A second opinion

Today we took Suzi to a different dentist. It's not nearly as bad as we thought! I sent Suzi back into the waiting room with Grandma after the dentist was done looking at her teeth so I could ask a bunch of questions. All this dentist recommended was fillings, and he said it could possibly be done in just two visits. He was very nice, and I trust this dentist, having been to him before myself years ago. We made an appointment for almost two months from now, and will be getting another much better x-ray done that day. We will know at that point if all our efforts have worked to halt or even reverse the decay. But, long story short, we have time and there is no reason to panic.

The dentist recommended getting a xylitol gum, but after looking in three different stores I was unable to find one that did not also contain a little aspartame. I did eventually buy one because I needed gum now, but I won't be buying it again. Instead, I went on Amazon and bought some Epic Dental gum, which contains more xylitol than most other brands and is sugar-free and aspartame-free! And while I was ordering that I went ahead and got a copy of Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.

We picked up our order from CAFE today. It's awesome to have all these gorgeous eggs in our fridge, and the milk. The milk is lovely too. Jordan made pizza with swiss chard tonight, and decided to call it "chard-treuse" pizza. My cute, silly geek. It was really good. At least Suzi ate a little of the greens. It was the first time I'd ever had swiss chard and I liked it a lot. I think we are going to love being CAFE members.

While Jordan was making pizza, I realized we had all the ingredients to make this remineralizing toothpaste from Everyday Paleo. It contains xylitol and calcium. I quickly threw that together (had to crush up some calcium pills first; good opportunity to use my mortar and pestle) and the girls used it before they went to bed. No complaints! I added orange oil, so it was citrus-flavored and Suzi-approved. She is so sensitive that peppermint toothpaste feels uncomfortably hot to her. I'm going to use it tonight, and am hoping my teeth will become less sensitive. The author said hers felt better within a few weeks!

I just got a couple of chapters into Cure Tooth Decay tonight, and am hoping to read more soon. And I am tired. Time to go spend a little time with Jordan and go to bed!

Baby teeth. I had no idea they could be so complicated.

I'm taking a little NAK (nursing at keyboard) blogging break. Robert is asleep and I don't want to wake him up. I also want to write a little about our day yesterday.

It was the girls' first trip to the dentist. Suzi is 4, Ivey is 2. Yeah, I know you are supposed to have them seen by the first birthday. We didn't get around to it until now for various reasons. One is that I have serious trust issues with dentists I don't know--and I don't think I am wrong there.

But before I get into all that--something good happened before we left for our appointment. Robert's first tooth popped through! It's one of the bottom front ones. I had been wondering when it would finally happen and am excited for him. I'll try to get a picture later. We thought good things were happening for us tooth-wise yesterday and headed off to the dentist trying not to get too stressed.

We had picked (we thought) the very best pediatric dentist in our area and drove way out of our way to get to him because we wanted to be certain that our kids' first dentist experience was awesome. And their experience was. This guy has indoor play equipment in his waiting room that's better than the one at Chick-Fil-A. TVs all over the place. Expensive toys. More importantly, all the people working there seemed to be very good with little children and made the girls feel at ease as much as possible during the visit. I went back with Ivey and Jordan went back with Suzi. Ivey did great. She sat in my lap and had her teeth cleaned, and they said they didn't see any problems, just to be sure to floss a couple times a week and brush carefully along the gumline.

But Suzi. Well, she had x-rays. They aren't even very clear x-rays because she had a hard time biting down on the bite-wings and moved some while they were taken. But there were cavities. Extensive work was recommended. The dentist didn't really talk it over with us--the hygienist did, in sort of a hurry. We were floored because she has had zero problems with her teeth. No pain, no chipping, no obvious discoloration. We went to lunch, talked it over a bit, and decided to get a second opinion. We went back to the office to retrieve her x-rays and are taking them to a local dentist Tuesday.

It's hard to describe how awful this feels on about five different levels. I am really, really not into the idea of putting Suzi through a bunch of dental work she doesn't absolutely need. It would be a different story if she were having pain or something, but these are perfectly functional teeth! I've read a little about what they are proposing, and complications sometimes arise. And I know Suzi. It would scare her. The last thing I want is for her to be scared to go back to the dentist when she is older, but that is exactly what has happened to many of the adults in my family, including myself at times. While we wait for things to become a little clearer, we are changing our diet and starting supplements (as a family) that will hopefully halt the decay if not reverse it. Many people believe this to be possible and have experienced success, and I have to try. Suzi is a pretty picky eater, and I'm not at all surprised to find that her diet is deficient in certain areas. Luckily she loves butter, milk, and cheese, and these are several foods which are highly recommended when made from nutrient-rich milk of grass-fed animals.

There are several good places to shop for raw dairy products in our area. Our chiropractor carries raw milk, and there is a wonderful goat farm not too far from here. My mother, who of course wants to help, has agreed to spend a day with us every week or two driving around and picking up products at all the spread-out places we will now have to do our grocery shopping. I am not a good cook but I'm going to have to learn.

This issue is so much deeper than tooth enamel. Suzi is my first. I had her in the hospital. It makes me sad every time she asks to hear that story, which is beautiful because it ends in me holding a perfectly wonderful baby girl, but also contains hurt and regret for me. I allowed things during that birth that may have hurt my daughter and our bond. I did not want to ruffle feathers, so I did not push back or question hard enough. I should not let this ridiculous compulsion to people-please keep me from advocating fully for my daughter. She is mine and Jordan's to take care of. When she is an adult, Jordan and I will be the ones looking at her quirks, problems, and hang-ups and asking ourselves if we could have maybe handled certain things better. Not some (undoubtedly filthy rich) dentist. Not some OB or pediatrician.

I need to be a Mama Bear sometimes. Not everyone has to like me or agree with me. I need to remember these things and be the strongest possible advocate for Suzi.

I'll probably write an update on this soon. If you have had similar dental issues and wouldn't mind sharing how you handled them, please do. I would love to hear your experiences!