Dental Extractions

Our home dentist came through for us and got us in with a great pediatric specialist for W's teeth. Dr. Bob is so wonderful and everything has gone so smoothly! W originally wasn't set to be seen until July 15th, but we got a call and he was seen June 12th. His X-rays were finally taken and our suspicion of him having no enamel was confirmed. His adult teeth were just barely visible and they will be keeping a close eye on their progression to see if they will develop with or without enamel.

His front four baby teeth were too far gone to salvage and had to be extracted in order to preserve his forming adult teeth. They had us set for a tentative date on the 30th of July but got us in June 17th! We were so amazed at how quickly they were able to get him in and make him a priority. The two, one year molars will be crowned to protect them, and he will also receive two fillings to repair a couple damaged teeth. Then once his two year molars come in, he will receive temporary front teeth that they will secure to his molars. This too will be monitored by X-ray, and once his adult teeth start to descend they will remove the temporary teeth so they won't inhibit the growth of his new teeth. These temporary teeth will ensure proper spacing when his adult teeth emerge years later, and proper speech development throughout childhood.

Dan and I are so relieved to finally be on the road of progress yet there's still a long trip ahead of us. I'm just happy W is being properly cared for. He is doing so good! The day of his extractions was so hard. I won't lie - it was extremely difficult to see our sweet boy post surgery with bloody gauze being held in his mouth as he cried. But I got him in my arms and once he was in his car seat I removed the gauze and he instantly stopped crying. Yes, there was still blood but I rode in the backseat with him and had extra gauze pads I used to keep him cleaned up.

He had to be on a liquid diet for a couple hours until the numbing meds wore off so he wouldn't accidentally bite his own lip. Then he easily moved on to a soft food diet of lots of yogurt, soup, pudding, noodles, you name it he ate it! This went on for about a week and a half before we slowly allowed him some of the mushier solids like pizza without the crust, soft breads, and tiny pieces of fruits. He eats everything we eat now - we just cut it up and he's good to go! He had Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and Orajel for two weeks off and on and hasn't needed that in a long time now.

He is currently working on his 1yr. molars and we're hoping since he's 1 1/2 that his 2yr. molars aren't far behind! He has his next dentist appointment in mid August. God willing, I'll be allowed to sit in with him since it's not a surgery this time! I apologize this post took so long - we had a trip to Florida to meet our newborn niece and then the holiday weekend hit us. Now, sadly W is fighting off a virus. We took him to his pediatrician yesterday with a fever of 103.8 and discovered he has herpangina coxsackie virus and will be better within 2-7 days. Lets hope it's just 2! He's already better today with no fever but his apatite isn't back yet. His ped. said it's that time of year for hand, foot, mouth - so take extra care in washing little ones hands and the door handles!

Dental Win

The last time we left a dentist office I was just about in tears. Everything that could have went awry had and I was made to feel like I was the sole reason W's teeth were falling apart. Friday morning I left a new dentist office in tears...of joy! This office wasn't labeled as pediatric dentistry but let me tell you, they sure took the cake! From the moment we walked in (the wrong door) they warmly welcomed us all and made us feel important. W was in hysterics because I was busy filling out his paperwork. The staff took notice right away and blew up two helium balloons. One for W and one for Brother Bear. They never left anyone feeling unimportant. And when that didn't do the trick for little W, they let him and I go back to one of their cubicles to get started. (Even though the papers weren't completed yet.)

The kind assistant tried calming W with a musical stuffed animal. Which worked for a few seconds. I think he already decided these people in white coats were plotting to give him shots! There was no distracting him until another assistant stopped by and smiled, revealing green flashing teeth! He was amazed by the little glow stick in her mouth, and I was amazed by their bedside manner. I half expected a juggling clown to come traipsing down the aisle!

Soon the Dentist came in with a big smile and warm greetings, as if we were long lost friends. He didn't even make W lay his head in his lap, instead having me lay him back in my lap for the exam. Without me saying a word about my opinion or our last experience, he immediately announced that W has a dental deformity that could be genetic. I swear at that moment the heavens opened up and we had our hallelujah moment! He said it needs to be looked into with x-rays and such by a specialist. And also mentioned that none of the teeth are cavities, he simply has no enamel. The only reason any teeth would need to be pulled is if they were causing him great pain. And it would have to be in a hospital setting with W sedated. (Again, Hallelujah!)

He was going to refer us to the same pediatric dentist we had just had our horrible experience with until I filled him in on her opinions and the awful time we had with her. His eyes got huge and he was quite shocked and visibly upset that had happened. He said he was going to get a list of phone numbers together for me and do some research to make sure W gets the care he needs, and not just a quick "solution". The dentist is referring W to a specialist at the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.

The staff were chatting it up with Brother Bear at the desk when we came back to the waiting room and although it appeared he was telling them his life story, neither lady was bothered at all by his babbling. They were all smiles for him and even let both boys come back in and pick a toy from their treasure chest. I was told not to worry about W's paperwork today and to drop it off the next time we're in town. I do believe we have found ourselves an awesome family dentist! Now back to the waiting game which hopefully won't be that long.

Dental Dont's!

