DS8 needs a filling

[IRememberWhenThisWasAllFieldsAndCakePunching]

…and I feel like the worst parent in the world. His diet isn’t bad, although he does eat sugar. No fizzy drinks, but does drink Vimto regularly. He doesn’t have sweets or chocolate daily, but that’s all beside the point really. He’s got a cavity in an adult molar and I feel so terrible that he’s going to have to go through it. I have awful teeth and despite not drinking, smoking or doing drugs or even drinking much besides water and herbal tea, I’ve had to have two extractions this year and need five further fillings and I hate the thought of my son in pain or scared.

What will they do? Will they inject anaesthetic in? I think that’s the worst bit, do they do that for children? I know obviously he has to have the anaesthetic and I’m grateful we even have a dentist, but if anyone can talk me through the process for children I’d be grateful!

We had this with my son when he was the same age. Afterwards the dentist told me that he mustn't eat anything containing acid or sugar between meals. We stuck with that and his teeth have been fine since (touch wood).

DS is ASD and he had to have the cavity fixed under general anaesthetic and we paid for it privately.

When I was that age I had big fillings done in molars but they didn't use an anaesthetic at all. Apparently pain in teeth is different in children, and they don't need it.

If you say roughly where you are then someone might be able to recommend a dentist who will over gas and air as an anaesthetic.

Good luck!

My daughter recently needed some teeth removed as she's having braces and the dentist rubbed all around it on the gums with some numbing gel before she injected the local anaesthetic. She didn't feel a thing, and she's very anxious about anything dental, so it must have worked. Sorry to hear about your son's tooth, hope it all goes okay for him.

Does he eat fruit and drink fruit juice? We were told they are as much of a problem as sugar!

You’re not the worst parent in the world. But I ask gently does he brush his teeth adequately would you say…as in all surfaces of all teeth for 2 minutes twice a day, good toothpaste woth fluoride ie Colgate and a decent brush? I have had fillings in the past too but I must say I was a bit alarmed to read that you need 5 fillings at the minute and you’ve just had 2 teeth removed- seems there’s something not right here if you both need dental work to this level- like someone else mentioned -fruit juice- do you both drink a lot of that? Could you perhaps be brushing too hard?

If you have poor teeth as well then there is a very small possibility of a genetic predisposition to cavities. Weak enamel or a lack of saliva can cause cavities even in people who don't consume a lot of sugar or acidic foods. Ask the dentist when you go.

He has a little hour glass that runs for two minutes, I think all the children in his class got one a year ago or so, and often in the mornings we will both brush our teeth together using it. He uses it in the evening too, but I’d say 5 days out of 7 he brushes on his own in the evenings. I don’t know about the toothpaste, but again it’s one that school have given and she specific. I’ll ask the dentist if there’s a better one I can buy!

I honestly rarely drink anything but water and herbal tea. I’ll have a coffee maybe once a week/ten days, but no sugar. DS used to drink a lot of apple juice but not much anymore once I realised how sugary it actually is 😭

I do feel like maybe it could be hereditary a bit, but saying that, my brother is a massive drinker and smoker and regular drug taker, as well as having an appalling diet, and he’s never had one filling. I had some as a child, a root canal nearly ten years ago and then all this work needed now.

If you have bad teeth as well then it's likely to be genetic.

You can't do anything now but for the future you can do things.

Buy a kids electric toothbrush and supervise brushing twice daily.

Ask the dentist about fissure sealants and brushing routine for the child

My parent didn't look after my teeth and it was grim.

It kept me up nearly night, feeling like a massive failure. We kept him refined sugar free until he was 18 months old, but it sort of crept in from there onwards. My in laws pick him up once a week and always seem to buy him family bags of sweets + vimto (I had a whole thread on here when he was a baby asking if it was normal for in laws to call you, crying, because you won’t let her wean him straight on to custard 😂😭😱) and we do have pudding every night. I kid myself that just because the cakes and biscuits are generally
homemade that it’s somehow better, and that apple juice is better than squash, when really I know that’s bullshit. I’ve allowed my child to get a hole in his tooth.

I am going to call the dentist when DS isn’t around to ask if they can tell me the process for the filling so I can start prepping DS. I wondered if there was a different method of numbing the area than the injection for children.

I don't think your child's sugar consumption sounds wildly beyond the average child's so there probably is a genetic component, unfortunately this means going forward you will also need to be stricter with sweets than the average parent too, I'd imagine no sugary snacks or juices outside meals.