The Tooth Fairy visits the Grotegut’s and other tales from the dentist
Posted Mar 24 2011 11:11pm
I think no matter how much I obsess over my kids brushing and flossing, its just impossible for them to avoid cavities. It couldn’t be the multiple trips to McDonalds and the gobs of candy they eat each week, no, it couldn’t be that. Gavin’s last vist to have cavities filled did not go over well. The dentist was flat out rude to him, even after I explained Gavin’s sensory iussues with his mouth. He was only able to fill one of the three cavities Gavin had. I decided to wait until their next 6 month check came arund and just find a new dentist. So in February both boys went to a new Pediatric Dentist (whom I adore). Keaton only had one cavitiy, weirdly inbetween his front teeth. Gavin on the other hand had four. The two he had had from the previous visit, and two new ones. We opted for oral sedation to fill them since the time before was so traumatic.
On March 8th we went in bright and early to his appointment. They mixed the drugs in Kool-aide, even though I told them he’d take it better without it (he hates Kool-aide). They didn’t listen and had to force this bright red crap into his mouth while he gagged and spit. Finally they got it all down and we went into a quite dark room to wait for the meds to take effect. After waiting over and hour Gavin still wasn’t really out of it. He was saying some pretty funny stuff like ” I feel so warm and cuddly” and “now that you don’t have a job doing photography, will we be homeless?” He never got sleepy though. He couldn’t really walk and was acting aggitated.
After an hour and a half they decided just to gas him. Even though I explained he has weird reactions to gas. They didn’t listen though and all hell broke lose. They gassed him and he went ballistic. He was taking punches at the doctor and screaming like we were killing him. I was trying to hold him down along with two other dental assistances. He managed to overpower us. They finally convinced me to strap him to a papoose board, which pissed me off because that is what I was trying to avoid by sedating him. The doctor assured me the difference was that he wouldn’t remember. And that was true, he doesn’t remember. After he was strapped down like a mental patient off his meds, they were able to get him to relax and take big, deep breaths of nitrous. Eventually he passed out. That was nearly 3 1/2 hours in. The dentist worked as fast as he could but Gavin woke up half way through and it took another half hour to calm him down to finish.
By the end my nerves were shot and Gavin had a BIG knot in his hair from moving his head so violently. He slept in the car for about an hour and then woke up acting fine. He was his old self for an hour or two and then he started acting weird. Scratching his head, saying his stomach hurt, that he had a headache. Then he vomited all over his poor Auntie Shanda’s carpet. I loaded him back in the car to head home and he proceeded to vomit all over the car. What a mess! By the time we got home his eyes were almost swollen shut and he looked horrible. We think he had an allergic reaction to some of the meds they gave him. The next day he felt fine, except that his lip was a huge mess. He’d bit into it so badly it was grossly huge and ulcerated on the inside. So we will never ever do that again. I guess if Gavin ends up with more cavities (which he will thanks to KitKats and cookies), we’ll just let it rot out of his mouth, or maybe use a rubber mallet to put him out?
The Good News though is that Gavin lost a tooth. Well, the dentist pulled it out for him. Before the sedation the dentist asked Gavin if he would like him to pull his lose tooth out. It had been lose from two months but Gavin wasn’t brave enough to pull it out. He of course said yes and was so excited when he woke up and found out he’d lost his very first tooth. The tooth fairy left him two gold dollars that he has since lost. He now has another lose tooth and he says he will just tell the tooth fairy to leave him double the money. He says she’s rich so she can afford it.
Without further ado, here is Gavin sporting a half window in his mouth. Half because his adult tooth was already creeping in before he lost his tooth.
I think no matter how much I obsess over my kids brushing and flossing, its just impossible for them to avoid cavities. It couldn’t be the multiple trips to McDonalds and the gobs of candy they eat each week, no, it couldn’t be that. Gavin’s last vist to have cavities filled did not go over well. The dentist was flat out rude to him, even after I explained Gavin’s sensory iussues with his mouth. He was only able to fill one of the three cavities Gavin had. I decided to wait until their next 6 month check came arund and just find a new dentist. So in February both boys went to a new Pediatric Dentist (whom I adore). Keaton only had one cavitiy, weirdly inbetween his front teeth. Gavin on the other hand had four. The two he had had from the previous visit, and two new ones. We opted for oral sedation to fill them since the time before was so traumatic.
On March 8th we went in bright and early to his appointment. They mixed the drugs in Kool-aide, even though I told them he’d take it better without it (he hates Kool-aide). They didn’t listen and had to force this bright red crap into his mouth while he gagged and spit. Finally they got it all down and we went into a quite dark room to wait for the meds to take effect. After waiting over and hour Gavin still wasn’t really out of it. He was saying some pretty funny stuff like ” I feel so warm and cuddly” and “now that you don’t have a job doing photography, will we be homeless?” He never got sleepy though. He couldn’t really walk and was acting aggitated.
After an hour and a half they decided just to gas him. Even though I explained he has weird reactions to gas. They didn’t listen though and all hell broke lose. They gassed him and he went ballistic. He was taking punches at the doctor and screaming like we were killing him. I was trying to hold him down along with two other dental assistances. He managed to overpower us. They finally convinced me to strap him to a papoose board, which pissed me off because that is what I was trying to avoid by sedating him. The doctor assured me the difference was that he wouldn’t remember. And that was true, he doesn’t remember. After he was strapped down like a mental patient off his meds, they were able to get him to relax and take big, deep breaths of nitrous. Eventually he passed out. That was nearly 3 1/2 hours in. The dentist worked as fast as he could but Gavin woke up half way through and it took another half hour to calm him down to finish.
By the end my nerves were shot and Gavin had a BIG knot in his hair from moving his head so violently. He slept in the car for about an hour and then woke up acting fine. He was his old self for an hour or two and then he started acting weird. Scratching his head, saying his stomach hurt, that he had a headache. Then he vomited all over his poor Auntie Shanda’s carpet. I loaded him back in the car to head home and he proceeded to vomit all over the car. What a mess! By the time we got home his eyes were almost swollen shut and he looked horrible. We think he had an allergic reaction to some of the meds they gave him. The next day he felt fine, except that his lip was a huge mess. He’d bit into it so badly it was grossly huge and ulcerated on the inside. So we will never ever do that again. I guess if Gavin ends up with more cavities (which he will thanks to KitKats and cookies), we’ll just let it rot out of his mouth, or maybe use a rubber mallet to put him out?
The Good News though is that Gavin lost a tooth. Well, the dentist pulled it out for him. Before the sedation the dentist asked Gavin if he would like him to pull his lose tooth out. It had been lose from two months but Gavin wasn’t brave enough to pull it out. He of course said yes and was so excited when he woke up and found out he’d lost his very first tooth. The tooth fairy left him two gold dollars that he has since lost. He now has another lose tooth and he says he will just tell the tooth fairy to leave him double the money. He says she’s rich so she can afford it.
Without further ado, here is Gavin sporting a half window in his mouth. Half because his adult tooth was already creeping in before he lost his tooth.