trip to the dentist

last sunday, while our yaya had her day off, we had our "day off" as well. our family trouped to MOA. first on our to do list was to visit the pediatric dentist there. we went to the Little Ones Dental Clinic (Unit 226 South Parking, SM Mall of Asia Tel:556-0391).

while waiting, bea had a great time playing with the toys they had available. they also had books and they were also playing alvin and the chipmunks on video, activities that keep little tots occupied while waiting for their turn at the dentist's chair. when it was our turn, i placed bea on the chair. she was a good girl, obediently staying put, but when the dentist sat beside her, she started to fidget about. so the dentist asked me to sit on the chair and place bea on my lap. when the dentist tried to open bea's mouth to count her teeth, bea started to resist. before we started, i warned the dentist that bea is "super likot"! she didn't believe me at first because bea was just sitting obediently on the chair. then when she started to check bea's teeth, ayan na! hehehe...

the dentist decided that this wasn't going to work, so we shifted to a knee-to-knee position, which is basically a face to face position of the guardian and the dentist, with the kid pinned down between them, hehehe...

it was really a struggle! bea was resisting the dentist's effort to open her mouth. she was crying "mommy, mommy!" then she probably realized that mommy was in collusion with the dentist since i was helping in holding her down, she started to shout "daddy, daddy!" begging for help. wawa talaga, but we had no choice.

result: she had cavities in most of her teeth, and we need to return for a multiple "pasta" session. she needs to be sedated and an anesthesiologist will be present to monitor everything. in one session, the dentist expects to do 9 of her teeth, so we need to come for 2 sessions, each costing 15k per session (mad laughter in my head!)

while still deciding whether to go with the procedures or not, we were to apply a tooth mousse on her teeth every night, it was some sort of vitamin for her teeth, to protect it from further deterioration.

the cost:

P500 for the oral consultation (only for the first visit

P715 for the cleaning (tooth gel placed on a cloth and rubbed on bea's teeth)

P1,000 for the tooth mousse

grabe. anyway, we're not yet decided whether we should go on with the procedures or not. the dentist said that bea's teeth should start to fall when she's seven, that's five years from now, and she will have to live with discolored teeth and be at risk for tooth aches and pains till then. uh-oh! i asked the dentist if it was safe to do this procedure to a kid who's just a few months past 2 years old. she said she did this procedure on her daughter (the one who's pic is on their poster) when she was less than 2, and everything turned out fine.

we are now planning to seek a second opinion from the dentist recommended by our pedia at st luke's. i hope she gives us a better prognosis of bea's teeth. = )