Bombed out Kids Teeth

[Althingsdentist]

Has anyone been to the operating room to treat dental caries in kids? If so, what are your experiences?


I was in the OR today with our Pedo Mentor Dr. "and Again". We treated a couple of kids under general anesthesia. These kids had previously failed nitrous oxide and cocktail (Versed, Hydroxizine, Demerol) sedation....and now....were going to the OR. Imagine the monetary cost and the potential for life changing events while under general anesthesia. All solved by a $2 brush and $3 tube of toothpaste. If you could have only seen the anesthesia induction process and the awakening process. That even scared me to brush my kids teeth even more frantically. Sad. Truly sad. I've got some photos of the bombed teeth if you'd like to see them and use them to change parents' minds....although...they probably won't work - but it's worth a try.


Cheers

Ashley

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[Streetwolf]

Actually you might be surprised by the financial part. I think these fall under the realm of "medical" and many of these patients are actually able to go through with it without much trouble. At least that's what I was told during school.

I've been in a couple OR cases involving bombed out children's teeth. Yes it's sad that it's come to this. It's likely the parent has very little knowledge about oral health (including diet) and they haven't brought their child to a dentist in quite some time. It's possible the child is in the OR because of a developmental disorder or they just won't accept any other behavior modification technique.

Yes there's a risk to put a patient under GA but the benefits here are that the child won't remember it, they need one appointment for everything, and it's much easier on the provider than working on that child while they are awake.

Most cases I've seen are some combination of restorative, pulp-crowns, and exos (and prophy/fluoride). Yeah... that's pretty much peds in a nutshell.

As always, patient/parent education is key. When a DENTAL appointment needs to head to the OR because of the amount of caries, it's really a wake-up call to the parents. Hopefully they get the hint.