6 y.o. advised to get 8 crowns! What the what!?

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on_a_mission_

New member
We brush twice a day, though for the last year/year and a half kiddo’s been brushing her own teeth (that’s now at and end). Flossing only when she felt something stuck (that’s also at an end now)… I feel terrible, evidently we failed, it’s not her fault!

But this seems ridiculous! Kid’s not complaining about her teeth at all, no pain/discomfort… And baby teeth fall out soon anyways, right? I can’t afford this, and they’re stainless crowns… she’ll look like a James Bond villain!?

Am i being up-sold? Is this something ped dentists do? I have never even heard of a filling being done on baby teeth… my parents say we had a ‘sealing’ procedure done, no idea what that is! How common is this? What happens if a kid doesn’t treat a baby tooth cavity?
 
@on_a_mission_ Get a second opinion. Unless your kid is a wild child you can go to any dentist, I never used a pediatric one for my kids.

Not treating decay is a bad idea, your kid will need those teeth for the next 4-6 years at least. Many 6yo also have their first set of permanent molars come up at this age. Untreated decay can lead to abscesses which are painful and have the potential to spread infection to other parts of the body.

But get a second opinion, asap. There are a lot of unscrupulous dentists out there.
 
@nebulamoon This was probably obvious to you and many others… but i am so furious and depressed right now that your suggestion did not occur to me prior to posting!

Thank you! Clearly the right call :)
 
@on_a_mission_ I totally understand how you can get information and get flustered and not see the obvious choice. I’m glad I was able to help you when you were screaming into the void. Take care and take care of those kids teeth!
 
@on_a_mission_ Honestly, and I hate recommending this but it’s super helpful, ask your local mom group on Facebook where they take their kids. I did that (I live in a small state, so it’s one group for the whole state) and found one 30 mins away but they were absolutely wonderful, and sat down with me for over an hour to explain everything even though it was a last minute emergency appointment. The most recommended dentist was one we had already seen who I didn’t get a good vibe from, but I did get a great pool of dentists from all over the area to research and decide.
 
@on_a_mission_ Did she see the dentist before this? Ever had a cavity?

When my kid was 4yo and being treated for leukemia, we didn’t prioritize bushing teeth because we were doing so many other things every day (chemo, flushing central line, sanitizing everything, etc).

A routine dental visit at the cancer hospital revealed that my kid had several cavities. I think they pulled one baby tooth and just kept an eye on the others, if memory serves.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep these kids safe from infections when they are severely immunocompromised. I swear, parents get to the point where we can physically SEE germs because we have to be so cautious.

Yet the dentists left the baby teeth that had mild/moderate cavities and only pulled the one that was an infection risk.

I said all that to say this….

If the dentist is recommending crowns they need to explain WHY it is necessary. They also need to present alternatives (such as pulling the worst of the baby teeth). For it to go straight to ‘definitely needs expensive dental work’ just doesn’t sit right with me. You need to get a second opinion.
 
@on_a_mission_ Oh I did forget to mention my kid is in great health and just graduated high school with honors. ❤️ The cancer thing is just faded wallpaper in the background of our lives now.
 
@on_a_mission_ This happened to us as well. We went for THREE more opinions, and they all said the same. We went through with the procedure after that. We did stainless for back teeth and any teeth that you could see, we requested white crowns (not covered by insurance) but thankfully she didn’t need any on any front teeth.

It turns out she has hypoplasticity, basically her enamel isn’t strong at all and deteriorates extremely easily. It could be genetic, could’ve been caused by a massive infection she had as a toddler. We’re not quite sure. But she’s fine now, doesn’t even notice them.

ETA - We went to two pediatric dentists and two general dentists to get the other opinions.
 
@christiannewbie Same here! 3 crowns, 1 dentist blamed dental hygiene and the other said hypoplasticity also. It could be cheaper to have the teeth removed as they’ll be falling out soon for the adult teeth. We had 2 removed and 2 crowns put in. Both dentists suggested the same outcome and you don’t want it to get to the point where you have your kid waking up at night crying in pain like we did 😢 (NHS backlog took ages for paediatrician referral so we went to a private childrens dentist)
 
@on_a_mission_ Dentists are so tricky sometimes. I. My 20s I had 3 different dentists say my gums were so bad my teeth would fall out before 30. I couldn't even afford the special cleaning they wanted to do. I would leave the dentists defeated and in pain. I stopped going all together. After I had kids and they started going to the dentist, a different dentist, I decided I should go and deal with my issue now. And this new dentist revealed I have no issues. My gums though sensitive were not full of gingivitis and my teeth are not falling out. I only needed a normal cleaning that first visit back. For over 10 years, I avoided the dentist because I couldn't afford the procedures and all because I was going to the wrong dentist.
 
@on_a_mission_ Definitely need a second opinion. As an adult I had a dentist tell me I had 10 cavities. I hadn't had a cavities in years. First clue, didn't show me the xrays. Turned out, not a single cavity. The original dentist was going through a divorce and I guess needed money.
 
@on_a_mission_ Whenever I hear about stuff like this, it makes me paranoid. Where I'm from, there was a dentist that was defrauding his Medicaid patients by doing unnecessary dental work on his children patients. He would take them to the back and do extractions, etc while they wouldn't allow parents back! Then he would bill medicaid for the unnecessary procedures. Look up Howard Schneider jacksonville if you want to read about it

So definitely get a 2nd and third opinion from a totally different dentist. I think 8 crowns is excessive for a child!! Your gut instinct is correct!!
 
@kokopuff Oh my god he assaulted those children! Not to mention the impact dental-related trauma can have on an adult patient, let alone a child! That MFer needs to be in prison for a good long time! That's one of the most despicable trust violations I could imagine. 💔 Those poor children and their families.
 
@on_a_mission_ Get a second opinion but your child would not be the first, and won’t be the last, to need extensive work done on primary teeth. Some of those teeth will be in their mouth for 6+ more years.
 
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