Shoddy dentistry?...

[akmom]

I first saw this video clip on CNN, but found a written version to share. http://www.khou.com/news/health/187290431.html

In my opinion, this just seems like absurd dental care. I wanted to get the board's perspective, because this news article is not the first time I've seen this. Last year I saw three children, from two separate families, with this kind of dental work: front teeth removed and remaining teeth all capped in metal. It really surprised me, because you'd never see an adult settling for this kind of work. I mean, I know they're just baby teeth, but it's still going to be like that for a long time! And the poor girl must have been horrified.

It also surprised me that this child is only 4. Where I live, dentists don't even book appointments until children are four years old, unless there is a dental emergency. So for that kind of decay to occur, where every single tooth needed to be completely capped or removed, I have to wonder why routine care is delayed so long. I've personally seen this on a 2-year-old, and on preschoolers that I estimated to be 3 and 4. It really surprised me to see it then too.

Didn't the mother say they came in to have four cavities filled? How does that amount to more than four teeth getting worked on?? And she made no mention of the missing top ones. Perhaps they were already missing. I lost a tooth in a bicycle accident when I was young, but they fitted me with a space retainer right away that looked exactly like a tooth until my permanent one came in there.

 

[cybele]

I would assume that there would be some extreme decay for that to be the case, and that the missing teeth were beyond saving. We don't know what this child's diet is like, it could be very low on calcium and high in added sugars, she could have been drinking soda out of a sippy cup from the age of 1, or her diet could have been fine and dandy, but she had an underlying medical problem that prevents calcium absorption. Or her mother could be "anti-toothpaste" (I have come across some anti-toothpaste people) or just unaware of proper oral hygiene. There is not enough of the story here. Four cavities initially identified doesn't mean four after the full check up either, or there could be decay that would soon become a cavity.

That said, I really do believe that they should have been veneered initially.

Here, the norm is a dental checkups from 1yr old, as decay can happen from any point that a child starts solids, especially if proper oral hygiene does not accompany said introduction of solids.

 

[Xero]

Well a few things, I think it's terrible that most places won't see kids until they are 4 years old (which is very much the truth with most places around here at least), because its incredibly possible for dental issues to develop long before that age. That's the main problem in my eyes. My ODS had 4 cavities by the time he was 2 and eventually had to have the one tooth (a molar not a front tooth) pulled, where he now has a space saver as it is a tooth that will not come in until he is older. He has enamel hypoplasia, which is what caused the earlier cavities and also causes the way his front teeth look, though you can really only tell when you look close. I feel it could have been better taken care of if they made it more common to be on top of teeth starting at like age one, you know?

Anyway if you ask me, it looks as if the girl maybe had bottle rot. I have seen two little girls from different families with the same thing and though they didn't have all those crazy silver caps, it is most common to remove the front teeth, sometimes all four top and all four bottom teeth.

I think my main two problems with this story are that. 1. They didn't veneer them right off the bat (what poor child wouldn't be freaked out by a mouth full of silver teeth?) and 2. The mother was not in the room during the procedure. I mean maybe it was different because they seem to have put this girl under for this? But my ODS was given the laughing gas for all five appointments (numbing for two of them, the filling of the worst cavity and the extraction of said tooth later on down the road), and I stayed in the room for every single procedure the whole time. This was two different dentist offices too. I don't know about all that, just strikes me as odd because of my experiences I suppose.

 

[cybele]

That struck me as odd too Xero, I was able / am able to accompany my kids in the room for dental appointments until they told me that they didn't want me in there, only exception was when Dita had her wisdom teeth out, because that was actual surgery.

 

[akmom]

I agree. I'd feel a lot more comfortable having my children's teeth examined closer to 2 years old. My kids started getting teeth fairly young (3 months) and had the full baby set by one year of age. My daughter didn't have any cavities at her first exam when she was 4, but I can't vouch for the younger kids. They might have cavities I won't know about until they're 4. The incident in this article probably didn't have to happen, if only someone had checked her teeth earlier, instead of letting them rot for 3+ years first!

I lost my lateral incisor (top tooth right next to the front one) in a bike accident, and was given a space retainer until the permanent tooth came in. I think it was cosmetic. So I know it can be done. They don't have to leave children looking toothless just because those teeth need removed.

The three children I saw looked just like the girl in this article... no veneers. Perhaps it is more common than I realize, because I would probably not notice that kind of dental work on a kid who had white veneers. It's obvious only because it's silver.

If my child needed that kind of dental work, I wouldn't settle for less than white veneers on the restored teeth and cosmetic retainers on any removed teeth. Would you?

 

[Xero]

If possible I would get replacement teeth for the removed front ones (ODS just has a space where his molar was removed, because it doesn't bother him and you can't see it unless you look in his mouth), but I don't know how they do that with fake teeth (assuming the originals were rotted beyond use), and also I don't know how expensive that would be though I might still do it even if the price was high not sure I'd have to be in the situation, but I know some people couldn't afford it. Actually when I looked at the picture, my first thought was HOLY EXPENSIVE! Lol because DH needs only four crowns on some back teeth and we just haven't gotten there yet because AFTER insurance it's going to cost a couple thousand dollars lol.

Though we actually need to go get a new estimate because our dental insurance has gotten a lot better since then.

 

[cybele]

That could possibly be the reason why you are seeing more of the metal teeth Akmom, veneers aren't cheap, so if someone doesn't have insurance, or their insurance doesn't cover dental, it is likely they would go for the cheapest option available, and that is to keep the metal.

Meanwhile, I am really peeved off about this whole 4yr old thing now, and it doesn't even effect me. Our dental checkups start from 1 year, and it is uncommon to hear of cavities in milk teeth, one of my children so far has had a milk tooth cavity, Sunny had one on one of her molars and she was 9 so they just pulled it out and a new one grew in place about 6 months later. I am just so annoyed that preventative care dosen't seem to be a priority.

 

[akmom]

The funny thing is, Cybele, that dental insurance doesn't discriminate by age. It's the dentists. All my children have been automatically covered under our family dental plan since birth. Technically they are entitled to two free cleanings per year just like the rest of us. But we could never take advantage of it because the dentists won't see kids that young.

We do have pediatric dentists, but in my area, they only take appointments by referral, and a regular dentist won't refer a child for no reason. There has to be some dental emergency or obvious problem. But by the time it's obvious, you're already looking at major dental work.

If there is some benefit to early preventive care, then obviously that opinion isn't shared by dentists here. Perhaps it is, after all, because baby teeth are technically disposable. But I think being able to enjoy healthy, functional teeth and a normal smile during childhood is important too.

 

[Mommyof4in11]

I don't understand it at all. My son at 4 had to have surgery to have one tooth pulled and caps put on 4 others due to no protective coating on his teeth. The dentist only pulled the one he marked on the x-rays and only capped the ones he showed us and then put a clear sealer on the other teeth while he was asleep. We had the choice of metal or veneers and we chose metal because the four teeth could not be seen right off.
What was this mom thinking why did the child make it home before she noticed the teeth. I know any work that has been done on any of my children I have checked out before we walk out the door. Other than my son being put to sleep I was in the room for all other procedures. I insisted on it and it made them feel safe and they could explain to me what they were doing and why. Had she been in the room them the child would not have been traumatized at all. She could have stopped them and made them explain why they were messing with all her teeth other than the 4 she signed to have repaired. I don't see how they could do more than what she signed a release for. I don't think they could legally touch the other teeth without first showing the mother and having her concent.