Pulpotomy again..

More than 3 years back, Eryn went through a pulpotomy procedure on her broken front tooth.

I wrote about it here : Eryn's abcessed gum and pulpotomy and here : Eryn's first pulpotomy.
Sometime in November last year, I sent Eryn for her dental check-up and a filling was required on one of her baby molar. I remember sending Eryn for a filling on that baby molar one day before we flew to Hong Kong. It turned out to be a rather bad move as she developed high fever the following day when we reached the Hong Kong International Airport. The fever quickly subsided and she had diarrhea during our Hong Kong trip. Don't know what happened, but it kind of reminded me of stories of some babies who have diarrhea when they started teething.

2 weeks back, I noticed a tiny bump on her gum, just right above that same baby molar tooth. The first thing that came to mind was that an infection has set in.

This time, I decided to try out Prestige Dental. I have to say I am very impressed with the professionalism of the doctors there. The visit last November was attended by the female Dr Ng while this round, it's done by the male Dr Ng. Their follow-up treatment and calls show that they really care for their patients. In fact, for both follow-up treatment last November, they didn't charge us a single sen. This round, when I took Eryn back there to check on the bump, they did the pulpotomy without charging us a single sen as well as this was considered a follow-up case. They even provided medicine without a cost. I'm totally impressed with the many other range of dental services that they provide.

I love their waiting area. It kinds of remove your fears the moment you step in. There's a very small play area for children and magazines to read. A little aquarium gives you the calmness you need while waiting for your name to be called.

Pulpotomy  is something like root canaling, but not deep down to the root. In Eryn's case, it was the removal of the dead pulp and then cleaning it with some solution before pasting it up temporary with some kind of medicated filling. She would then be required to go back again for another visit to remove this temporary filling and fill it with a permanent one.

Why I choose pulpotomy? For me, I do not want her teeth (the first pulpotomy and this one) to be removed to avoid the closing of the teeth gap. Besides, she need the treatment as her gum has a small bump, which means that pus are already accumulating inside the pulp, thus causing it to be infected. Eryn doesn't feel much pain unless a lot of pressure is on that little bump.


Here's a basic explanation on pulpotomy : General information on Pulpotomy, just that in Eryn's case, it didn't require a crown in both of her pulpotomy treatment.  



The female Dr Ng and the male Dr Ng working on Eryn's baby molar.

 The bump has gone down now and she's due for the revisit this weekend. I hope everything is fine so that we can go through the follow-up procedure.
 
Appended below are the contact details for Prestige Dental Care :
 
Prestige Dental Care

22A-1 (First Floor), Jalan Puteri 1/4,
Dataran Puteri, Bandar Puteri,
47100 Puchong, Selangor
T: +6(03) 8060 3389
SMS: +6(013) 394 3389
W: http://www.prestige-dental-care.com.my
E: enquiry@prestige-dental-care.com.my

Dentist visit

I finally took the kids to see Dr Priscilla of Pristine Dental yesterday.

It was a surprised that Brendan took it so calmly and sat with his mouth opened wide without a tinge of fear being shown. He had two patches done up in his baby molar and it's due to accumulation of food particles between two teeth on both side that caused the little cavities. It was a difficult place to brush and hubby and I only started flossing the kids teeth in recent months.

Eryn, on the other hand was an even bigger surprise when she threw a tantrum before going in to see the dentist, and didn't want to go on the chair, unlike her previous visit. All this was due to us asking her to stop seeing the root canalling magazine. sigh!

After seeing her kor-kor having his teeth done, she then quickly climbed up onto the chair and opened her mouth wide. While Dr Priscilla was cleaning her teeth, she started giggling non-stop. She had one big hole on her bottom right and a very tiny small one at the top right. The patching could have caused a small pressure on her tooth, I think, that she started crying after her bouts of giggles. She refused to open her mouth to get the second one done and used her hands to cover her mouth. Though the doctor says that that can be done at another time, I decided to get it done once and for all. It took a few minutes before we manage to persuade her to open up with much difficulty. double sigh!

The bill came up to RM260 for both kids for both molar patches each. A little pricey, but worth the trouble and the TLC shown by Dr Priscilla.

Scary, but just had to get it done. triple sigh!

Eryn's tooth problem resolved

Remember Eryn's tooth problem and abcessed gum?


After the numerous phone calls to various dentists and to UH, and 3 visits to 3 different doctors, I decided to go to Pristine Dental in Jalan Gasing. Ms Prema, the clinic nurse was extremely helpful and gave me the trust that their doctors are very child-friendly and professional in their line of work.

I am glad that I stick to my decision of not wanting to extract Eryn's tooth which could give her psychological problems, speech problem and the spacing of her teeth.

Dr Priscilla attended to us and she was just so friendly and helpful. She suggested pulpotomy, which is actually the cleaning on the inside of the tooth and fill the empty space up - pretty much similar to filling except this is for the front tooth.

I was terrified of the idea at first and whether Eryn would face the trauma. I decided to go with my gut feeling and rejected the idea of going to the specialist under general anaesthetic. Hubby and I trusted Eryn to be strong and she was definitely stronger than what we thought.

