5yr old been advised to have 8 teeth out

[Hungrycaterpillarsmummy]

Honestly I am in shock
We took DS to the dentist a couple of months ago because he told me his tooth/cheek hurt and I noticed a bit of one of his molars (D) had chipped. They did X rays and said that tooth definitely needs to be pulled. They did a check of his other teeth and found decay starting on some but didn't say much about it. They referred us to discuss the plan for this tooth to come out and whilst there, they told DH that really, ds needs 8 teeth removed. The 4 back teeth on the top and bottom.

I'm in shock because nothing of the sort was mentioned at his first appointment. Although they did find a hole on his left second molar (E) and it does look like that needs pulled.
Mh and DH had an appointment with the dentist today to discuss it all without da being there. Essentially the top 4 teeth on having starting signs of decay.
We have put so much more focus on teeth brushing, limiting sugar etc since the first appointment that I feel we can try and repair the damage caused to those 4 upper teeth.
The dentist is recommending we pull all 4 from the bottom which I do kind of agree with. But I'm not sure I agree with the top and the reason they are giving, is because they don't want to have to do a second general anaesthetic months down the line.
Whereas, I'm not convinced would need them out at all if we really focus on his teeth.
They did suggest we could cap those 4 upper teeth but that involves 8 appointments. One person tooth to put the elastic spacer on, and one person tooth to put a cap on it.

I suggested we pull the bottom 4 and monitor the top 4 but they said they just wouldn't pull the bottom 4 In that case! I'm so confused. It seems conflicting to the online advice of extraction being the absolute last resort and that filling teeth isn't an option. Whereas we have read baby teeth can be filled..

Anyone have any advice?
Please be kind as we are really feeling so guilty about it already.

Molars are going to fall out starting at age nine. However, if he is not in pain I don’t quite understand the emergency. Damaged milk teeth can fall out earlier than usual as well.

Why was he not been seen every 6 months?

This is not true. Decayed teeth don’t fall out quicker, just because they are decayed.

@neepsa I’m pretty sure they may.

I can only assume you are not a paediatric dentist, like I am 🤦🏼

I didn't just want to scroll and run.

DD is a lot older and had "chalky" molars as her first teeth. The NHS dentist used to paint them with some sort of fluoride.

DD was never one for fruit juice, but our dentist used to give her lectures about snacking, or rather NOT snacking! It is a constant attack on the enamel. Dried fruit would get stuck on the back teeth, so that would be even more of a problem.

It must be tricky to divert a sweet-toothed child to water, but it is worth persevering.

Because...life.
I work full time, so does DH. It's hard to fit appointments in to our schedule. Thanks..

He's actually doing quite well with water and milk at the moment. I've not offered any sort of juices and so far, no complaints thankfully!

I wasn't understanding the emergency either since he isn't in pain however, the one fairly bad tooth will very likely get an abscess so that has to come out ergo so do all the others.

@neepsa I mean, could I leave this another 3-6 months without removing it? Is it a dead cert that the tooth will get an abscess? He definitely isn't in any pain...he is quite a sensitive soul so I'd definitely know if he was.

I agree there is no huge rush right now, but you will most likely be waiting at least 4 months on any GA waiting list. If it does flare up, you will still be waiting 4 months, just with a little boy that’s now in pain and suffering.

No, not a certainty it will develop an abscess in the near future. But I assume there is pathology and infection underneath the tooth, hence the reason for the GA?

If nothing is done then waiting five years for natural exfoliation, yes, it will develop an Abcde’s - but that doesn’t matter. It’s the presence of infection around the tooth inside the gum.

Have you met NHS dentistry?

They haven't said it's infected yet just that there's decay almost to the nerve.
The appointment we got was made two weeks ago for the 3rd Dec. So doesn't seem too long although I appreciate if he was in pain that would seem a long time. However, no pain at the moment and hasn't had pain for 2 months or so. No idea why not!

Reading these comments, firstly please don’t feel guilty. Unfortunately with all the will in the world, diet and oral hygiene are just not the only factors in play. Genetics and medications, for example antibiotics or steroids taken during pregnancy play a role. I have 2 children both given the same diet and the same oral hygiene routine, one has never had a speck of decay or any dental problems whatsoever. The other has had 3 abscesses and has decay in all 4 corners of his mouth. The dentist advised there are so many factors outside of diet/hygiene, you couldn’t begin to pin point what the cause is, they are just the only things they can advise to try to help.
I also have a 5 year old that has been advised to have 8 teeth removed and after seeing the years of pain and miserable dental appointments my
other child has gone through, I will absolutely be going for it. They are baby teeth, they will fall
out anyway, there’s no ‘saving them’ in the long run. Kids are resilient and will manage with our help but trust me the stress and trauma you will be saving them in the long run (I’ve had to sit by while my 7 year old had a tooth pulled under LA with tears streaming down his face as they physically wrestled to get it out) when they won’t be able to have further GA’s to keep having more removed, for me is worth it.

Oof thanks for your post. We actually got a second opinion from my husband's dentist who has advised our son definitely needs two teeth out. Two can be capped and the 4 on top should reminerelise as it's not through to the dentin yet.

We were concerned about having all these teeth being pulled and then having issues with the adult teeth coming in - there's a concern they can't be guided in so will come in all wonky and then need years of orthodontics.

So our son is meant to have one tooth pulled locally next week! Reading your post has made me so worried

Oh I’m so sorry I didn’t realise he was going to have any out via LA or I wouldn’t have frightened you! I really hope his is easier to remove, my son’s had such a long root it was a real battle and I went into it very naively, he is also a sensitive child. I was just trying to give another viewpoint that sometimes having all affected ones removed under GA can be better than lots of LA extractions in the long run (especially being the other side of things as we’ve had 2 now with more likely to come)
There is definitely a concern they will need braces when they’re older but for me that’s a risk I’m happy to take if it avoids the years of heartache we’ve had trying to avoid having lots removed.
I’m really glad you’ve found a solution for the time being and wish you all the best

Well that's the thing! We do still have the appointment for the GA to have all 8 out. But we really wanted to avoid it so we will see how he is with the LA. If he doesn't cope I think they will just stop. The dentist also said we could have has and air at another place.
The dentist told us it should just be a couple of minutes to wobble it out and that he would put a load of numbing gel on first and then do the injection. He will also get one cap on a tooth so we have already tried to spin it as him getting "iron man teeth". But yeh, my son is super sensitive too so I'm not holding out much hope for him getting through it.

We are still waiting for an appointment, so can’t suggest anything helpful. Here is a map of how teeth develop (average). I believe it’s pretty universal, but can be +/- 1.5 years off.

Just wondering how you are getting on with your son now. Have you had the GA appointment to have teeth removed?

Hi, I want to ask you did your child took out all 8 teeth in GA? How did it went?Thanks

Hi! Gosh I have missed some posts here and this all seems like so long ago.

In the end we took him to my husband's dentist who was so good with my son. He had 2 teeth removed just with mouth numbing (what a superstar!) and had 2 teeth capped with a metal cover. So far so good. No new decay. No other teeth needed removed. So NHS wanted to remove 8. Private removed 2 - can you believe that?

Please take heed. The NHS will want to whip out every single tooth that even has miniscule decay. I'm so glad we sought further advice and my son avoided a GA and multiple teeth loss!