Trouble with Teeth

All the kids have had an adventure with their teeth in the past several days, none of which has made anyone very happy.

It started with a trip to the dentist last Wednesday. I'd been sort of building the kids up to it. I figured that Bethany was over her fear of doctors enough to at least try it out. It was well past time for them to go. Bethany's teeth are rather yellow, and I'd noticed a couple of suspicious spots on a couple of Meagan's teeth. I made an appointment for them both together, at a place where I could go back with them. I can't say I like the place very much, though. When we got there, we waited over an hour past our appointment time. The wait wasn't too bad, though, because the kids got to watch Backyardigans, Little Bill and Max & Ruby. They love those shows, so they stayed pretty entertained. The checkups didn't go so well, though. I expected that we'd all go to the same room, and the girls would take turns in the chair. What they had, though, was a long room full of a row of chairs, and put the girls side-by-side, to do them at the same time. That made it kind of hard to help calm them down, because I was on a roller chair in between, holding Sean, and going back and forth. I eventually had to just tune one of them out, and focus on the other. Meagan was making more progress, so I worked with her, and the technician with Bethany just gave up. After Meagan was done with her very brief cleaning, I went over to Bethany, who refused to let them do anything. The technician had cleaned about four teeth before Bethany clammed up and refused to do let them do any more. She got so upset, she puked on me. Joy.

Then the dentist came in and checked Meagan's teeth. She had four cavities. Yikes! Apparently, the enamel on her molars was too thin or something. The dentist said that sometimes happens with clefts. We won't know if the problem will persist with her adult teeth until they come in. We're supposed to make sure we floss the kids' teeth, because that disrupts the acidic environment, and goes a long way to keeping their teeth healthy. Ugh, not looking forward to that one.

Bethany cooperated even less with the dentist that she had with the technician. She got all upset watching Meagan, and kept telling them not to "hurt her Meagan." I kind of got her to open her mouth by pretending to brush her teeth, and so the dentist got a glimpse, but that was all. I think I annoyed her, though. She wanted to hold Bethany down and just force her mouth open. She said that there comes a point where you just have to get it done. I wouldn't let her. I mean, it was Bethany's first appointment ever, and I didn't want to freak her out so badly that she'd never want to come back. I think what she saw was good enough, for a first visit anyway. The dentist did ask if Bethany'd been on a lot of antibiotics, because that can make teeth yellow. That could be the problem, because she does tend to get ear infections.

The one good thing about the visit was that the hygenists kept passing Sean around. He had been getting really fussy, and I had to put him down to help Meagan, and he slid right out of his carrier. They all thought he was really cute and had fun playing with him, so at least I didn't have to worry about him for a bit.

So all that happened on Wednesday the 7th . Sean's teeth trouble came during the weekend. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, he got one new tooth each day. Talk about a fussy child. Not that I can blame him, but he was really crabby, and didn't sleep well at all. Even now (Thursday the 15th), he's been a bit fussy. Last night Nate slept in the recliner with him, because he kept waking up every time I'd put him down. After I'd rocked him to sleep for the third or fourth time, I just gave up and Nate took him for the night. Those three teeth have mostly broken completely through now, though, so I have hopes that he'll sleep tonight.

Meagan had a return appointment to get her cavities filled on Tuesday (the 13th). I tried to find a babysitter to watch Bethany and Sean, but couldn't get one, so Nate met us at the dentist and sat out in the waiting room with them while I went back with Meagan. It was awful. First off, we waited about 35-40 minutes again, and then when we got back there, they said they'd only do two of the cavities. I can see why, but it really irritated me that no one told me that in advance. I came expecting to just get it all done and not have to worry about it anymore. The put a mask over Meagan's nose of nitrous oxide, and at first it did calm her a bit and she was giggling, right up until they shot her up to numb her mouth. Then it was all over. She got progressively worse and worse, to the point that they gave up on the mask because she was crying so much it wasn't working anymore. The first cavity got filled okay, but the bottom tooth cracked during the drilling, and ended up requiring a baby root canal and cap. Poor Meagan was totally freaked out, and must've been in pain, too, because she was screaming and screaming and sweating like crazy. It took me and two other assistants just to hold her, plus the dentist and another hygenist working in her mouth and one other assistant passing supplies to the dentist. It was so crazy. I wish they'd just knocked her out completely. She's going to be so freaked to go back, and she still has two more cavities to fix. I don't really want to go back to the same place, but I'm not sure how it would work insurance-wise to go somewhere else. She'd probably have to do another office visit, which I'd probably have to pay for out of pocket, and I don't know if another dentist would just do a filling without a visit, so it might take two more times instead of just one. So which is better? I can't decide.

On the flip side, though, Bethany seems to be very cooperative with her brushing now. She doesn't want any holes in her teeth. She's amazingly cooperative with the flossing, too. Nate bought these flossing sticks, that have a little bit of floss on the end of what looks like a toothbrush handle. We can floss their teeth without sticking our whole hands in their mouths, which really makes it easier. Meagan doesn't like it at all (go figure!), but I think she'll slowly come around. Hopefully we'll build the habit now, so they'll keep it their whole lives.