General Anesthetic for 6yr old dental work, advice please?

ka7e

mrcow wrote: »

That is not true at all.

Where are you getting this information from?

I think many dentists will not risk extractions under GA because they do not have the back-up to deal with a patient that has a severe reaction to the drugs used.

I know of one case in my town where a local GP was on hand during administration of a GA at a dental surgery, yet a child died of an allergic reaction. Neither a dental surgeon nor a GP have the expertise of a specialist anaesthetist nor do they have the full range of resuscitation equipment readily to hand.

msb5262

As far as I know, dentists can still perform extractions including on children (my DD had an extraction last summer at the dental surgery with a local anaesthetic) but ANY procedure involving general anaesthetic has to be carried out in a hospital.
At my school, we have recently had several children having multiple extractions under GA at the local hospital - I think the record was 8 teeth in a 7 year old - due to widespread decay. These procedures aren't that unusual in this part of the world so I'd say the OP shouldn't be unduly worried.
Hope your little one bounces back quickly, OP; the children at my school certainly did and they received excellent care and attention.
HTH
MsB

lindseykim13

Thanks again for the replies, we have decided to go ahead with it all now. Looking towards their future dental health- i am happy with their diet unless anyone knows a better/less tooth problem diet? A regular days meals would be cereal, sandwich, fruit, yoghurt, dinner meat/fish & veg, they are only allowed one small pack of sweets or a peguin type choc biscuit a day (although they dont always have it anyway) Is there anything i can change that might be causing a problem?

When do people get their kids to clean their teeth? We have always done morning and before bed, but i have started nagging after eating anything sweet to clean them. Although difficult if out etc.
I fear they have teeth like mine though, i already have 4 of my adult teeth missing and all the other molars filled. Is there a way to find out if there is a genetic problem as i really would like them not to have to go through all of the fears that i've been through myself.

msb5262

Ideally I think you should ask your dentist or dental hygienist about this - if they can't advise you, they should be able to tell you who can.

Good thinking, OP. Hope things go well for you.

MsB

no-oneknowsme

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

... when I was young I had about 8 or so teeth extracted at once but that was because of overcrowding, not sure whether they still do that.
.

Yes, they still do this. My DD who is 14 has had 6 teeth extracted over the past few months due to over crowding . We are now waiting to have braces fitted to straighten the teeth.

brook2jack

lindseykim13 wrote: »

Thanks again for the replies, we have decided to go ahead with it all now. Looking towards their future dental health- i am happy with their diet unless anyone knows a better/less tooth problem diet? A regular days meals would be cereal, sandwich, fruit, yoghurt, dinner meat/fish & veg, they are only allowed one small pack of sweets or a peguin type choc biscuit a day (although they dont always have it anyway) Is there anything i can change that might be causing a problem?

I fear they have teeth like mine though, i already have 4 of my adult teeth missing and all the other molars filled. Is there a way to find out if there is a genetic problem as i really would like them not to have to go through all of the fears that i've been through myself.

There are only a few very rare genetic disorders that cause weak enamel , they very rarely affect baby teeth and are so obvious they would have been spotted by now.

The problem is your childrens diet, you can brush teeth 10 times a day but if sugary stuff hits their teeth more than 3 times a day they will continue to have problems. Do a three day diet sheet with everything they eat and drink and times on it and ask your dentists advice. Yoghurt,fruit juice are both high in sugars. Packets if sweets can be chilled throughout the day. I'm sorry but you need to make changes and diet is where you start.Problems run in family because diet and cleaning habits run in families.

esmerelda98

lindseykim13 wrote: »

Thanks again for the replies, we have decided to go ahead with it all now. Looking towards their future dental health- i am happy with their diet unless anyone knows a better/less tooth problem diet? A regular days meals would be cereal, sandwich, fruit, yoghurt, dinner meat/fish & veg, they are only allowed one small pack of sweets or a peguin type choc biscuit a day (although they dont always have it anyway) Is there anything i can change that might be causing a problem?

When do people get their kids to clean their teeth? We have always done morning and before bed, but i have started nagging after eating anything sweet to clean them. Although difficult if out etc.
I fear they have teeth like mine though, i already have 4 of my adult teeth missing and all the other molars filled. Is there a way to find out if there is a genetic problem as i really would like them not to have to go through all of the fears that i've been through myself.

Cereals aimed at children are often very high in sugar. Weetabix is one of the better ones, you could serve it with some fruit like chopped banana. My hygienist also told me not to brush immediately after meals, but about 40 minutes later. It has also been suggested that the toothpaste is spat out, but the mouth isn't rinsed out with water. I must admit, I'm not sure if these last two suggestions apply to children as well.

Gingham_Ribbon

Re the diet - my son had 3 fillings. There were 3 reasons.

I had medication when I was pregnant with him that caused weak enamel. His teeth came through at 11 weeks, when he was still feeding constantly and falling asleep with a mouthful of milk. And he grew up to be a grazer.

He finds it difficult to brush his teeth because of his motor skill problems but I help him so there's no problem there. No juice, no sweets, no chocolates, but he ate every couple of hours and even a small amount of sugar on the food can have an effect on teeth.

There was little I could do about his hunger and he's, at only just 7, shoulder height on me. But I tried to change his meals so he was fuller for longer. He still wants to eat fruit all the time and I've tried to encourage him to eat it after meals. He has had no further dental problems since the first decay was found and his adult teeth are much stronger than his baby ones I'm glad to say.

Wilma33

lindseykim13 wrote: »

Thanks again for the replies, we have decided to go ahead with it all now. Looking towards their future dental health- i am happy with their diet unless anyone knows a better/less tooth problem diet? A regular days meals would be cereal, sandwich, fruit, yoghurt, dinner meat/fish & veg, they are only allowed one small pack of sweets or a peguin type choc biscuit a day (although they dont always have it anyway) Is there anything i can change that might be causing a problem?

What do they drink? That's as much of an issue as what they eat.

How do you/they clean their teeth? And for how long?

binkyboo_2

My 3 year old daughter was in the day surgery unit last week for an extraction under general anesthetic. She knocked her front tooth falling off a chair and developed an abcess.
Our local hospital have a clinic one day a week just for removing teeth from children and they see 15 children through the day.
There was a girl there about 6 years old having 10 teeth out due to decay and she seemed to be in no more pain than mine who only had the one out.
Not sure if it is different for older children but my daughter had pain relief in the form of a suppository once she had been put to sleep.
She was in theatre and recovery for about 15 minutes and then brought back to me in the ward where she slept it off for another half hour or so but the older children seemed to come around much quicker. when they woke up they just had to have a drink, something to eat and have a walk round the ward and then they were allowed home.
The staff were very good they had a play specialist there who went in with them and used distraction techniques while the canula and GA were being done.