Today's blog is a personal experience. It's not going to be technical or some boring facts, it is going to be a story, a story of a little kid called Rahul (not the patient's real name).
I was in Bangalore at that time and I get a call from my clinic about a 3-year-old patient who had severely decayed primary teeth. I give them an appointment that evening. On first impression, Rahul was a cheerful and naughty kid but underweight for his age.
I asked them the usual questions, about his demographics and eating habits and then tried to start a conversation with Rahul to make him comfortable. But this cheerful toddler had difficulty speaking because of a huge swelling on his right cheek.
Image courtesy: HealthyChildren.org
Rahul was a cheerful and naughty kid, but underweight for his age. But this cheerful toddler had difficulty speaking because of a huge swelling on his right cheek.
The mother had visited a couple of pediatric dentists in the past but couldn't follow up with them properly. She pleaded to me saying that "ma'am please do something, my kid can't sleep, eat and play because of this pain". I checked his mouth and found that all 20 milk teeth had cavities. His right upper molar was the most severely affected with a cavity so deep that it had infected his face and cheek.
After this initial examination, I enquired about Rahul's diet and found that they had a habit of bottle feeding him when he was asleep. Combined with this, he had a diet that was high in sugar and poor oral hygiene. These factors had led to an aggressive progression of cavities in his milk teeth. I advised diet modifications and instructed the parents to follow a no added sugar diet for 4 weeks. I also prescribed the kid a couple of antibiotics and recalled him in 3 days to start the treatment.
Rahul was an extremely understanding and cooperative kid for his age. So, I was able to perform a pulp therapy/ root canal in 4 of his teeth successfully. I also gave him 4 Stainless Steel crowns. For the rest of his not-so-deep cavities, I suggested the parents go for crowns as well, but due to financial constraints, they weren't able to do that. So I decided to go with Siver Diamine Fluoride Application and regular follow-up every month.
"I make 5-6 meals a day these days for Rahul, he is hungry and can eat now, before this he hardly ate even 2 meals a day and I feel now that it was because of his tooth pain, I am happy that my son can eat a healthy meal and is free from pain."
Rahul's mom
The Last time he came he was smiling, painless, and happy. But what his mother said, is the best compliment I have ever got. She said, " I make 5-6 meals a day these days for Rahul, he is hungry and can eat now, before this he hardly ate 2 meals a day and I feel now that it was because of his tooth pain, I am happy that my son can eat a healthy meal and is pain-free."
Early Childhood Caries (ECC) or simply put Dental cavities in primary teeth aged under 6 years are more prevalent than we think.
ECC is preventable, but currently affects more than 600 million children worldwide, and remains largely untreated.
Dental cavities are a form of lifestyle disease, just like diabetes/ hypertension once we develop they leave a mark on the individual's life. This could be either filling, severe pain, root canals, or even removal of the teeth.
ECC affects the quality of life of many children around the world and in India. But this is completely preventable. The number of kids suffering from this increases as the age of the kid increases. To know more, schedule a visit with a Pediatric dentist before your child turns one.
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Poor thing..very painful days he faced...Good that u helped him..All the best Dr. Ragavee..