Child's tooth needing a silver cap
My 2 year old had a visible cavity on her back molar that a well-liked pediatric Portland dentist declined to treat with a filling until she was 3 years old. Me only having one child and no experience with this, didn't think this was unusual at the time. Fast forward 6 months (she is still not 3) and this tooth has quickly gotten to the point of awful looking and rotten despite good daily dental hygeine. Now the same dentist says she needs a "mini-root canal" and a silver cap placed with IV sedation. Besides the issues here that I was told to wait until she was 3 and I am now questioning this dentist's lack of proactivity, my daughter is a very particular child (especially when it comes to anything visual... ie clothing colors, stickers, jewelry, hair bands) and will FREAK OUT with a silver cap on her tooth. I don't see this as something that she would easily adjust too.
Does anyone know of a good pediatric dentist that uses other alternatives besides silver caps in the Portland area? This dentist (who I won't name because she is very well liked, and I am sure she probably does good work), says I would have to go to Gresham to get something other than a silver cap and that all pediatric dentists in Portland will only use silver.
Cost is not an issue here. We have private dental insurance.
Dr Noel Larson DDS at http://www.pediatricdentistrypc.com/
we went with my 2 1/2 year old and 6 1/2 year old last week and we all liked her. I will go back in 6 months for a follow up with them.
I have tried 4 different Portland Pediatric dentists and found all of them a bit off (not sure how else to put it). I loved all of the techs who did the cleanings but the dentists themselves were just not with it and just odd and either uncomfortable or frazzled in some way that never made me feel like they really knew what they were doing. I was beginning to wonder if Malcolm Gladwell might need a new subject on weird personality types for another book. I am in the medical industry so I feel like I have a pretty high standard for who treats my kids and Dr. Larson just seemed like a normal down to earth woman who is good with kids, cares and seemed to be up on the more recent research regarding pediatric dentistry issues, including the watch and wait vs. treat issue that you described as happening to your little one. Plus, she was the only one with cool polka dotted toothbrushes!
Posted by: anna | February 15, 2013 at 08:12 PM
How traumatizing. Please let us know what you do!
Posted by: Megan | February 25, 2013 at 12:26 AM
World of Smiles Pediatric Dentristry in Beaverton is a very wonderful, mercury-FREE dentist office for children and parents! I took my son there to have a mercury filling removed and replaced with a non-mercury filling. The dentist ended up doing what I asked for in a way that I had not envisioned: since my son's back teeth had a lot of crevices that promote cavities (like many peopele's teeth), she filled them in to help prevent cavities. They did a wonderful job, it was my son's first time having laughing gas, and their office is so fun and inviting for kids that they love it there. You might want to check out their website at visitworldofsmiles.com. Good luck!
Posted by: Becky Mace Robinson | March 18, 2013 at 09:07 AM
If cosmetics are important to you for a primary tooth, we offer esthetic stainless steel crowns that have a white resin bonded over the metal. They do take longer to place but definitely look much more natural than the shiny crowns. Let us know if you'd like more information!
Dr. Yip
The Kids' Dentist in West Linn
Pediatric Dentistry
www.oregonkidsdentist.com
503-697-GRIN
Posted by: Dr.Yip | April 12, 2013 at 04:38 AM