After being to the dentist my 5 year old has been found to have a couple of holes forming. We have been given the choice of getting fillings or using the hall technique which is a crown put over the tooth.
My husband wants to put the crown on as he remembers getting fillings as being really painful and traumatic. Aesthetically the crowns don’t look great though. The dentist also mentioned anaesthetic if we go with fillings which husband is also not keen on. I was juggling 3 kids in there and didn’t get a chance to ask many questions. I only got a few fillings as a kid but don’t remember them being that bad. I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice or opinions on the two options. Are fillings really that traumatising to get?
5 Replies
As an adult, I find the worst part of getting fillings is the needle for the local anaesthetic. Once your numb you don’t feel much at all. There should be a numbing cream that can be rubbed onto the gums before the local anaesthetic needle (I know there is definitely a cream that can be used to numb before IV insertion or blood tests, so would assume there is something similar for the gums). Perhaps you and hubby need both write out a list of questions or concerns you have, book another appointment and leave the other kids at home with hubby so that you can focus on the child needing treatment and get the answers you need. Also, when you decide on the treatment plan, leave the other kids at home with hubby. I would think it would be more traumatising to not have mum’s (or dad’s) sole attention while the treatment is being carried out, than the actual treatment itself. Plus go to a paediatric dentist! They deal solely with children so would have plenty of tips and strategies to make it less traumatising.
Thanks heaps for your reply. Will absolutely leave the other kids at home when we do treatment - they were only all there because they all had checkups. Hubby doesn’t do well with needles or the kids being hurt/sick/in pain so I always feel like I’m second guessing myself when he asks me a heap of questions that I don’t know the answers to. Unfortunately we live rurally so are very limited in where we can go.
No, my son has had multiple fillings from the age of 5 onwards.
A good dentist these days doesn’t tell the child their is a needle. They say it’s “sleepy juice” and will sting for a tiny bit and then the gum will go to sleep.
I sit right beside my son and look positive and happy- not to feed into his worries and they don’t bring the needle up by the child’s face.
It was done so discretely that it wasn’t until he was 11 he realised they used a needle 😂
It worked so well, he would say I hate the sleepy juice! But thinking it was just a stingy cream was something he could cope with.
Anyway, maybe talk with your dentist , see what they do and go along alone with your son. Make it a positive experience and hopefully dentist work from there on will be a good thing in his mind.
Thank you so much for your reply. I’ve decided to do fillings and leave hubby home because I think he’ll cause anxiety for everyone!
You need to talk to your husband and tell he needs to get control of his own fears and anxiety, the kids will pick up and then fear the dentist.
Fillings are not that bad and I personally prefer those over crowns.