I figure I've waited long enough and may as well get this icky post over with! To make a long story short, everything we had hoped for was the complete opposite. But since I am here to give details, I'll keep going ;) It's probably a good thing I didn't write this right away. I was (and still am) pretty darn miffed! Assuming you read the last post you know what our fears were with the dentist. ...Well those fears came true & she won't be hearing back from this Momma. I'll be keeping my Babies far from her! Ok, so here's the play by play. We got there and the assistant was curtious and led us to a room, gave Walter a blue toothbrush & explained what the appointment was going to (supposed to!) be like. Among her explanations she had me sit in a regular chair with W in my lap, facing me because "they don't put children into the big dental chair until they are 3 1/2 so they don't get scared & are at ease." Now we are seated & (thankfully my friend Nichole came with for support) this is where the dentist comes in smiling. (Probably a nice person setting aside her lack of knoledge in her own line of work!)

She has W lay his head in her lap & immediately labels him with bottle rot. Yep. My Baby who has NEVER had a bottle. Then proceeds to poke around his mouth & make note to her assistant, every other tooth saying, "Red line, ...another red line,..." times 6! Not bothering to explain a thing. I spoke up & talked to her about the other possibilities I mentioned in the previous post, and explained that the genetic causes ran on Dan's side of the family & there was no way it was bottle rot because that amount of damage takes years, not months. To which she replied, "Oh, I can tell you just by looking at it, that it's not genetic! Baby teeth can decay very quickly it doesn't take long at all! The sugars in breastmilk break the teeth right down." I informed her about the protective properties of breastmilk (lactoferra) & she looked confused and told me she had never heard of that. So I told her how rare the genetic cause is and that our plan is to have genetic testing done through his pediatrician. She simply nods & says, "Sure you could look into that. Lets get him scheduled to have those teeth pulled. She goes on to say that they would perform the procedure right here in her office & pull W's teeth. (Now this is where I got really pissed!)

I referred to her website which very clearly states that they only perform these types of procedures in one of their partnering hospitals surgery rooms and with the Baby put under general anesthesia. She SMILES and says, "Noooo :) It will only take a few minutes. I will put him in the dental chair and have you hold him down while we strap a gas mask over his nose and I will pull out his teeth. It won't hurt at all so there's no pain meds given. Oh, he'll cry, and scream but if you just keep him still I can have it done fast!".......Yes folks the lady really said that. And it gets WORSE! When I asked her, "You really put a little Baby through that? How does that NOT hurt?!?" She says (now this one's a doozy), "Well the hospital only rents out the surgury room to us if it's a longer procedure. If it's not worth their time they just tell us to do it right here." (and oh yes that smile was still on her face, but it didn't have that friendly feel anymore)

By this time, as you can imagine, my jaw was dropped as I just sat there patting W's back (he was still crying from laying his head in a strangers lap). I composed myself and said, "You want to have me pin him to that chair while you rip his teeth out without pain medicine, while he's awake? He's a BABY! He was crying extremely hard just from putting his head in your lap!" She simply says that I can go ahead and think about it first if I'd like. (really?) My friend, Nichole then asked her, "So, what do you suggest be done to prevent this from reoccuring?" Shocked, she turns to me & suggests that he only have water. No breastmilk, no juice, just water, claiming he doesn't need it! I told her sternly, "He only gets a sippy in his highchair with his meals. And they are 3 parts water and 1 part juice. He nurses in the morning, a few times thruought the day, & I nurse him to sleep just like I did with my almost 3 year old who's teeth look NOTHING like W's! I brush his teeth before & after bed with a washcloth."

Then she tried telling me I should be waking him up after his night feeding to wipe his teeth again. Hello! Did she not just hear me when I said I nurse him TO SLEEP? I was tired of it all and feigned interest, said I would discuss it with my Husband and paid my money at the checkout. Then found out from the receptionist that the dentist had planned on pulling SIX of his teeth! And in two separate appointments to boot! How was she expecting our child to eat? These were all front top and bottom teeth she wanted to take, and he wouldn't get his adult teeth for many years to come! But she refused the idea of caps and looked at me like I didn't know what I was saying. So...we left when all was said & done feeling pretty disheartened and very eager for a second opinion. I'm researching a lot online and am considering Ann Arbor for the University of Michigan's dental care studies. We have friends who have gone there and recieved superior care and their website is very informational. Praying for better experiences! Let us know if you know of a good dentist. Sadly this one didn't work out.

W's 1st Dentist Apt.

Today is Walter's first dentist appointment. Now, normally this would be an exciting milestone for him. But in this particular case, not so much. Our poor Baby's teeth have deteriorated in a matter of 3 months, to the point where they have no enamel & are constantly breaking off. He is in pain from exposed nerves, every day. As a Mother, this is absolutely heart breaking! The reason I am sharing this is because we are in need of prayers for an understanding dentist and the treatment (s) that are right for him. I am one nervous Momma already because their website and receptionist were already shoving the blame onto breastmilk. The ammount of deterioration W's teeth have undergone SO quickly, is not typical of their label of "bottle rot" (early childhood caries). W has never had a bottle, he is breastfed. And that type of decay takes years! This happened almost immediately after his teeth broke through and it is not limited to his top, front teeth. It's on the bottom as well. Also, breastmilk has sugar in it, but it has lactoferra as well, which prevents decay. Dan's got a couple of cousins who, as babies, had this condition as well. Which leads us to wonder if this could be a genetic disorder such as, amelogenesis imperfecta or dentinogenesis imperfecta. The term, brittle bone disease, is also in our minds. We sincerely hope not, but we also know breastmilk is not the culprit! David nursed the same as Walter is, and his teeth are fine. If you or someone you know has been through this and has information please let me know. Google has been pretty tricky with finding much of anything without it terming it, bottle rot. Walter's appointment is at 1:15p.m. today and we would greatly appreciate it if you would say a prayer for W. We really need them to be open minded & reasonable.