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We have recently had to deal with some cavities in my brother's teeth (he's 29 mths old). I thought I'd post what we did in case it can help others.
My brother has had some recent teeth problems (cavities - the teeth came in bad) that we have had to deal with, so this is what we've done.
I don't know if you guys remember or not, but a few months ago I posted asking about different dental questions and ways to naturally take care of a cavity. We also asked my brother's doctor if there were any precautions or things we should be aware of when he had dental work done. Well, it took us about 4 months to FINALLY get into a doctors office who would see my brother. The dental office that we have (which is covered by our insurance) won't see my brother (because he's 2 and he has DS). So, I called all the different pediatric dentists and no one would consider seeing him because of his DS. One office said they would send him down to USC hospital to have these cavities filled. Another office wouldn't let us come back into the room with him (uh, he's 2, he would freak out if one of us wasn't with him!). We called with specific things we wanted done - we did NOT want him to have to be put under (he has never had to be put under, and we didn't want to have to do that now), and we had to be back in the room (so we could hold him!). I finally found one office who would consider seeing him on our stipulations.
This dentist is an older man and has been a dentist for a long time. He has worked with a good amount of individuals with DS. He was telling us about different patients he had with DS and such. He is a really cool and easy going doctor. He had my mom hold my brother on her lap and the doc just leaned him back into his lap and looked at his mouth to see the teeth that had problems. We had wanted the teeth pulled, but then he said that wouldn't be good since it would mess up with the spacing in his mouth (he is missing two of the front teeth [the 3rd from the middle tooth on each side] anyways). So, he said he could put caps on his teeth that had the cavities.
What he does when he does the work is he puts the baby in what they call a "baby papoose." It is basically a restraint that they lay the baby in and they can't move. He does good work and he works really fast. My brother had a cavity on the first molar on his top on each side. He does one side at a time. My brother had his first side done a few weeks ago and is due to have the other side done the end of the month. It was nice to finally have a dentist who was so calm, laid back and did quick and good work. This dentist doesn't take our insurance, but it is well worth it to finally get his teeth taken care of!
It's been such a hassle finding a dentist. One thing the dentist said is, he uses the papoose while they are little, as he doesn't like to have to put them under either. Once their older, there's no putting them in the papoose. He makes friends with them as they get older and normally they end up being okay to work with.
I don't know if you guys remember or not, but a few months ago I posted asking about different dental questions and ways to naturally take care of a cavity. We also asked my brother's doctor if there were any precautions or things we should be aware of when he had dental work done. Well, it took us about 4 months to FINALLY get into a doctors office who would see my brother. The dental office that we have (which is covered by our insurance) won't see my brother (because he's 2 and he has DS). So, I called all the different pediatric dentists and no one would consider seeing him because of his DS. One office said they would send him down to USC hospital to have these cavities filled. Another office wouldn't let us come back into the room with him (uh, he's 2, he would freak out if one of us wasn't with him!). We called with specific things we wanted done - we did NOT want him to have to be put under (he has never had to be put under, and we didn't want to have to do that now), and we had to be back in the room (so we could hold him!). I finally found one office who would consider seeing him on our stipulations.
This dentist is an older man and has been a dentist for a long time. He has worked with a good amount of individuals with DS. He was telling us about different patients he had with DS and such. He is a really cool and easy going doctor. He had my mom hold my brother on her lap and the doc just leaned him back into his lap and looked at his mouth to see the teeth that had problems. We had wanted the teeth pulled, but then he said that wouldn't be good since it would mess up with the spacing in his mouth (he is missing two of the front teeth [the 3rd from the middle tooth on each side] anyways). So, he said he could put caps on his teeth that had the cavities.
What he does when he does the work is he puts the baby in what they call a "baby papoose." It is basically a restraint that they lay the baby in and they can't move. He does good work and he works really fast. My brother had a cavity on the first molar on his top on each side. He does one side at a time. My brother had his first side done a few weeks ago and is due to have the other side done the end of the month. It was nice to finally have a dentist who was so calm, laid back and did quick and good work. This dentist doesn't take our insurance, but it is well worth it to finally get his teeth taken care of!
It's been such a hassle finding a dentist. One thing the dentist said is, he uses the papoose while they are little, as he doesn't like to have to put them under either. Once their older, there's no putting them in the papoose. He makes friends with them as they get older and normally they end up being okay to work with.
