to do a root canal.
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