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1st Cavity
By sandi | January 8, 2011
Today Madeline went to the dentist and had her first 2 cavities filled. She was so brave. She didn’t enjoy it, who does, but she took it in stride. I was very proud of her effort to keep herself calm. The Doctor and Nurse were impressed as well.
It seems it is standard practice to give kids nitrous oxide for simple fillings. I don’t understand the thinking behind this. There are things in life you have to be brave for. They really wanted to do the procedure with the nitrous, but I said we really would prefer not to. They made me sign a waiver and told me that if she freaked out they would have to stop the procedure.
Are parents really this lax that they really don’t even expect their children to behave or take things in stride. Earlier this morning they had a child who was kicking and being horrible to the dentist and assistant, all while they had given her the nitrous. I can’t imagine my kids behaving like that.
My parenting philosophy tells me that I must prepare them for life. Life is hard. You have to have coping skills in life, you must know how to control you emotions. I know it was hard on Mimi, but now I know (and so does she) that she can do it. That she is strong and brave. This isn’t an inflated, “oh you are so brave” even though she had nitrous and wasn’t exactly aware of the situation. It doesn’t take much bravery when you are loopy.
They were simple fillings and they gave her numbing gel before they gave her the shots. After they gave her the shots and were waiting for her to numb up. She was still looking worried. I said “Mimi they already gave you the shots, didn’t you feel them?” She said she felt a little pinch and then asked the dentist if he was sure he did it. We all chuckled. She did a great job for both cavities and we were out of there within a half hour.
Topics: Madeline | 6 Comments »
January 8th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
Awesome! Glad she did well. I had a ton of dental work done when I was about 5-6. I had an awesome dentist who did a great job – it was only after I became an adult that I developed a phobia about dental work.
I agree with you on the parenting issues surrounding this type of situation. We had parents that would bring their kids in the ER and want them sedated for simple suturing. It apparently outraged them for us to hold them down for a couple stitches but didn’t bother them that we had to hold the kid down to put in an IV, hook them up to monitors, completely risk their lives with anestethia and then monitor them for several hours afterword for what could have been a quick 5 minute procedure. Not to mention the $$ difference between the two – quick sutures vs. critical care time. Hmmmm…..
Such a shame. I agree that for bigger stuff, it’s appropriate but it’s nice to hear of another parent that is willing to let their child learn to be brave. And it will pay off later as you’ll be able to remind her of how she conquered that fear and did a great job (I was able to get Mari to watch fireworks this year after freaking out about them since the year before – I still get a lot of mileage out of that “fear conquered” scenario).
January 8th, 2011 at 9:10 pm
Interesting that they were so insistent! Our dentist doesn’t push the gas, but will offer it as if it’s a major intervention, not standard procedure.
January 8th, 2011 at 9:46 pm
Dentists are scary. “I” need sedation for some dentistry. In my opinion if it makes it less scary for them it’s ok. I really think it’s the parents call. Back in the day (before they did nitrous) most dentists would put children in a straight jacket. Some STILL do. It really has very little to do with just being brave. Drilling is scary for adults and children alike.
I think I am more comfortable with nitrous because if a child suddenly gets scared and moves the drill might slice into their cheek. Since I have had my cheek drilled through when I wasn’t moving I can tell you that it is not a fun experience.
January 8th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
Hopefully I am not coming off harsh on this one but I do wholeheartedly disagree because I have been there.
January 9th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Christa has had to have a lot of teeth filled unfortunately. The dentist office has never suggested nitrous but honestly I would suggest that it’s a safety issue, not so much a parenting issue. She is like Madeline in that she just presses on, showing no fear.
Jackson has to have some dental work this month and I have no idea how he’ll react, to be honest I’m a little scared for him. His teeth do need to be fixed and I guess we’ll cross the procedure bridge when we come to it and we’ll do what we have to to get the job done safely.
August 30th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
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