On Sunday evening, I noticed that Jenelle had what looked to be an abscess tooth in the back behind her right side molar. She had been quite fussy that evening, but never had a fever or any swelling on the outside to indicate there was a problem. By chance I was feeling in her mouth because I thought she was choking on some food. I took her to daycare on Monday and called our Pediatrician, Dr. Patel, to see where to start. I must admit, I haven't been very good about taking care of Jenelle's dental needs. My Uncle the retired dentist will cringe at reading this I'm sure! (Sorry Uncle Jim!) Currently, Jenelle does not have a dentist and was last seen by my dentist over a year ago. I had been hoping to find and get her into a pediatric dentist in our area, but those are hard to find, especially one to cater to her needs and is covered by our insurance.
By the time we saw Dr. Patel yesterday afternoon, she was in a lot of pain and the swelling was definitely visible from the outside. Poor thing cried real tears when we touched her cheek. Without even looking into her mouth, Dr. Patel prescribed Motrin and anti-biotics. He felt we needed a few days for the swelling to go down before she could be seen by a pediatric dentist, which is our next step. Dr. Patel felt she most likely needed to be sedated for the x-ray and exam. Earlier in the day, I inquired for a referral from our local Epilepsy Support Group and was referred to Dr. Brostoff in Orange. Unfortunately, he isn't on our insurance, so I decided to call our insurance to find out where to go from there. Luckily, given Jenelle's seizures and need for sedation, our dental insurance approved a visit to "any licensed pediatric dentist", so with that blessing I made an appointment with Dr. Brostoff for Monday. If she gets worse, we are to go to CHOC's ER in the mean time where Dr. Brostoff is on call this weekend.
Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers that it doesn't get any worse. I've learned that impacted and abscess teeth are very common for children on seizure meds because their gums are often thicker. Dr. Patel feels it may be her 6 year molars coming in.
Poor thing! I promise to keep you posted!
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2 comments:
Hello,
I just wanted to let you know that I live in OC and my son's dentist is Dr. Brostoff in Orange. My son is 4 years old now. When he was 2 he had minor seizures and now very recently, and out of the blue he has had some pretty intense ones. Dr. Brostoff is awesome! Good luck with her tooth and I hope the motrin kicks in VERY fast, I hate to see any kid in pain. *praying for her and you*
~Diane
Ouch. Double ouch.
It is hard sometimes when dealing with so much other medical stuff to remember teeth. I know we had to put Parker's on the back burner while dealing with other much more serious issues.
But it sounds as though you've found an excellent dentist.
Here's hoping that those antibiotics kick in.....fast!
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