Baby teeth extractions

[wurlycurly]

My 5 year old dd has a badly decayed molar. The dentist told me the tooth needs to come out, and its opposite tooth needs to come out to balance it. I was very shocked as at the last check-up there was no sign of decay and she has a pretty good diet and is very good at brushing her teeth.
As far as I could tell (my dd was there when the dentist explained this to me so the language used was very light and fluffy) this will be done under local anaesthetic. I am really worried about how my little girl will cope. How does the process work and roughly how long does it take? How well have your tinies coped with similar treatment?

It sounds minor. I have a mate who's 2 kids both had loads of teeth pulled out under general because of decay.
When you say that she is pretty good at brushing her teeth how do you know? Do you check?
My youngest spends ages brushing but with minimal result. I check both my kids teeth regularly with a torch. It's amazing how an area can be overlooked for ages. I have no experience with tooth extraction of milk teeth but just remember that they are rootless so should be quite quick.

My advice to you in future- electric toothbrush, disclosing tablets and a torch. Good luck;-)

What gualsa said. I think the right age to stop checking is the same age you let them wash their own hair without any help.

DD was 4 when she had to have 2 teeth that had broken off removed. She wanted the injection (as opposed to gas) so I got her to look at me while the needle went in. She was fine amazingly. The dentist put local anaesthetic on the gum first. It was me that was petrified!

Thanks for the replies. Dd now has an electric toothbrush and a timer and I am paying a close eye to the brushing. I was too lax before: I just let her get on with it and gave her teeth a good brush every few days myself. I completely missed the decay. It was tucked away at the back between two teeth at the top. She has now had the extraction. It was awful. The tooth had pretty big roots and dd was terrified by the pulling. The dentist now says given how traumatic she found it she will leave the healthy tooth opposite in.