Dentist frustration

Hi! My daughter is 3 years old and we took her for her first cleaning about 8 months ago, everything went well and her dentist suggested applying SDF to some of her molars and said this would help strengthen the enamel so that she wouldn’t need fillings as long as we maintain proper hygiene for her. We did the sdf and then at her check up like 3 months after the sdf treatment, a new dentist at the same office said she needed fillings on her teeth because sdf is just a “bandaid” and all of her teeth that were treated were going to need fillings. We’ve been monitoring her teeth, specifically one molar that has a (I think small) cavity between it and another tooth and we’ve gone in to have it looked at probably 4 times over the course of this year to make sure it wasn’t getting bigger. We’ve brush with fluoride and floss in between teeth every night and she only drinks one cup of juice with breakfast and dinner, other than that she drinks water. I feel like we’ve been doing everything we can to take care of her teeth. We went in again this morning to have another x-ray of her molar and they told me she needed a filling but because of her gag reflex and her being 3, they want me to go to their other office and have her put under IV sedation, this would be out of pocket and be $1600 minimum for her two teeth with the cavity between them and this has to be paid upfront. I of course will do whatever I need to to get her taken care of, my mom didn’t take me to the dentist often as a kid and I’ve definitely suffered because of it as an adult and I want to make sure my daughter is taken care of. This just seems extreme and invasive to put her under sedation for what I was told was a small cavity. I also feel misled because I was told that the sdf would protect her teeth, why are being told less than 8 months later that she needs to be put under to have fillings?? They said they could do nitrous oxide but with her being so young and having a gag reflex, they don’t know how she’ll do, this would be $400 out of pocket. I’m considering taking her for a second opinion because I just don’t know… it doesn’t make sense to me. I want her to have whatever she needs and I’ll figure it out if I need to do the sedation, it just needs to be paid all up front and I guess we weren’t prepared for this.

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Ahh I’m sorry you have to go through this. she is way too young for all this stress. I didn’t even know there might be any cavity issues in such young age. And yes, definitely try to get a second and/or third opinion.

You can always get a second opinion but yes for kids that young being put under for fillings is best. My son actually is going under on Monday morning and he is 4. And I know you didn't ask but it is beneficial to take your children to the dentist even younger to get them acquainted and comfortable with the dentist. I start my kids at 1. So when they have most their teeth and I start brushing teeth as soon as their teeth are fully coming in as well. That could help too for the future. Cavities every now and again are gonna happen but the sooner you can catch them the better. Is there a reason you can't see the precious dentist you saw prior? Also there's no way as far as I know to stop cavities. Like I said my son has them and is going under for them and 6 months ago is when they started and you can only keep them small for so long before they grow and the teeth need repaired. I hope this all helped! But definitely get a second opinion!

Previous**

Yeah, her pediatrician told us that she should start going at 2/2.5 so that’s what we ended up doing, since she’s our first we didn’t know any better. We’ve been brushing her teeth since her teeth came in and started flossing after seeing the dentist, another thing that we just didn’t know any better because her pediatrician told us that we didn’t need to floss until her teeth started to touch. We’re still at the same clinic but the office switched us to a different dentist there, I’m assuming because of scheduling but I’m not sure. Our first visit he didn’t say she had cavities, he said she just had some areas that the enamel was weak so he applied the SDF to prevent cavities and then 3 months later they said she had a cavity which is why I’m confused I guess. I’m going to be scheduling a second opinion before getting her set up for fillings because it just seems fast I guess for everything to make a 180 from her teeth just needing preventative care to now needing repair.