I hate P's %#$&! dental insurance. When he signed up for it, well before he and I ever met, it suited him. It's a "pre-paid" plan, which means it never costs us anything, no matter what the service is. Trouble is, there are very few dentists that accept it, and the insurance company thinks they know what people need to have done and how it should be done better than the dentists do.
So when I quit working full time, I lost my benefits. Not a problem, as B and I were also covered under P's benefits. But the dental insurance....ugh. I'm happy that we at least have a great dentist. I wasn't happy about having to give up the dentist I'd been seeing for years, but I had to, so begrudgingly I did. Turns out he's a terrific dentist. EXCEPT that he wouldn't take children under four years old. No exceptions. Which meant we couldn't take B in for her first check up until she turned four. And we couldn't take her to another dentist because the #!%&#@ insurance company wouldn't pay for it.
We thought we were doing a good job keeping B's teeth clean. We brush them, floss them even. But she got a cavity way in the back on one of her baby molars about 6 months ago (that was when I noticed it) and between that time and the time we could take her to the dentist, it got steadily worse. She never complained about it, but according to the dentist, it goes down very deep and affects the whole inside of the tooth.
Que the deep feelings of guilt and anger at myself for being a rotten parent and letting my child's teeth rot in her mouth.
So after her first check up, Dr. I-don't-see-toddlers gave us a referral to a pediatric dentist, whom I took her to see today. In three weeks we have an appointment in which they'll give her three different medications in an attempt to sedate her into submission, at which time they'll perform a baby root-canal on her molar, and top it all off with a stainless steel crown. I am somewhat beside myself over this.
And she lectured me about not brushing B's teeth properly or for long enough. Hey, I thought I was doing it right. Apparently I wasn't. Lessons commenced. I paid careful attention, and couldn't help but notice that the way I did it at home was pretty darn similar to the way she was showing me to do it here at the office. The biggest difference now? We've got a little two minute timer, and we don't stop until the timer says we can.
Oh, Dr. I-Only-See-Children was very pleasant and professional, but I could sense her disdain for how I'd handled my child's oral hygiene up to this point. And I too, felt like a failure. As a parent, guardian, protector, tooth cleaner. How could I have let this happen to my baby? Well, the realization hit me like a lightening bolt. It wasn't just ME. P has tooth brushing duty at least half the time, so I could reasonably lay at least half, if not more, of the blame on him. Unfortunately, he was not present for this scolding, so I was forced to relay the Good Doctor's message to him when he got home from work. And I laid it on thick. HE wasn't taking enough time. HE wasn't concentrating on the gumline! HE didn't wiggle the floss in just right. Oh, yes, HE had caused our daughter's tooth decay!
Well, maybe I didn't lay it on quite *that* thick.
So here's the story. No more sticky fruit rollups, or gummy candy. No more candy at all, really. Just special occasions. No more chocolate milk (that one's gonna destroy her). In a nutshell, the sugar has got to be cut out of this kid's diet. Since we are obviously inept at cleaning her little teeth, changing her diet is our only hope.
Oh, and the thumb sucking. It's got to stop. It simply has to. There's a device we can buy called a Thumb Guard. It's supposed to really work. It's $70. Ouch. I'm going to order one tomorrow.
Fear was struck into our hearts by this pediatric dentist, all right. The weird thing is, I liked her. She was a straight shooter. I didn't like hearing (imagining) I was a loser parent for letting my child's teeth disintegrate or for allowing her to ruin her facial features and destroy her jawline and palate and teeth by sucking her thumb, but hey, I needed to hear it. I guess.
I'm just glad it's her baby teeth. When her permanent teeth come in, it will be a different story, let me tell you. Every single new tooth she gets will be SEALED. You better believe it.
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