Tuesday, August 22, 2006

A trip to the dentist is in my future

On Sunday when Evan was screaming his head off because he did not want to sit in my lap out in the foyer (because he was being naughty in the chapel) I noticed that there was something odd about one of his teeth. Today I got a closer look at it and came to the awful conclusion that it would need to be looked at by a dentist. It seemed to me that it looked like a cavity but my husband thinks that it is a chipped tooth.

Luckily I made a stink with my husband a few months ago and he added our kids very reluctantly to our dental plan. The rate for a family is the same so adding Harry despite his youth was not going to cost us more but adding Evan tipped the balance from spouse to family. He didn't want to pay the 26 bucks a month to do it but I made him.

I then proceeded to not take Evan to the dentist. Due to Evan's heart defect he has to take a dose of antibiotic before an exam to prevent bacterial endocarditis. This whole process is complicated by the fact that Evan's blood thinner Warfarin (aka Coumadin) interacts with a ton of different common antibiotics. I just did not feel like having to mess with the whole issue. Adding to the fun is that there is exactly one pediatric dentist in a 35 mile radius that takes our insurance. Luckily she is close to us but if we don't like her then we are screwed.

I kind of hope that my husband is right and that it is a chipped tooth. That way I don't have to feel like a bad mom that did not keep up with my firstborn's oral health sufficiently.

2 comments:

bella said...

Having just started down the (horrible) dental path with my kids again (we go in rounds, depending on my sanity!), you have my undying sympathy!

Hope it all works out well... and I'm sure you will make it just fine!

(BTW, one of my older boys used to have to take the antibiotics before dental stuff -- he had a heart murmur that resolved when he was 8, thank goodness! -- and they have some pretty cool chewable stuff out there, if Evan will take them, and if they don't interact with his other meds!)

Good luck!

--bella

chichimama said...

Hope it works out. C had something similar sounding, it turned out to be a genetic deficency in his teeth. It wasn't a very big deal, we just had to have the affected teeth sealed.