Eryn sat quietly and didn't squirm or scream. She only cried pain for a while when the doctor injected a long syringe into her gum to numb it. After that, she was extremely cooperative and open her mouth wide for the doctor to see. Eryn was very happy over the whole experience as she felt so appreciated and the fact that everyone praised her for being good.

The whole thing was faster than I thought, probably around 15 minutes or so. The doctor, gave her an injection, drilled the back of her tooth, cleaned it, remove the old pulp, cleaned it again, fill it up and it's then it was all done. Fast, efficient, good job.

All doctors I spoke to or saw recommended extraction and in fact, most parents actually chose the option. I'm glad I defy that option and took all troubles to my own research and checking. Eryn is one brave girl. In fact, she's looking forward to her next treatment in two weeks' time she says she wants to have nice teeth.

It may not be suitable for all kids as Ms Prema told us that one little boy actually kicked one of the dentist real hard and some kids were screaming and crying away. For me, to make this personal decision, took me lots of guts, sleepness nights, phone calls, prayers, and most importantly wanting the best and having the trust in my little girl.

Here's Pristine Dental add : 52, Jalan Gasing, Section 5 (Tel no. : 03-7781 6289). It's located in a very nice bungalow with a beautiful surrounding, near a traffic light.

More on Eryn's tooth

I thought about Eryn a lot today. It makes me wonder whether she's tolerating the pain or has the pain really gone away. She used to cry and complain of pain, but now, she doesn't feel any pain at all.

I am quite worried over the big bump on top of her gum. Though she feels fine, I can't help feeling the pain myself. Gosh, my mind is running wild.

I called many dentists today and through the phone conversations, most of them would either recommend that I keep it as it is (which is fine, if there's no complication), extract it (if it's infected) or go to see a specialist. My main purpose now would be my search for a child-friendly doctor and one who can give good advice - not one that gives me scary thoughts. Some of them don't seem child-friendly to me.

Dr Shirley Lim in PJ, Chanel's hubby's aunt, gave me some good and friendly advice over the phone. She shares my negative thoughts of root canalling (as suggested by another dentist) which can be traumatic. She suggested that extraction might be a better option if the tooth is badly infected, which may affect the growth of the new tooth in the near future. But extraction might also cause the closing of the gap, which may hinder the growth of a nice, straight set of front teeth. I'm considering letting her see Eryn's tooth and gum before deciding the next course of action.

On the other hand, I'm also considering visiting Pristine Dental. My experience with Dr Raja of Pristine branch in Hartamas is a very pleasant one when I had my two, top wisdom tooth extracted some time last year. It was basically almost stress-free and pain-free.

Rina recommended Dr Suresh at Pristine Gasing. I called them when they're about to close and the nurse, Ms Prima, was kind enough to speak to me. She did some fact-finding and was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. She mentioned that root canalling is not the option. She gave a common option done at their centre in similar cases, which is to undergo pulpotomy, under local anaesthetic, to lessen the trauma and the ordeal which might be frightening. Apparently, one of their dentists is also a specialist at U.M. Thus my confidence in them.

I'm monitoring Eryn's tooth every single day, hoping that the pain wouldn't come back and at least hope that her tooth can stay as it is for as long as possible. Well, still have to do something about that bump, which I believe is abcess in it. Yikes!

Eryn's visit to the dentist

Approximately two months ago, Eryn was jumping on the bed and and chipped off a small part of her tooth. I wrote about it here.


About one month ago, she had been complaining that her tooth is pain, each time she tries to bite on something hard. It frustrates her a lot when she can't bite into a a biscuit or a piece of hard chocolate, or a chicken drumstick.


Later, we noticed that the chipped tooth was slowly turning a darker colour. We decided to bring her to the dentist for the first time. She was very brave about it cos she says that she wants to look like a princess with nice teeth.


We took her to our family dentist which I've been going to as a little child. Dr Chin told us that her tooth is quite 'dead', thus the change in colour. He also told us that it shouldn't pose any problem. The pain was probably caused by biting on a hard food or probably the fact that infection could have set in.


Today, we took her to another dentist here as we notice that the gum above that tooth is bulging. The doctor told us the same thing - that the tooth is dead. He doesn't advise us to remove it as this may cause problem for the new tooth to grow when it comes out in about 3-4 years' time. As other teeth are growing, this may affect the gap in-between and provide limited space to the new tooth.



About two weeks back, she accidently bit on something hard with her chipped tooth and the next morning, the gum above the tooth was so swollen that her whole lips swell as well. She didn't feel any pain on her tooth and even had the cheek to joke with us, saying "My lips got a lot of meat". We all laughed at her remark as she didn't know the reason for the swelling. By night, the swelling was totally gone.

Lately, she's not been complaining of any pain. I can only pray that we do not have to bring her to a paediatric dentist for root canalling to maintain her tooth till it reaches maturity in 3-4 years' time.

Oh, my poor little girl.