Casey had her very first dentist appointment yesterday. We had a few dentists that were referred by her ENT and only one of them was in our network so we decided to start with him. Overall it was a very good experience. The only bad part was that we had to drive way out on Bee Caves (no where near our place).
Casey was really upset the entire way to the appointment. Maritza had to suction and reposition her head a lot on the way. While we were on MOPAC some idiot 2 cars in front of us started to exit then changed his mind last minute. When he pulled back on the freeway the car in front of us slammed on their brakes causing me to slam on mine as well. The van’s backseat can be a little brutal when you have to brake or gas quickly. Maritza got knocked over and Casey was a bit freaked out. Luckily no one was hurt and we didn’t hit anyone. I just don’t know what is wrong with people sometimes.
Once we finally got to the dentist I was very impressed. The office was really nice and the staff was great. If anyone is looking for a pediatric dentist Dr. Michael Kyle Raymond was really nice. I will put his info on Casey’s resources link if anyone wants it.
Casey only has about half of her teeth. It is pretty common with kids like her to have dental issues. Especially with the lack of swallow. We went over her history on how they started then stopped and the color changed to a yellowish and the shape seemed wrong. He took a look and said that most G-Tube kids have tartar issues. He said that the color and shape was not actually her teeth but was in fact a thick layer of tartar. When I mentioned one split a little while back and she didn’t seem to care he told me it was not her tooth. It was actually the layer of tartar that chipped of the back, her tooth is fine. He said that they will put medically fragile kids under to clean the teeth once a year or so. However, since Casey is still missing half of her teeth he thinks she should wait.
So for now we are watching her teeth to make sure they keep coming in. She actually got a new one this past weekend. As long as she continues to progress and doesn’t show signs of pain we will just keep on our current course. She has one tooth that came out the back side of her gum. He is a little concerned about that one, but we just need to watch it for now. Hopefully it will grow upward and be fine. If she does start to develop teeth issue (beyond tartar) he suggested we look into taking her to San Antonio to the Dental School. He said they deal with the more complicated and rare dental issues. We hope not to need them. It is good to know they are there if we need them.
Last night I had Casey on my lap and had a good angle and she was nice and calm so I got a good look at her yellow bottom teeth. I picked at them a little with my fingernail and sure enough the layers popped right off. I feel silly now for thinking it was her tooth before. I actually saved it in her little “My First Tooth” box. I guess I don’t need to keep tartar 🙂 I did not mess with them to much so I didn’t get it all. I do feel better knowing her teeth are okay.