Recommendation for Paed Dentist?

[Smoke Jaguar]

I've just taken DS to his first dentist appointment. He has cavities I'm not as particular with dental hygiene as I could be, mainly cos it's too hard to get his cooperation beyond a minute of brushing...after he's swallowed the toothpaste (lucky we get the fluoride and sulfate free stuff, cos he just loves ingesting it, the bugger)...
I feel awful, but I'm also not greatly surprised. I had cavities as a kid, too. The thing is, I avoided sweet foods with him till he was about 2 or so. He didn't have ice cream till last year and didn't like it, anyway. Chocolate wasn't introduced till a year and a half ago and he didn't like it till recently. But...my mum and MiL roll their eyes and tell me they can spoil him by giving him lollies. It's not entirely their fault, I know that.
Anyhow, he has to go to a paed dentist cos he's not likely to sit still long enough for our dentist and I'm not subjecting him to a GA even if I did have the PHI for it.
I've got a referral for:
Margaret Silva
Karen Kan

Do you have experience with either of these? I want to make the appt asap.
thanks!!

[Olive]

go to Karan ive heard wonderful thing about her and one we refered to alot

how many cavities does he have? are they small or large??
it is easier under GA as they do everything at once but i understand why your hesitant

[Smoke Jaguar]

coolies, thanks! He needs 3 fillings and four sealants, including the tooth he chipped.
I've just made the appt for Thursday. DP's dark on me now

[Olive]

wow lucky to get in that quick!! if there small cavs he should be ok, they should have DVD's for him to watch etc... she'll let you know if he will sit long enough

[Smoke Jaguar]

From memory there was at least one that was not little. DP's berating me for my orange juice consumption - DS has taken to pouring himself some, so now I don't even know when he has it...which means leaving it off the shopping list Or buying the green stuff to confuse him

[Smoke Jaguar]

Well, I had a timely conversation with a GF over the phone whilst I was on the train to meet Bathsheba. She recommended the Health Service down here where it's $28 for non-concession holders who meet a certain criteria and free if you have the HCC...I have the HCC! I called them up and thought if I had to wait months to get in then I'd stick with the paed dentist in Kew, and the lady said they had a cancellation for a few weeks' time, otherwise the wait would be into September So, I booked him in and cancelled the other appt. If it doesn't go well with the 0-5 program at this place I'll just make another appointment and pay the money.
Plus, speaking with Bath, I feel a bit better about things by subscribing to this hereditary theory - my teeth had cavities at the same age, too. Dunno, I"m going with it! I also told this to DP and I think he's gonna give me the benefit of the doubt...
Anyhow, thanks for the input, Olive, cos if I need to spend more money, I know where I'll go I'll let you know how I go with the community service, anyway.

[Trillian]

Maya, don't beat yourself up about his teeth. My DD2 has terrible teeth and they get brushed twice a day and she still gets craploads of holes in her teeth - a few weeks ago she had ELEVEN fillings done - just tiny little ones, but when DS1 and DD2 had their check ups they didn't have a single cavity. Some kids just have crappy teeth no matter what you do with them.

[Olive]

sherie you should look into toothmousse for DD2, another thing too.. does she have her adult molars fissure sealed??

[Trillian]

Yeah she did, that was part of the 11 fillings. She will have a heap more preservative work when she get the plate done in October as well because she still had a molar errupting.

[Yael]

Are these dentist good for just regular check ups etc?

The dental nurse came to school so I know DS is ok, but our PHI covers a check up every 6 months no gap with some dentists and small gap with others, but i really dislike our current dentist and want to change... besides her giving me all this rubbish unsolicited advice (i shouldn't let the kids come in my bed at night etc - hard to argue back when you have a mouth full of tools so I had to sit there and listen to her prattle on, but DS for some reason got freaked out, so rather than waiting for him to calm down and open his mouth, she tries to force it open - brilliant way to introduce the dentist to a 3 year old.....she is an idiot!)

I'm trying to work out am I better off finding a family dentist that we can all go to, or taking the kids to a specialist paed one?

[Olive]

yael my old boss is brilliant but may be a little far for you... pm me..
as for the paed ones, i think they mainly work off referal, not 100% sure maybe call one of them

trill for the sealants!!

[Smoke Jaguar]

SO impressed with the community health service!
We had to cancel one of DS's appointments in September and reschedule for November, but today I got a call for a cancellation, so skipped playgroup to get there.
So, ALL of his fillings have been done, including the one we thought we might have to leave - the filling in between the two front teeth. He was SOOOOO patient and still, despite being surrounded by kids who were screaming blue murder. I also have to thank some higher power for the dentist we scored. One of the others had a not very nice manner with one of the kids she had The kid had both the mother AND the not-so-kind dentist berating her for not being 'good'. This other dentist could see through to where DS was and could see his dentist working calmly and quickly, so she was probably frustrated...still, no excuse, cos that's a small child she's got there.
Anyhow, that's DS done until they need to look at it again in 12 months He was so cooperative that...umm...I acquiesced to letting have a chocolate after...at least it was soft!