7 year old having teeth out at the hospital on Mon. What to expect after?

[2kidsintow]

I'm devastated (and embarrassed) that my DD is having 6 of her baby teeth removed tomorrow. She brushes her teeth herself and we finish the job for her to make sure she has done it properly. She doesn't constantly eat sweets and drink pop, but she has got lots of cavities. To make things worse, out normal dentist had filled the teeth and only referred us because they were concerned about one of her teeth and when I asked about the others that had been filled but that I didn't like the look of, they said they were fine. At the consultant dentist, they said that they were going to remove 6 as they didn't like the look of any of them.

She seems to go from lovely teeth one day to holes the next without any warning signs. We have upped the flouride content of her toothpaste and are getting her new teeth fissure sealed at the recommendation of the consultant.

She is going under general anaesthetic Mon p.m. and I'm wondering what type of a state she is going to be in after. We have childcare standing by as we are doubting whether she'll be fit to go to school Tues - the teeth are on both sides of her mouth, so she won't be able to eat on one side and avoid a sore patch.
Any advice from any parents who have been through this would be appreciated.

She probably won't be fit for school so I would err on the side of being available. My DD is 7 and recently we were told that 2 had to come out and one was an adult! However, the consultant said no...he would fill them which he did.

He told us how important it is to avoid juice and also to only have sweets very rarely...not even once a week...and that you must brush her teeth for her as at 7 it is arare child who has the dexterity. We also got our DD some of those tablets...the ones which they chew after brushing and which reveal the placue left bhind...and an electric toothbrush which really helps.

She also flosses now...by herself. We get the ones wtith little handles..we have explained wh she can only hve juice with meals and not daily...she is fine with it. hope your DD is ok quickly....mouths heal fast by the wy and in a coule of days she will have forgotten it all.

I've been in a very similar boat a few times now & we are health food freaks, DD didn't have ANY sweets until 2 & 1/2, even now rarely drinks sugary drinks, eats sweets etc & has an exceptionally healthy diet, & we've always watered down juice

yet she had a tooth out at 2 - on my birthday - one I'll never forget that for sure :( - & she has had 3 more out since, all under general at the childrens hospital - though only one at a time, so a bit different to your situation

She has been fine every time & up & about & eating soft foods normally within a few days - at 7 & this time round at 9 she was back to school the next day, she wanted too, though I was on hand to pick her up if she couldn't cope - she coped fine

the hardest part was getting her to do the salt water rinses - a bit of a battle, but she did it after much cajoling, it healed quickly & she was able to eat normally after 3 days - her School friend, who had 7 out seemed to have a similar experience, though he was off School for 2 days - follow the hospitals advice on that & let them go back sooner if they seem ready

Our Dentist tells us that some kids just have weaker teeth & sadly DD is one of them, we've friends whose kids eat sweets day in & day out, all 3 of them, & none have ever needed a filling or tooth out -

I've a good friend who works in alternative medicine, specialising in babies & children & she reckons that Mums who are under stress during pregnancy tend to have kids with weak teeth enamel - fits me as I was working in a very full on career, moving cities & much more at the time & it also fits the other MMum I know in RL whose DCs have had the same problem, so interesting

Good luck, it will be over before you know it, just stock up on pain killers, kiddie ibruprophen & a small heat pad, DD found that very soothing to hold to her face
XX

Should have added - DD uses one of those Sonic tooth brushes now & its fantastic, we always check her teeth for her after cleaning & we never haver to help her now she uses that - we've all got them & they are brilliant :)

PS one more thing - if you have a drive home afterwards, have someone sit in the back with her & be ready with a sick bucket, baby wipes & kitchen roll - we used DDs sand pit one lined with a bag - she was sick on 2 occasions on the way home after the anesthetic, but she can tend to get travel sick too, so may just have been that, but wont harm to be prepared

Ah....my DD certainly didn't eat as many sweets as some DC we kknow rockin so maybe that's why! We also eat agood diet! Am looking into sonic toothbrushes now!

My DS had 7 teeth out when his was 5 due to the same problems as your DD. I was able to go into the operating room whilst they put my DS under, which can be quite upsetting to watch. I did shed a tear.... It took them less then 15mins, and DS woke up very upset (he's terrified of blood). Be prepared for quite a lot if blood and the smell of healing blood. You won't be able to brush your DDs teeth or gums for at least a few days. Food will be difficult, I remember having to feed my DS shop brought toddler food and lukewarm soup. My DS is almost 9 now and some of the teeth still haven't grown back! He also had trouble pronouncing some words due to lack of teeth! Hope this helps.

Thankyou to all who replied. Still bricking it for tomorrow!DD doesn't travel well so I will pack the sick bucket! DP is driving back and I'll be sitting with her in the back seat. Not planning on being able to do much more tomorrow evening than sitting with her on my knee as she is a cuddly little bundle even when she is feeling well, so I expect a litlle bit of clinginess.

I'll see what the hospital says about time off. Is tricky because as a teacher myself I can't book holidays for events like this....will have a word with DP and see what he can do.

Thanks again.

Stock up on loads of soup!

She might well vomit, and it's likely that the first few times she's sick it will be blood that she's swallowed. Take something like brown paper bags for her to vomit into that you can drop straight into a black bin bag or the sight might scare her a bit (if she's that 'awake', she'll probably be dopey for a while).

If they don't give you any mouthwash, put a blob of toothpaste in a bottle with some water and shake it up well - she can swish her mouth to get rid of the horrible taste.

Poor thing. I had bad teeth as a child and had 9 out when I was 7 years old. Some children are just born with horrible weak teeth and there's nothing you can do to 'save' them.

Glad to report that it went surprisingly well.
She was excited about the appointment (!), got a bit quiet on the way to the hospital, but was good, well behaved and sensible and not scared or particularly nervous or clingy.
She went to sleep with a gas mask easily and 10 mins later they were done. She didn't bleed too much either in the hospital or after. Just one small bleed when we got home and they had given us spare dressings for her to gently bite on. No vomiting either.

She was STARVING having breakfast at 7 then nothing else all day. She's more than made up for it now having had soup, yogurt, milk, jelly and ice cream. She got fed up of non-solid food and demanded a ham sandwich which was cut up into cm squares which she managed well.

OH has the next two days off to look after her, but I wouldn't be too surprised to see her back at school on wednesday.

Thanks again for all the advice. I didn't need all the stuff I'd packed to take, but felt prepared by having it with me.