tooth extraction

[fatsatsuma]

DD (9) has to have a tooth extracted . It's a milk tooth which has no adult tooth behind it, and has started to sink back into her gum. Some kind of orthodontic treatment will follow, and she has two other teeth in the same situation.

I'm worried about how she will cope with the extraction. She's very squeamish about blood and I'm not sure how to prepare her or what to expect.

I know she'll have an anaesthetic and have explained that she shouldn't feel any pain after the injection. But what about the actual procedure or removing the tooth, which is partially buried by her gum? Might listening to an ipod help block out the noise of whatever the dentist is doing? How much discomfort will she be in afterwards?

Any tips or other people's experiences on helping children cope with tooth extractions would be much appreciated.

Two of my son's back teeth erupted with no enamel and he had to have them removed. We went to the clinic for our area that specialised in this and he had a general anaesthetic. They must have done 10 children when we were there and it was a very professional set up, can you find out if there is something similar in you area?

My DD has had to have two milk teeth extracted as they had started to break up in her mouth.
Th process has been really easy with an injection and sedation (laughing gas) but she had it done privately at a special childrens clinic so maybe the child focussed trappings that may have affected how it worked out ISWIM.
She has flavoured/scented gas and a choice of DVD to watch on an over head screen. She was only aware that there was any blood after we left and she could see some on the tissue.
Actually she loved the day out
We liked the bill slightly less

dd1 was 7 when she had an unerupted milk tooth extracted from her gum. she had ga as day surgery at the local hospital (in the maxillofacial dept), and was a bit uncomfortable for a few days because of the stitches. she was fine.

dd2(6) has just had three rear molars titanium capped under oral sedation, which is less stressful than the whole ga thing, but takes a while to come round from.

no-one has had 'ordinary' extraction here i'm afraid... i assume they switch to this at about 9?

(dd1 is 10 now and has just had the mouldings taken for her spacer - they will probably leave your dd's teeth to settle and see how the adult teeth start to fill in with the space, and then go for orthodontic treatment a little later - it's usually 11 or 12 in the uk. are they going to do a bridge eventually to fill the space, or move the rest around with braces?)

oh yes - the scented gas . dd2 freaks out with a normal mask, but oddly didn't with the strawberry gas!

She's just due to have it done at our usual dentist. We've only been with him for about a year, so don't know him or the set-up very well, but we like him so far. But having read all your experiences, I'm a bit worried that DD is not getting treatment suitable for a child of her age. Maybe I'll ring the surgery and find out a bit more.

NickOfTime, the orthodontist was very vague about the next step, but it sounds like either a bridge or braces, and the same for the other two teeth.

Bumping in case any dentists/others with experience of this around.

Try posting on the Adult Health section. Several dental thread going on there, maybe you'll find a dentist

My son had to have a tooth out due to an abcess with gas when he was 7. He was fine 10 minutes after geting home. It had been an emergency appt with the "special" dentist and I was good for nothing with the fright of it for the rest of the day!
Really nothing to worry about.

Thanks gordonpym and stillbobbysgirl.

I wouldn't be at all worried if we were talking about DS; he had root canal treatment recently without batting an eyelid. But DD passed out during a blood test a few months ago and seems to have a genuine fear of blood. I'm worried about how she would cope if, for example, she was asked to rinse out her mouth after the extraction and found she was spitting out blood.

my DD had a tooth extracted just before she was 4yo due to an abcess.
she was fine and actually went to school the next day. she had it done in hospital with a GA.

it will be fine, speak to the dentist with your concerns about DD.

She'll normally have local anaesthetic, they'll wait until the tooth is really numb, then they will push and wobble her tooth. The only bit of discomfort she will feel is when they first numb it which may sting but they will warn her and topical gel helps with this.
If the tooth is submerging it needs to come out as the longer it stays in the other teeth tend to tip over it and they are then difficult to get out. Removing it now also lets the other teeth move into the space and can reduce orthodontics later.
The ipod will help, reassure her she won't feel any pain whilst tooth being removed just pressure and call the practice and warn them in advance that she is squeamish. They can then make sure she doesn't see any blood. There is very little but we get people to bite on gauze as there is a bit of blood whilst the blood clots. She will be fine the most important thing is you being supportive but calm and she should take your lead. Let the dentist and their nurse do the talking they will chat her through it. Good luck

Thanks aristocat and MillyMollyMandy. MMM, it's helpful to know a bit more about the procedure, thank you. I know it's right to get the tooth out as I can see how much it has receded into the gum, and it's good to know that the other teeth might move into the space.

I will call the dentist and have a chat to make them aware of her fears.