Mikeila's Trip at the Dentist

I wanted to share what I learned from Mikeila's dentist yesterday. We went to the  Pediatric Dentistry Center of the Philippines along Banawe Ave to have her teeth checked. Mikeila unfortunately was diagnosed with tooth decay on several of her teeth. This maybe the reason why she has poor appetite lately. It can also leave to swelling and infections when left untreated.

We were given 2 options by Dra. Lopez. To take the teeth out and wait for the permanent teeth to come in or to treat the pulp of her teeth and hold on to it as much as we could. This treatment is called pulpotomy or root canal for kids.

We have to weigh the pros and cons of the two options before deciding:

• Baby teeth holds the space for the permanent teeth so taking the tooth out especially the molar can cause crowding once the permanent teeth comes in.  
• Baby teeth will be replaced starting age 7 to 11. Mikeila is only 2. Those years without teeth may affect the kid's self esteem once she goes to school.
• On the other hand,  having a pulp treatment can save her teeth for many years but she needs to be sedated in order that she would not feel the pain of the operation. The dentist said that this is completely safe but we still have our apprehensions because the baby will feel nauseated and groggy the whole day of the operation.

After discussing with hubby Raffy, we decided to take the pulp treatment since saving her teeth is more important to us. The doctor reminded us that even after the treatment, it is still important to change our routine so as to prevent the damage from coming back.

Here are the tips our dentist taught us to prevent tooth decay from coming back.

• Always brush your kid's teeth before going to bed using a toothpaste with 1,000ppm of flouride. Colgate and Floucaril are the brands we use. Do not gargle with water so that the teeth will be left protected with flouride.
• Make sure not to give them milk after brushing. Now this is where our mistake is. We always brush Mikeila's teeth, but we can't resist to give her milk if she asks for it. The milk residue will stay at their teeth the whole night thus causing tooth decay. What we do now is we give her milk before brushing so that she won't ask for it after
• If she eats cookies, candies as snacks, make sure to give her lots of water after in order to wash out the sugar from this treats.
• Always visit your trusted pedia dentist regularly to have your kid's teeth checked. You may start when she reached one year old. You may check out Dra. Fina Lopez of the Pediatric Dentistry Center of the Philippines (see contact details below). She's so nice and was able to explain everything to us.

There you go. Hope these tips will help you prevent your kids from having tooth decay and not suffer what Mikeila's undergoing right now. I hope her treatment will run smoothly and we'll have her teeth healthy again. Will let you know her progress soon.

Pediatric Dentistry Center of the Philippines
5/F Medical Arts Building
Dr. Fe Del Mundo Medical Center
11 Banawe cor Cardiz Sts., Quezon City
Tel # 740-7728
Website: http://www.pediatricdentistry.com.ph
Email: info@pediatricdentistry.com.ph