I have a five year old son and it goes without saying that I love him a lot. Last week in his school he had a general health checkup done and his teacher sent us a note saying he has cavities in his tooth(s). We were surprised, and as any other parent we dismissed this as a poor job by the school. My son is allergic to food in general and every meal is a 1 hour ordeal with him. He doesn't like Ice-Creams or sweets, and it is rare for him to eat even chocolates or cream biscuits. So we thought there was little chance for him to get cavities.
Anyway we took him for a visit to our near-by dentist, who diagnosed that he has 8 cavities (one per tooth) and out of which two were more deeper than the rest. Since these are Milk Tooths we assumed we can leave this as it is and they will fall themselves. The dentist educated us on both our misunderstandings:
- Kids don't need to eat Chocolates or Ice-Creams a lot for getting cavities - just eating rice, breads or biscuits and not cleaning / brushing properly can do equal damage as chocolates. And not chewing properly can also contribute to damage - my son is certainly guilty of this, which we too kept supporting by making rice mashed and easier for him to swallow.
- Milk Tooths especially Molar teeth(s) will fall the last and can be there till 11 or 12 years. In my son's case, the deeper cavities are in Molar teeths and any time now he may start getting to feel pain and filling after that will be more painful for him. The dentist will have to administer an injection in the gums and do the root canal. I was feeling worried for next few days on how my son will cope with this injection.
The first three visits went easy with the dentist doing the easier fillings, two tooths per visit and my son cooperated very well with the doctor. The junior doctor made it interesting for my son, by showing the drilled dusts as "Germs" and telling that she was shooting the germs with water & then filling the gaps with white colour "Cement". The last sitting when the dentist injected him and did the root canal, my son cried a bit which we managed. After the treatment he is feeling fine now. After two weeks we have to go again for the permanent filling for the last two tooths.
Myself and my wife now realize it is our responsibility to teach our son to eat properly and brush his teeth regularly!