The Dentist and the Kids

So, my older children had their bi-annual dentist cleanings yesterday afternoon, and the dentist found two (!) in-between-the-teeth cavities in my 7 year-old son. Apparently I am supposed to be flossing my son’s teeth – somehow I missed this, which makes me feel quite negligent, although I don’t remember flossing MY teeth at the age of 7 and I never had these problems! In any case, my son also had a regular cavity in his molar a couple of years ago, so this is his third – and he is only 7! I’m hoping to avoid future cavities because they are expensive, not to mention unhealthy, and as my dentist told me yesterday, I’m hoping that “an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure” 🙂

So, here are my questions:

1) When your children need to get cavities drilled and filled, do you use nitrous oxide to relax them before the novocain shot and drilling begin? My dentist is not a pediatric dentist, and seems quite hesitant to work without the nitrous oxide – he’s worried that the child will squirm and that the novocain shot will be misplaced, and that the drilling will be impossible. I’ve gone with the nitrous oxide option these past couple of times, first because I’m not able to help the dentist hold my son down while watching the two younger children, and second, because I don’t want my son to be deathly afraid of the dentist. However, part of me wants to go without the nitrous oxide – having a cavity filled should be somewhat unpleasant, right? Perhaps good motivation to do some excellent flossing and brushing in the future?

2) How much/often do you help your children with brushing? I still try to brush my children’s teeth in the evening, and will now be helping with flossing as well, but my 3 year-old especially wants to do it herself. Should I have them lie down so that I can floss and brush really well, at least a couple of times a week? This is what my dentist suggests, by the way.

God bless you all on this Tuesday morning! Happy brushing and flossing 🙂