Manie's trip to the dentist.

Yesterday June 22 Manie went to the dentist again. Same ol same ol. Manie has to go to the Center for Disabilities which is about an hour and a half away from where we live. So it is a hole day event just going to the dentist. There is not a dentist in our town that will work on his teeth because of his heart condition. The Center for Disabilities is part of the University hospital where Manie had his open heart surgery after he was born and where he goes to have other procedures done.

On the way to the dentist Manie has to take a dose of antibiotic. The antibiotic is so Manie does not get an infection from having his teeth worked on. Manie has pits in his heart which is a side effect of open heart surgery. If Manie was to get an infection the infection would go to his heart and settle or stick to the pits in his heart.

So we get to the dentist and yet again we have a different student dentist to work on Manie's teeth. I suppose I should explain this better. The hospital that Manie goes to is a learning hospital so it is also a learning dental office. For us this means that Manie gets to have students working and learning on him. Why would you have a STUDENT working on a kid with a heart condition? That is how we have to do it because of insurance.

So every time we go to the dentist it is a different student working on his teeth. This time the student fixed two of his teeth (No Novocain or Nitrous Oxide). All of the student dentists that have worked on his teeth have said "he can not feel any pain." I believe that he does feel pain when they are working on his teeth. The screams that come from Manie when he is having dental work done are so bad that I can not even describe it. It can make you have nightmares.

So the appointment starts off with me having to tell about Manie's heart defect AGAIN. I feel like a broken record. Then Manie gets up in the chair and he is a little nervous but still doing OK at this point. Then the student looks at his teeth( Manie is still doing good). I have to mention here that in the past when we have taken Manie to the dentist I have been told that Manie will not remember anything that was done to him. The student grabs the little mirror to look at Manie's back teeth. As soon as Manie sees the mirror he starts to cry and scream. He just wanted out of there. But if he does not remember anything then why is he scared of the mirror. I will tell you why it is because he knows that metal in his mouth = pain.

So now Manie is frantic and wanting to get out of there. So I have to hold him down while the student works on his teeth. The student brings out the little metal scoop and starts digging at his tooth with it. Manie starts to be quite for a second then he starts to turn purple because he cant breath. Manie was choking on his own saliva and his nose was plugged with mucus. The student stopped for a second to let the assistant clear his throat. Then the work continues. The bite stick, which was a bunch of tongue depressors taped together, kept getting pushed to the back of Manie's throat which would make him gag and almost throw up. Then the student forgot that she had put a cotton ball in Manie's mouth and the assistant noticed that he was choking on it and just about to swallow it.

The whole time I am holding Manie down and telling him he was such a big boy and that he was doing so good. I feel like such a monster holding Manie down like that. However it is a good thing that I have to hold him down because I felt like I wanted to push everyone out of the way grab Manie and run out of the room.

Now comes the fun part (Not really I am just being sarcastic). The student starts acting like it is my fault that Manie's teeth are bad. So I now have to explain that his teeth are bad because of the acid reflux he had. Still the student does not believe me and insist on going on about it. Why are there medical charts if they don't bother to look at them? I explain to her again and tell her about the adult dose of acid reflux medication Manie had to take cause it was so bad and about how he had to have scopes done etc.....All this info is in his chart mind you. Then the student starts to believe me and tells me that she can tell I brush his teeth because he does not have any plaque build up.

When he first started going to the dentist at about a year old because his teeth were going bad and this was before we knew that he had been suffering with acid reflux I was blamed for it then too. I was told his teeth were bad because I was still nursing him and I needed to stop. So I have learned that they are just looking for someone to blame. I take care of my kids teeth. If I did not then why does Manie's older brother have perfect teeth and never had any cavities at all? I just took Manie's older brother and one of his older sisters to the dentist two weeks ago. Guess what no cavities and no problems. Hmmm what does that tell ya?

So it looks like Manie is going back to the dentist in four months and at that time the student said "they will talk to me about putting him under to have all his teeth done at once." I am not going to worry about that right now I guess. I will keep on brushing and praying that his teeth will be fine. Manie made it through another dental appointment and he is such a brave little boy. I am so proud of him.

This was just a small insite into what Manie has to go through. I wish I could take it all away and make it better for him, but all I can do is be there to love him.