Minifobette has a cavity on one molar, and "pre-cavities" on three others. She's not even three yet, for crying out loud! The dentist said she's got "one of those mouths," and that the pH of her saliva is the most to blame. To get them filled, we've got to decide if full sedation or pinning her down is the way to go. Big drawbacks to both choices.

full sedation, despite the enhanced "hangover."

how is she with NO2?

Krill oil one of the best for inflammation...

Does he have any suggestions for balancing her pH level? I know she's on a special diet like your other fob, but maybe a certain food or toothpaste could help? Clearly I don't know how these things works. Hopefully, if there is nothing you can do, it will work itself out by the time she has her adult teeth.

They say the pH tends to be genetic, not really connected to diet. Diet provides the sugars, the pH provides the hospitable environment. True enough, I've never had a single cavity, despite a period in childhood where I didn't brush at all for about 2 years. Meanwhile Mr. Clod has battled countless cavities, though he has religiously brushed, flossed, and mouthwashed twice a day for pretty much his whole life. She clearly got his salivary genes, and Minifob got mine.

There are mouth sprays you can use to get the pH a little more in line with whatever level doesn't support bacterial growth, but the effects only last as long as it takes for the liquid to be washed out of your mouth, minutes at best.

NO2 is not okay for her, but there are other anesthetics that are. The problem is that sedation is not covered by insurance, and with the surgery center and the attendants and the anesthesiologist it runs about $10,000 all told. We're going to try to get the dental work piggy-backed onto her sedation for a gastrointestinal scope--the scope may or may not happen, but if it does the sedation will be covered under that procedure.

If it doesn't, we're going to have to opt for the non-sedated in-office cavity drilling. This is not the end of the world, except with 4 teeth it will be a long procedure to have to pin her down for (it won't really hurt, but it will piss her off tremendously,) and what we really want is to seal all 8 molars at once so we don't have to deal with inevitable future cavities until the adult teeth come in. 8 teeth isn't going to happen unless she's sedated.

Holy mackerel, that's a lot of $.

I just got a cc from my insurance re my surgery. of the $2000 billed (so far) the insurance co denied all but $165. What a racket.

Who's going to hold her down? You or a pro? When Hector cut his head to the skull aged nearly 3, the hospital brought in a "professional holder-downer" He was the biz. I was amazed. If the dentist doesn't have one of these, consider employing one rather than doing it yourself. And yes, Hector had major stranger issues then -especially with men as we found out when we needed the stitches removing, but this guy was all Crocodile Dundee on him.

I had pretty much every dental treatment under the sun (baby teeth removed in the chair, braces, palate expander etc...) when I was a kid and now I HAAAAAAAAAAAATE dentists...to the extent that I stopped going to the dentist as an adult as I was petrified of the pain and also of the dentist getting angry with me because I wouldn't sit still in the chair (luckily have now found a dental technician who cleans teeth in a painfree way...bless her). In short, I'd go the general.

ten grand, casi.

Do you use it?

Absolutely! when I run out I feel like the TIN MAN!! Mega Krill made by Schiff is in most drug stores.

Generally it goes that I do the bulk of the gross-motor restraining, and the assistants do the precision work. So in this case it would be me from the neck down, and a tech would hold her head still. They won't do full sedation in the office, but now I'm wondering if I could half-sedate her myself. There's a safe drug called Versed which will make her calm and loopy, AND has the added benefit of inducing amnesia from the time you take it. They gave it to Minifob before both surgeries so he would enter the operating room and take an IV calmly, and it worked great. The dentist likely won't administer it outside of a hospital setting, but I'm thinking maybe he would give me a prescription for one dose, and I would give it to her right before we walk in. Then he could give her the shot of novocaine and go to town, and her sensory problems with people getting all up in her mouth wouldn't be a problem.

Sounds like a wise plan, cf.

I keep on forgetting about the difference in the cost of dental/medical care. In Oz, if you've got private medical which doesn't usually break the bank (although I have been known to complain long and hard about the cost of mine), these things are affordable if you have a decent salary. I'm guessing that's not the case in the US?

We should compare dental records. Mine was a lifetime chain reaction from falling on the playground in 2nd grade and having one of my permanent front teeth jammed up into my head. When I was a kid, going to the dentist/orthodontist was like "meh, don't even bother with the novocaine." As an adult, it was hard to get back to going. And, I paid for it physically and financially when some of my childhood repairs finally gave out. How many root canals can one person have? I expect my years long chronic infection spot deep in my root will also flare up someday. (hey, maybe that's why I am sick all the time?)

So, now, whatever they want to give me I'll take.

No. Fun. At. All. Poor kid.