A friend of mine told me that her dentist wanted to perform a root canal on her daughter. Her daughter is 5 years old. The little girl had a toothache and saw the dentist and found out she had a cavity. Upon taking the x-ray of her tooth (which took the Dental Assitant an hour to get because the little girl couldn't stop gagging with the film in her mouth) the dentist said she needed a pulputomy. At five years old, this is her baby teeth which will eventually fall out and be replaced with the adult teeth.
I have never heard of these newer procedures being done on such young children, so naturally I googled it. What I read was startling as some of the youngest victims of this horrific procedure are being performed on two-year olds! Are they kidding me?!
The following day, a pediatric specialist was consulted and again they tried to get another xray since the copy was too blurry for him to agree with the dentist. Unfortunately, they were not able to get a picture of the tooth since she kept gagging and crying. So, immediately, they wanted to give her an injection so they can "hurry up" and do the procedure. They held her down and the little girl cried and scream during the injection and finally her mother said, "enough", and told them to stop as she was overwhelmed with emotions for her child. The mother couldn't take it anymore either, and she left.
It makes me angry to think that little children have to go through this procedure. I had a few root canals done myself, and I couldn't stand all the pain, the time it takes, the money, the shots! And I was in my teens when I had the 1st root canal done.
When did dentists/specialists start doing these procedures on very young children anyways? Who oversees the guidelines? Not only that, but they are putting kids to sleep (by anesthesia), giving them Valium to help them relax, or laughing gas, so that they can do this horrific procedure.
Are compassionate dentists and dental specialists out there who are against doing these procedures on our young children? If so, please advertise that fact so that parents are aware and can easily seek your services. I'm sure there are safer and gentler alternatives.
I am shocked that a dentist would consider such a procedure, even more so on a baby tooth. What a waste of time and money, not to mention the trauma for the child!! Jen.
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