Results of "D" Day

[DaisyFace]

Today was Dentist Day for difficult child...

if you recall, difficult child was adamant that she needed her wisdom teeth removed.

The dentist does not agree with her. (Yay!)

Instead, his recommendations are to stop chewing on foreign objects and/or sticking things in her mouth,

Stop clenching and grinding teeth,

AND start brushing teeth a LOT more. Her gums are so bad the dentist has actually recommended that she brush four times per day.



difficult child, of course, does not agree with the dentist and has already explained to us that NEXT appointment, she will get the wisdom teeth removed.

 

[AnnieO]

Sheesh, my dentist had me STOP brushing but once a day because it was wearing the enamel off my teeth. And I didn't have much to start with.

Next time, eh? *snicker*

 

[cubsgirl]

Gotta love difficult child-thinking. Glad the dentist didn't go along with her.

 

[TerryJ2]

Sigh.
Usually, kids will at least listen to an expert for a little bit. She outright rejected it. So sorry.

 

[exhausted]

Man oh man-who wants to have teeth romoved? difficult children!!!

 

[susiestar]

Is this part of drug seeking? Around here a LOT of the kids get excited when a friend gets teeth out because then they have pain medications and the other kids hope to "share" them or to bully them out of the kid or to steal them from the kid. The dentists and oral surgeons warn parents of this and tell them to get a second bottle from the pharmacy and only send one day's medications to school when the child goes back but still needs them, and to keep the rest at home locked up. They also say that if your child has a friend over then the medications should be locked away even f you trust the other kid because the pressure has gotten REALLY bad over this. One poor kid ended up at the ER in severe pain because all the pain medications were given to or taken by "friends" less than 24 hours after the surgery.

I also wonder if her mouth hurts and someone told her that it was her wisdom teeth and not anything else so she is blindly determined to believe it is that. At some point you have to let it be her mouth and her problem if she doesn't brush. She will be an adult and responsible for those bills before too many more years, and in fact you can tell the doctor taht you will only pay for the bare minimum for her because she won't take any of his advice. We had to do that with Wiz and even CPS backed us up when my mother tried to report us for medical neglect for not getting braces for him. He flat refused to brush, to see the dentist, or to have them anyway, but my mother thought we shoudl just magically take him and get it done anyway. Then he moved in with HER and she gave up that battle too.

 

[DaisyFace]

Step--

I'm an "over-brusher" too....(I guess I brush too hard 'cause I don't want to have to have any dental work!)

Cubsgirl--

I'm glad the dentist didn't go along with difficult child's plan, too. I was a little worried that maybe he wouldn't pay attention and just go ahead with the extraction since that is what the assistant had scheduled.

Terry--

I was hoping that she'd listen to the "expert", too.

Exhausted--

Ugh! Not me! I can't think of anything worse than un-necessary dental work!

Susie--

I don't know whether it's drug-seeking or whether it's just that she has this idea stuck in her head.

The worst part is listening to her explain away all the dentist's warnings and the facts about her teeth in order to continue living in her own alternate reality. As we all know, if she doesn't start taking care of her teeth, she's gonna lose not only the wisdom teeth, but most of the rest of them, too!

This is the part of the hygiene battle that I struggle with the most. As the parent, I'm not supposed to be "controlling" when it comes to hygiene. But gosh darn it - I just want to yell every night BRUSH YOUR TEETH!!!

 

[InsaneCdn]

DF - her hygene is so bad at this point, that anything would be an improvement, even if not ideal. What about if she had to brush BEFORE meals? Does she use mouthwash or would she? if so, our dentist told difficult child to use the floride-based ones for extra protection (he had motor skills issues that made brushing a challenge)

 

[DaisyFace]

DF - her hygene is so bad at this point, that anything would be an improvement, even if not ideal. What about if she had to brush BEFORE meals? Does she use mouthwash or would she? if so, our dentist told difficult child to use the floride-based ones for extra protection (he had motor skills issues that made brushing a challenge)

Ah, Insane--

You are making the same mistake I also do - you are thinking logically.

The problem here is that difficult child rejects the notion of hygiene. So the thought of taking care of her mouth does not compute. She actually explained to us that she is not worried about her swollen gums, because IF she brushes her teeth, the swelling goes down - therefore, it's not a problem. And she's "trying to remember" to brush her teeth every morning...

"Trying to remember" is her excuse for most things...but of course, MOM remembers - so Mom reminds, prompts, nags, leaves notes, makes charts, etc. Even the therapist is so fed up with the "trying to remember" story that SHE made some charts and things for difficult child.

But until difficult child actually buys in to the concept that it is necessary to keep oneself clean - I don't think there's much anyone can do.