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Parenting

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Original poster

Ds ( aged 7) having a filling at the dentist - can anyone give me an idea of what will happen?

40 replies

lisalisa · 13/01/2007 21:34

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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christie1 · 13/01/2007 21:52

my dd had a filling at 6. The dentist was excellent and a real kid person (she had her own kids ) so she knew how to deal with kids. also, I had been takng dd since she was about 4 for yearly check ups so she was comfortable with her. She did numb the area. It depends on whether you are comfortable with this dentist. If you don't know him well, I would go to friends for a recommendation of who their kdis use. Some dentist are not so good. My DD found parts of it uncomfortable but not painful. I had fillings as a kid and was completely traumatized and avoided dentists for years. Really, the dentist should go over everything with your ds and I wouldn't leave the room. If he doesn't explain things before he does them, I would leave and get another dentist.

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lisalisa · 13/01/2007 21:53

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LIZS · 13/01/2007 21:59

Pretty sure ds had a small injection , think they put some gel on the site first so it wasn't too painful and only very light local anaesthetic. The drill was described as "the man on a motor bike" - it is the noise and sensation which is scary rather than the filling . Then they apply the filling material and smooth it off.

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DumbledoresGirl · 13/01/2007 22:00

lisalisa, I had filings as a child and was so traumatised i avoided dentists for years as an adult. I now know I have a very low pain threshold.

None of my children have needed a filling yet, but I would insist on some pain relief for them personally.

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lisalisa · 13/01/2007 22:04

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JanH · 13/01/2007 22:08

Which tooth is it, lisalisa? As he's 7, the tooth's roots/nerves won't go down very far any more, because the adult tooth will be growing up underneath, unless it's one of his 6-year-old molars that has just started growing?

JanH · 13/01/2007 22:09

Also there is no need for the dentist to go overboard drilling out a huge hole to make the filling last, because the tooth will be coming out soon (unless etc etc) so it will only be a temp filling really.

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lisalisa · 13/01/2007 22:12

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gegs73 · 13/01/2007 22:15

I remember having a number of fillings as a young child and they never hurt and I never had any pain relief until I had fillings as an adult. I used to go in there smiling and laughing, open up wide then get my sticker. He always used to see how nice it was to see a happy face and I used to love going to the dentist.

BTW as an adult I only have 2 fillings both with pain relief, but roots go down alot further. I'm pretty sure that your ds will feel no pain if the dentist says nothing is needed. Might feel abit odd with the vibration of the drill but won't hurt.

JanH · 13/01/2007 22:17

When their baby teeth fall out there is virtually no root left - I've no idea where it goes, but the tooth generally comes out as a tiny cube! (May have the remnants of one root sticking up)

DS2 had his baby canines extracted early (to make room for huge second teeth and then orthodontics) and those had noticeably wide and long roots - the extraction was painful because the roots were wider than the tooth. My other children's canines just fell out when they were ready. So your DS's tooth may be half-way to the falling out stage, semi-rootless and not sensitive (unless it's a 6-yr-old molar of course...fingers crossed it isn't!)

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lisalisa · 13/01/2007 22:20

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JanH · 13/01/2007 22:27

At 7 the 6-yr-old molars would be the very back teeth - they have 2 incisors each side, 1 canine, 1 pre-molar and 1 molar - 20 baby teeth altogether - and then they get the 6-yr-old molars, which are the first permanent teeth. (The pre-molars have 2 little points on top, the molars have 4)

Behind the incisors - baby or adult - he hould now have canine, pre-molar, baby molar, adult molar, in each quarter of his mouth - go andhave a look (never mind if it wakes him up )

If it's not one of the very back teeth it should be OK with no pain relief.

DumbledoresGirl · 13/01/2007 22:28

Did you notice how the tooth was described? I have noticed that our dentist counts my children's milk teeth 1,2,3,etc, but the adult teeth they have are referred to as letters of the alphabet.

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lisalisa · 14/01/2007 23:12

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sandcastles · 14/01/2007 23:27

The root of baby teeth absorbe as the adult teeth start to push up. They still have nerves tho. They will still fell pain.

Before I read your post about the hole being large, I was thinking that maybe it could be a tiny hole, that wouldn't require LA. Small holes are uaually easy to treat without.

Not seeing the hole & tooth then it is hard to say for sure, but I find it quite incrediable that it is a large hole & she thinks no LA is required.

JanH · 15/01/2007 10:55

Four children with lots of teeth that have had to be extracted, lisalisa (all for orthodontics so I've received lots of little brown pots with little white teeth-with-roots in)

JanH · 15/01/2007 10:57

(I think sandcastles is a dentist though!)

stleger · 15/01/2007 11:29

The gel before injections is the business! I have had far too much dental treatment, but the gel means you don't feel the needle if that helps needle phobics.

sandcastles · 15/01/2007 11:44

JanH - I wish!

A mere dental nurse!

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lisalisa · 15/01/2007 12:37

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JanH · 15/01/2007 13:05

Injections do hurt - I've usually needed 3 or 4 quite deeply around the tooth concerned though, and have never had one with the numbing gel. DS2 has always found the pre-extraction injections excruciating (his toes pull up and wiggle frantically ) and also he subsequently plays with the numb lip and it swells up to add to his joy when the injection wears off.

Maybe agree with the dentist that he can start to drill without LA, but if DS feels any pain he can have an injection after all and wait for it to take effect before going on?

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lisalisa · 15/01/2007 13:07

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Ladymuck · 15/01/2007 13:10

Ds1 (nearly 6) recently had 3 teeth drilled and filled without injection - they were fairly large holes (the local community dentist wanted to extract them). It really depends on the skill of kid-proof nature of the dentist. We tried it with one dentist and ds1 wouldn't even countenance the injection.

I would follow the dentists lead - it will be obvious if it is not working and your dentist will do this more often that you will see it.

Ds1 came out giggling from his experience by the way - a total difference from when a dentist tried to numb him (he really didn't like the feeling at all).

Ladymuck · 15/01/2007 13:12

Lisa - the gel is to numb the site of the injection. The gel alone won't do anything for thwe tooth, but it is to lessen the pain fothe injection (which is itself quite painful).

A skilful dentist will be able to drill the tooth with less pain than is involved in the injection.

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lisalisa · 15/01/2007 13:20

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