Dental care and kids was Question for Non-vaxing parents

I usually do a once a year "well child" visit. I have to do this with my kids who are in public school, otherwise I might go farther than a year.

NOW, the schools are requiring DENTAL exams. I really hate the "School as Parent" thing we have gotten into.

 

Maggie, are they paying for those DENTAL exams? Because how many people have a good enough health plan to cover that? I know my family didn't....didn't have a dental checkup for close to 8 years...

 

i never saw a dentist until i was 10.

 

I know, it is ridiculous. My dh has good health insurance, but the dental is still really expensive,and they always say our dentist is charging more than "customary and reasonalble charges." IMO, Sage really doesn't need to see a dentist yet. I HATE going to the dentist, and need a damn Xanax just to get in the door without shivering. I'm going to put it off as long as possible.

 

i don't mind the dentist at all, i've just never really needed one. i've never had cavities, my teeth grew straight, so on. my siblings have all been seeing a dentist all their lives and THEY'RE the ones with messed up teeth. it makes me wonder two things: 1. why did all my siblings go to the dentist and not me? 2. did going to the dentist mess up their teeth?

 

I can't imagine not going to a dentist! I've always gone 2 times a year for checkups and cleanings and when I had braces for 5 years, I went to the orthodontist at least every other month. Never had a cavity, straight teeth, and stood my ground to not get my wisdom teeth taken out. And I'm crazy neurotic about dental hygiene. I brush my teeth twice a day, use mouthwash, and floss daily because I'm so afraid of having to have dental surgery one day for something I could have prevented early. My parents went 7 or 8 years between dental visits once and ended up having a ton of problems and having to get all kinds of surgery and crap. That type of thing makes me paranoid and I trust my dentist enough to know that he wouldn't do anything unnecessary to me.. especially because I make him explain every little thing he does in great detail.

My brother and I used to do well child visits every year. My brother stopped at around 12 but I had to go until I was 14 and had to go to a urologist longer than that, which was not fun.

 

I have visited a dentist maybe 5 times in my entire life. I don't brush my teeth regularly (not like neurotic, 2 times daily), never floss. Hell, I hardly mind my teeth at all. They are fairly straight, no problems...

And the last time I went to the dentist (about 8 year after the visit before) he said my teeth were fine.

However, my mom visits the dentist regularly. Brushes her teeth all the time. Has root problems, cavities, every dental problem...

So, like KC, I'm wondering if going to the Dentist in the first place causes problems.

 

i like a clean mouth, but i get by with brushing in the morning and at night. i'm awful about flossing. but when i went to the dentist about a receding gum, which stopped acting up, he told me i have the mouth other people pay a lotta money for.

 

Dakota hasn't seen a doctor in a really long time. For a while he was so sick he was at the doctor's all the time for the asthma meds. The last time he saw a doctor was when the day care broke his arm. That was a year ago last November. Every once in a while I think he should go just to see how he's doing. But he looks healthy. Acts appropriate for his age. He's not getting any more vax so why bother. If he had any delays that would be a different story.

I took him to the dentist once because he had a tooth bothering. The idiot did a root canal on my not yet 2 year old son. He strapped him down to a board so he could not move. He never explained anything to him, never talked to him at all in fact. The only person who talked to him was the bitch who kept telling this terrified little guy that if he didn't stop crying his mama was going to leave him there with them. I know kids need to see a dentist but I don't know when I'll take him back and it won't be to the same guy.

Kathi

 

that's the worst thing i've ever heard.

 

That's scary, Kathy. My dd Moon had to have two "Pulpotomies" (which is a root canal on a baby tooth.) No one else in our family had any dental problems, but Moon had been overtreated for ear infections with TOO many antibiotics, and it ruined the enamal on her baby teeth. But, the dentist was great, he gave her gas (which she loved......oh my) and explained everything he was going to do, and didn't tie her down.

The only thing is I told him that I was pretty sure that the bad enamel was from the antibiotics and he said "No, it was from the fevers." (That was about 14 years ago, and only a few studies were then linking bad enamel to overuse of antibiotics.) Now there are many studies proving that it IS the antibiotics which cause the enamal problems, NOT the fevers. But, a good dentist can make a difference between a good procedure and a terrifying one. I am so sorry your baby had to go through that. Sometimes you have no idea how the doc or dentist is going to act until it is too late to stop the procedure. Hugs to you and Dakota.

 

Awww poor Dakota *hugs*


We go to the dentist twice a year for check ups and to just keep in with them in case of future problems. Only had one issue with my teeth, an absece that needed me to get some teeth out. Oh and maybe some fillings, can't remember I couldn't have been more than ten (they were my baby teeth, the molars.)

My Dad has really good dental health because his mother drummed it into him. My mum never had that, so she learnt the bad way and her teeth are in pretty bad shape, lots of fillings caps etc. They're also kinda obsessive about feet too for much the same reasons.

Can count the number of times I remember going to the doctors on one hand, and that's being generous. Last time was to get some pencillin for an infected tick bite last summer. Before that was a standard check up thingy they do for teenagers; when they topped up my shots and half wondered if I had an eating disorder (don't of course, just come from a long line of tall skinny people).

Think we've just been lucky really, with genes or something. My Dad's family are all really hardy and long living.

 

hate HATE going to the dentist....but have gone about once a year for most of my life. never had any cavities/work done, though...so i guess that's good.

 

I have a very different opinion about dentists than I do regular doctors. And I wish it could be otherwise, but (sigh) I feel stuck here.

My husband & I both have a rare genetic disorder and to our eternal regret, we've passed it on to both of our children. It causes all sorts of problems, but one of the stranger issues with it is an alleged propensity for dental problems. This has not been confirmed by the medical community yet, but I'm on a forum with about 1000 other people with this disorder, and out of those thousand over 800 of them claim severe dental issues. To us, that just can't be coincidence.

We're not talking a cavity here or there, either. My son had 2 teeth extracted for severe decay. And both of my children have had over 30 cavities. It's not their diet, I'm just short of a food-nazi with them. And I oversee their brushing, and we have a prescription-strength rinse for them. To quote their dentist who thankfully has heard of the link between Ehlers & dental decay, "some people were just born with bad teeth." My husband is 32 years old and last year he had 17 teeth extracted, and 2 sets of partial dentures installed. He only has 12 teeth left in his mouth, and the dentist is not sure how long those will last either.

So while I don't take the kids to the doctor unless I see appendages falling off, we visit the dentist twice a year like good little lemmings. But in our case, I feel that anything short of this would be neglectful. If my kiddies had teeth like mine, I wouldn't worry nearly so much about this either.
love,
mom