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

spugzbunny

I was once told that cereals and crisps are actually one of the worst for teeth decay as they are very high in sugar but also they get stuck to the teeth and therefore cause decay throughout the day.

I think the suggestion to keep a food diary for a week and then ask your dentist is great.

lindseykim13

thankyou i will look into this a lot more as i don't want any of my kids to go through this again. They never have fizzy drinks it is banned but they do drink watered down fruit juice half/half prob once a day. Mostly they drink very dilute squash normally ribena.
I don't think they brush for long enough so will improve that and i'm looking into kids mouthwashs, they do eat a lot of fruit as i've always encoraged them to choose fruit over sweets/biscuits. I guess i've been thinking about the vits more than the sugar content!
So much mixed advice about these days never know what to follow.
I only learnt myself from the dentist about a year ago that crisps were really bad for causing decay so as my kids used to have a bag every day for lunch i cut them out and they are only a treat now. Perhaps the damage was already done by then though.

brook2jack

Mouthwash does not prevent decay and is useless for most kids and adults unless prescribed for gum infections and then only for a short while.

Twice a day with adult toothpaste rinse, don't spit and mum go round after is all kids have to do.

The difference between ribena and reduced sugar ribena is one has 3 spoons of sugar a glass the other 2 , even very dilute it's full of sugar. Water or milk only between meals.

There is no way your 6 year olds teeth were decayed by problems that stopped a year ago. They would not be having pain from a tooth now and the holes would have been spotted before now.

Fruit is fine so long as it is not dried like raisins or juiced or covered in yogurt.

Do a food diary and show it to your dentist , there are issues with your childrens diet that no amount of mouthwash or toothbrushing will solve.

skipsmum

DS2 has trouble brushing his teeth due to motor diffculties and weak enamel due to reflux from crohns disease. Our dentist recommended switching to an electric toothbrush which works really well. We use the tablets that turn plaque blue regularly (can't remember what they are called, sorry) and that helps him/us to see where there are problems.

Btw he had 2 teeth out under GA when he was 4 because he knocked them up into the gum (urgh). It took about 10 minutes.

Wilma33

Maybe buy a timer to make it "fun" to clean for 2 minutes?

Those tablets skipsmum mentioned could also be used to make it into a bit of a game to see who can clean their teeth the best?

Gigglepig

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?
lf.

As other people have pointed out, acidic and sugary drinks could be a problem. Regarding the diet, you can for example
- swap to rolled oats or another cereal mix with no added sugar
- select a plain yoghurt with no added sugar
- consider giving the sweets/chocolate only once a week rather than once a day

brook2jack

Personally speaking I have no problems with kids eating whatever cereal they like , drinking fruit juice ,diluted or not, having yogurt etc so long as it is at a meal. We can deal with the hours worth of acid attack that a drink or food produces if it is at one of the three meals a day.

The problem is the AVERAGE British person eats 7 times a day. That includes children. I don't mean 7 meals but something is eaten 7 times a day on average. The acid produced when sweet things are eaten or drunk takes an hour to go so potentially teeth could be under attack 7 hours a day.

The other big problem is not only are children "grazing" during the day but also drinks other than water or plain milk are given. Drink what you like with a meal but water in-between times.

Finally at night the amount of saliva that is produced decreases so the acid from food or drink consumed an hour before bed is not washed away. So no bedtime snacks or drinks other than water.

LadyMorticia

I doubt the dentist would have suggested a GA if it wasn't necessary as sometimes it's really hard to get referred for a GA for things dental (in my experience anyway. It's usually done with a fight).

I think having 8 teeth out all in one go will be less distressing than having to go to the dentist separately for each one.

At 6 years old, the last thing he needs is a fear of dentists.

I had really bad experiences of dentists when I was a child and now I have a chronic fear of them and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

beckythemadcow

I had my tonsils out as a 5/6 year old. I wasn't scared, and enjoyed going to hospital! The nurses made a fuss and gave me icecream.

I anticipate the cuts have had an impact since then, but it can still be a fun experience for a child.

I have also had 9 teeth out under local anaesthetic and all 4 wisdom teeth out under General. (Overcrowded mouth)

Give me general ANYTIME! It was a horrible experience watching (hearing, feeling) the dentist twist my teeth out (it makes a horrific sound), and I have never liked injections - you need at least 2 in your gums for each tooth...

General Anaesthetic will be MUCH less traumatic for both you and the child!

lindseykim13

brook2jack wrote: »

Personally speaking I have no problems with kids eating whatever cereal they like , drinking fruit juice ,diluted or not, having yogurt etc so long as it is at a meal. We can deal with the hours worth of acid attack that a drink or food produces if it is at one of the three meals a day.

The problem is the AVERAGE British person eats 7 times a day. That includes children. I don't mean 7 meals but something is eaten 7 times a day on average. The acid produced when sweet things are eaten or drunk takes an hour to go so potentially teeth could be under attack 7 hours a day.

The other big problem is not only are children "grazing" during the day but also drinks other than water or plain milk are given. Drink what you like with a meal but water in-between times.

Finally at night the amount of saliva that is produced decreases so the acid from food or drink consumed an hour before bed is not washed away. So no bedtime snacks or drinks other than water.

This makes so much sense now, and would explain a little as to why his teeth are so much worse than the eldest. He is a huge 'grazer' he will eat most of his meal and be back half hour later to insist he is hungry yet again. He will be out playing and pop in for a 'snack' an hour before dinner etc. He drives me mad with the 'i'm hungry' i didn't realise that the acid hung around for an hour after eating, i'm totally shocked i've never heard of this before. To be honest i've never really had a decent conversaion with a dentist on these things as i'm usually out of the door as quick as possible
Always just guessed that the damage to teeth from eating sugary things was done while chewing it and if any got stuck in the teeth.