day#5
This last week has been crazy for Cannon. His teeth have been hurting him and he only chews his food on the right side. Anytime he accidentally chews on the left side he screams in pain. Cannon has the worst teeth, but at times he tends to be a little dramatic. Well, it got to the point where I had to hold him down to brush the left side of his mouth. As I was doing this, it started to bleed profusely. It kind of freaked me out at the amount of blood that was coming out of his mouth. I decided at that point I couldn't wait for our insurance to be in effect. We needed to get him into the dentist NOW. We randomly chose a dentist out of the phone book (Big mistake). Which turned out to be the worst dental experience of our life. First off, they made us pay up-front $95 dollars before we were even seen by the dentist. The office was under-construction and was an unorganized mess. (turns out, they've been under-construction for a LONG time) They got him back to the room fast but the room was so small, Steve and I had to stand up against the wall so the dentist and her assistant could fit. The assistant took ONE x-ray of three teeth. And then they said we needed to go see a pediatric dentist and they would give us a referral. At that point, Steve and I realized we just got riped off. The dentist didn't do anything. The only tool she stuck in Cannon's mouth was a mirror. She didn't even attempt to clean or x-ray any of the other teeth. So after waiting 30 mins for a paper for a referral, we left. WHAT A JOKE! So the next day, I called the other dentist office so Cannon could get in ASAP. Come to find out, they don't except kids that have less than 6 major problems with there teeth. (shouldn't the first office we went to know that? Especially if they are the ones that referred us to them!)So we are at square one again! After spending all day on the phone, I finally found another dentist in Sterling Heights, which was 10 miles away. This morning I took him in for the diagnosis with his teeth. The staff was so nice. The office was clean and everything was organized. Our dental assistant actually had all of her teeth. (unlike the last office) They told me Cannon needed a root canal and a crown. On top of that, the poor kid needed a cavity fixed. They had time this morning to get all of the work done. Our insurance had finally come so they were able to bill them, but the down side, Cannon was only able to get his teeth numbed. No other sedation was paid for with our insurance. Cannon was such a good boy and held out the whole time with only 4 tears. The shots were the worst part for him. The office staff was so surprised how tough this 5 yr old was. They kept making comments about how rare this is and they usually give kids laughing gas.
We told him before hand if he was good and didn't cry we would buy him a toy. Needless to say, he got the toy. After the dentist appointment I was tempted to keep him home from school, but he begged me to go. Two hours later, he headed to school with a saggy, numb cheek. I was very impressed by his courage and very proud of him. Hopefully it will be a LONG while before he has to go back to the dentist. So if anyone is needing a dentist in Michigan, I would recommend:
