We’ve been slowly trying to tick off the to do list… dentist, eye doctor, public health nurse for vaccines, Â attachment counsellor, notary for name change, etc. etc. There are a lot of professionals you need to see when you get home with kids from a different country!
- Sugar getting flossed.
So last week I had my tooth fixed and the girls came along (with daddy) and watched the dentist do it. They rode up and down on the chair and got stickers. And a couple days ago they went for their fluoride treatments. We figured we should get them into the dentist in the next month or so, but this would help in the meanwhile. Well, after a look around their mouths the dental hygienist spotted 1 big cavity in Spice’s mouth, plus some discolourations, as well as three cavities in Sugar’s mouth. Yikes. She suggested a pediatric dentist who has hospital rights so he can put them under to do the filling. Wowsers.
Getting the brushing demo.
Anyway, I also learned that we are supposed to brush the kids’ teeth at least once a day until they can write themselves. Things that are news to new parents. I mean, they brush twice a day and we were doing spot checks every couple of days, but not every day. However, most probably the kids developed the cavities long before we came around. There was a post about this on a discussion group the other day, and I suppose we’re lucky they just have the four cavities! And thank goodness for dental coverage….
PS: you can tell by the hats it was braiding day! lol
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Hi Nicky,
I recently just joined the ethiopia board… and have been checking in your blog every once in awhile. Your girls are beautiful and I love following along…
I live in Nelson, and since moving here 4yrs ago, have become very conscience about what we put in our mouths, etc. I know you are an organic junky as well…
Thought you may be interested in these sites about fluoride - http://www.fluoridealert.org/fluoride-facts.htm
http://www.all-natural.com/fleffect.html
Of course, you can find many more on google.
We now buy Tom’s fluoride free Natural Toothpaste(http://www.tomsofmaine.com/products/toothpaste.aspx) - you can get it at many grocery stores, and if not - any natural food store will carry it. (If your interested.)
My kids are 6 and 5… and still no cavities. Knock on wood!
Cheers,
Jolene
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:41 pm
I’m not sure if this helps or not, but Matthew recently had his first two cavities (despite my brushing his teeth twice a day! And flossing once a day! Sometimes it just can’t be helped). Our pediatric dentist suggested a few years back that we brush his teeth for him until he’s eight, and so we’ve done it ourselves - though we always let him brush his own teeth AFTER we’ve done it, so that he can practise.
Anyway, re the cavities - The pediatric dentist offered to put him out but we ended up trying it in the chair - one cavity/visit because they were on opposite sides. She was as quick as possible and used great language with him to help him understand. I wouldn’t say that he LIKED it, but it wasn’t NEARLY as traumatic as I’d thought it would be. We capped off the first experience by renting a movie to watch at home (a big treat here!). So if you’re referred to a ped.dentist, s/he may or may not need to put them all the way out.
Good luck!
Ruth
February 2nd, 2010 at 7:04 pm
I can tell by the hats that your kids are DARNED CUTE, that’s what I can tell!
And yes, the cavities would have started before you had any say in the matter.
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:35 pm
http://www.pittsburghmagazine......and-Haiti/
why does this article make me hate the people who are running this orphanage? can’t tell if it’s the savior complex, the ‘happy endings’ that are only children that go to the us or canada, that there are babies taken away from their mothers but that’s to save them from dying etc.
can you comment?
and can you comment on haiti adoptions now?
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:02 am
4 cavities doesn’t sound that bad after that post! And braiding day isn’t so bad if they get to wear those adorable hats
Mary
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:49 am
I love that green hat! Did you knit it yourself? If you did, can you provide the pattern?
Thanks,
Kirsten
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Sorry, Kirsten - I knit-ith not. I think it’s crocheted, actually. But it was a find at our great second-hand baby shop in town.
February 4th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
Thanks for the tip about when to stop brushing their teeth. We have always done Sofias before bed brushing but she is allowed to do her morning one by herself. I feel validated (esp. since my husband thinks I tend to over react). I was thinking of giving it up and just letting her have control.
Sorry about the cavities… they suck!
February 5th, 2010 at 9:30 am
When my daughter came home from China (at age 4.75), exactly one week after arriving home she had a bad bout of mouth pain that had her crying and rolling on the floor so we took her to the children’s hospital emergency and - after waiting five hours - they took one look her in mouth and said half her teeth were rotten. Well okay not quite half… we got a referral to their dental clinic (since she also had cleft lip & palate and would be seen by them there anyhow) and they ended up putting her under completely to do the repair job (and they did the cleaning & polishing while she was out, too, just to get it all done). Six crowns and two extractions later, she had a nice shiny mouth. Though the dentists said that her teeth are essentially not very good quality, with poor and thin enamel - something that often goes hand-in-hand with cl/cp.
The dentists at the clinic emphasized strongly to me that children simply do not have the manual dexterity to brush properly until they are about 8 years old, so that I should brush her teeth twice a day until then. The summer after she turned 8 I started to let her brush her teeth most of the time, but at that fall’s check-up they said her oral hygiene was atrocious so I took over the job again. Finally the sumemr after she turned 9 I let her start doing it more again, and that fall’s check-up showed pretty decent oral hygiene so now she gets to brush her own teeth most of the time. (She turns 10 this May.)
The dentists also emphasized NOT to use fluoride-free toothpaste, as the fluoride helps to strengthen teeth enamel. In fact, they gave us some special high-power fluoride toothpaste for her to use once a day to help strengthen her teeth. They just said to be sure the kids rince after using the toothpaste and don’t swallow it to avoid stomach issues.
In contrast, my Ethiopian son (adopted at age 4.5) has strongly insisted on brushing his own teeth and because he doesn’t have the same teeth issues as my daughter I have let him do so most often, though at the very beginning I would do the evening brushing and just let him do the morning. He’s now 6.5 and at his last dentist visit in December the hygienist said he was doing a decent job. So it does depend on the kid.
My son’s hygienist also recommended a product made by Listerine that helps to “train” kids to brush better. I think it’s called “Cool Blue” and it’s like a mouthwash except that any part of the teeth that have plaque are stained blue (fairly light, but visible). This gives the kids a visual reference - they have to brush the blue colour off the teeth to get the “sugar bugs” off and have nice clean teeth.