HELP! 13 –Month-old Needing "I.V. Sedation & Caps" for Dental Cavities

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Hi J.,
My daughter had the exact same thing done at 2. She was born with no enamel on her baby teeth and had IV sedation and 4 porcelain crowns put in. It was very scary. They first gave her a shot that put her in a near cerebral shut down state, and then they took her back to insert the IV. The shot was the scariest part. After the shot, her hand raised and she watched it float like something she had never seen before, she started drooling and it made me think of a child with cerebral palsy. Again, very scary! Her surgery lasted about 2 hours and they brought her to us sound asleep. She stayed asleep for a total of about 4 hours and when she woke up she was loopy, goofy, funny. After about 15 minutes she was fine. She said she was hungry, ate and went outside to play. She had a beautiful smile that people commented on all the time. When they got loose at about 6 they wiggled out just like regular teeth and her permanents came in just fine. If you've already had this done hope things went well, and if not best wishes.
warm blessings,
M.

J.,
Have you talk to your pediatrician or have seen another dentist for this issue?The same thing happened to my cousin's kid and it cost her a lot of money to put in the caps-2 grand to be exact.Have you talked to your pediatrician about your concerns-let's face it dentistry is a really big business.Personally I gave milk to my kids until they were 2 years old and did not have this problem-I know pediatrician always talk about the bottle mouth syndrome but I'm sure the doc can recommend something that would be less damaging to baby's teeth.Good luck to you and please don't feel bad about yourself-we moms always try to do the best for our family.

I was just in the same situation as you are in now. The nurse explained to me that these are teeth that can and will be fixed. This isn't a situation that your child is in with a terminal illness that isn't "fixable." Yes, it's depressing because we feel we let our children down, but after many hours of crying, I finally was able to understand what she was trying to tell me. This isn't the end of the world. We opted for the porceline colored fillings and crowns. It took a bit longer and a tad bit more money, but we didn't want the silver caps for appearance reasons. The doctor explained these, like the others, are temporary, but then again, so are the baby teeth. With the correct food choices (nothing sticky, etc..) and ample brushing, we were good to go. Our doctor didn't use IV sedation, but a tiny "cocktail" that made the little one really REALLY sleepy. When she was ready for the procedure, they also gave her the happy gas to keep her comfortable. She came out like a CHAMP!

We had a similar situation with our daughter. She actually fell and chipped her two front teeth and they ended up having cavities (she wasn't on our dental insurance so we didn't take her in right away). She also had one tooth that grew in with the nerve exposed. I felt horrible about her two front teeth, but the truth is, you are not a bad mother because of it! It happens sometimes and you are not the cause of it. They did put my daughter to sleep (she was about 15-17 lbs at the time). The whole procedure took about an hour. They gave her fake front teeth because they were so badly damaged and we made sure they didn't do the silver kind. Her front teeth look the same color as her other teeth. She had a cap put on her molar (this cap was silver) that grew in with a nerve exposed. It has been three years and it has never fallen off and her front teeth have never fallen off or anything. The procedure was done at a hospital with a pediatric dentist. It is scary and stressful for sure! In the end it is very nice to have it done and know they aren't in pain anymore.

J.,
I really don't know anything in regards to the sedation or the caps, but here are a few questions you might ask or consider. 1)Will the procedure take place in an office or hospital setting? 2.) You might consider calling a few pediatric dentists just to get some different opinions.

PLEASE, Don't be so hard on yourself. I thought I was doing everything in my power to insure my children had good healthy teeth only to learn my son had 4 cavities on his first check up. What I thought were healthy fruit snacks ( you know the gummy kind) were actually sticking to my childs teeth and causing the cavities. The dentist told me never to feed children anything gummy unless you brush their teeth immediatly after they eat it. I felt horrible.
My daughter was born with horrible allergies and asthma. She was 1 year old before it was diagnosed and I spent the entire year thinking I was a failure. But I was not and neither are you. We all make mistakes, the important thing is to do all you can to fix it which you are trying to do. My daughter was 4 years old before she slept thru the night because of the asthma. I had a horrible time trying to figure out how to control. I was also depressed and cried all the time. Looking back I know that I was sleep deprived and maybe had a touch of postpartum.
Good luck to you.
J.

My daughter just had laser dental work done, NO medication, no drilling we were out of there in 15 mins.. check for a dentist that can use the laser. Dr. Harrell in Beaumont does it.

My daughter had the same procedure when she was 2 she fell and the hit the front teeth and one tooth died and the other had decay so they capped both front teeth.She is now 6 and lost one of the capped teeth and the new big tooth grew right in. She had the porcelain so it was not noticable.I think some people are more prone to decay than others so that is possible too? Because of that I got all of my daughters baby teeth sealed with the protective sealant and she has not had a cavity again.
She had no complications from the procedure and I am so glad we had it done.

My son had surgery and was completely put to sleep when he was 6 mo. old (undescended testicle) so I know how scary it is, but I am sure since he is a pediatric dentist he has done the same for this age child before. Good Luck and just hang in there!

My oldest son had to be put to sleep for the same thing, he had two silver caps put on two of his back teeth, because of night time bottles, dont feel bad, i did and his dr said not to worry when they are young it is hard to brush their teeth really well and to stop the bottles, and he has seen much worse before. Although my son was not that little he was 2 when he had it done, it is safe, they put him completely to sleep and did the procedure, he was groggy that day after, but he never complained of any pain, but i was told we could give him tylonal (sp) or motrin for the pain if he complains. Good Luck, its better to have it done than not even though it is his baby teeth they could rot the adult teeth and nerves behind it and he could have more problems then just a few caps. Hope this helps you!!