Fillings

Hi J.,
Please read the advice I've written for other moms in the dental section of the advice menu. On the mercury amalgam label there is a warning: Do not use in children under 6. That is because mercury is a neurotoxin and endocrine disruptor. We now know that mercury causes most of our modern health ailments since it's inception in dentistry 170 years ago. MERCURY is the main component in "silver" dental fillings. It should not be implanted in teeth at any age.
-J.
New Mexico Dental Amalgam Mercury Solutions, Inc.

I have never had dental work done on my children that young, but would offer two ideas to think about. First get a second opinion. Maybe from a ped dentist if that is not where you already go. Just because one dentist thinks he needs all of this work doesn't meen it has to be that extreme. Secondly, do you think he is in a lot of pain right now? I had a friend that was in constant pain with his teeth. He had a root canal to aleviate the pain. Hope these thoughts help you with your tough decision. Good luck and God Bless!!
~C.~

My 3 year old just had fillings by a fantastic pediatric dentist in Tucson. Let me know if you need a referral. She is a mom of 3 small kids herself and I trust her judgement.

My 5 son had a baby root canal and a cap and two fillings. He did very well. When he was three he had two fillings. I recommend your son go to a place that specialize in working with kids it makes a major difference. The environment will make it more pleasant. Mine went to the General Denistry for Kids . They have tv screens in the ceiling and a rewards room when they are done. They sediated him 30 minutes prior to the appointment then he went back I watched the whole thing and now he braggs about his silver tooth.

I try to read all the things the women on her ask but i can not really relate to some even though i am a mother to 3 children. My oldest is 6 we had to have lots of dental work done but since she was so young when she got maybe 4 y.o. at the most the dental team suggested to put her to sleep so that when does have to come back to the dentist she would not hate them. So that is what we did I was scared to death just because they were putting her to sleep and i could not be right there the entire time but i do think it was for the best now she has had to go in and get a spacer put in since one of her fillings broke but even that she only got upset when they were making the frame but i am also a military spouse so im not sure if you could have your son put to sleep but if you can and he needs to have work done i would put him to sleep. also you are his mom you will do what is best for him hope it all works out ok and also i remind my little girl that next time they wont put her to sleep that she will have to feel some of it so she brushes her teeth really good ( also on a bad note about being put to sleep when she woke up she wanted my mom and not me which they are close since we lived right by them and lived with them until she was 3 and it seems so hard when they start to wake up because they cant feel their mouth but i think this way was better)

Hi J.,

My daughter is 4 and she just had her 1st filling. It was about the size of a sesame seed on her back molar. They gave her some funny gas to make her relax before they gave her the numbing shot. It wasn't the funnest experience, but it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was going to be. I don't know about the root canal though. That seems like a lot so I agree with the second opinion on that. I know that if the baby teeth get too messed up it can affect the permanent teeth underneath. Good luck.

K.

I would get a second opinion!!!! With our daughter who, was 3 at the time, we were told she needed a root canal in one back tooth and a filling in another and she also had cavities between her two front teeth, which we could see. Her front two teeth were basically dissappearing. The pediatric dentist (Hilger's Pediatric Dentistry - http://www.hilgerspedo.com/) we first took her to wanted to do it at Phoenix Children's Hospital and completely knock her out and it was going to cost us over $6000!!!!! INSANE!! We got a second opinion and it only cost us $300 total. The second dentist we went to (West Valley Pediatric Detistry- http://www.wvpd.com/) said there was nothing wrong with her back teeth. The only work she needed was on the two front teeth (which was obvious)and they sedated her in office. I personally think the other dentist was trying to justify doing it at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Get a second opinion, you will at least know if you child really needs all the work they are recommending!