Today was L's first visit to the dentist. I thought I already knew a lot about teeth but I sure learned a lot more!
In a nutshell, after being propped in a crib with a bottle of super sweet Chinese formula (it smells like pudding it's so sweet!) for 2 years of her life, what we thought was decay is NOT decay! That's a HUGE praise to God because I can't imagine what our bill would have been had she needed 8 fillings with no dental insurance, not to mention the stress that would put her under.
Of course we learned the reason why her teeth are so horribly yellow and that's because of 2 factors. One is genetics, of course. But since we have no birth parents' histories to compare, we didn't really discuss that. Sadly, the biggest factor in L's poor teeth is a result of growing up in an institution - MALNUTRITION.
Due to what our dentist called "extensive malnutrition," L's teeth did not develop normally and she has no enamel on her teeth. The yellowness we are seeing is dentin, the layer we all have underneath our enamel.
Our dentist told me that many professionals nowadays would tell me to put 8 crowns on her teeth immediately. Yet he doesn't practice that way. As long as she doesn't show much sensitivity to hot or cold foods (hot would be worse) we don't have much cause for concern. I need to practice due diligence to make sure her teeth are brushed with a small amount of fluoride toothpaste twice a day and floss as well. He told me that he has had plenty of child patients with no enamel have healthy mouths free of decay for years until their adult teeth grow in.
Since the adult teeth start forming at birth, we really won't know how her permanent teeth will look until they are in. They could be equally affected. We'll just have to wait and see. I was told that braces will certainly be in L's future as her teeth are very crooked, but we'll take that when the time comes.
For now I will continue to do what I've been doing. I will brush with a "smear coating" of fluoride toothpaste (as opposed to a pea-sized drop of toothpaste since she doesn't spit yet) and floss and I will keep limiting sweets for only very special occasions. L will drink only tap water (with fluoride) and no juices. Milk does not agree with her digestive system, so she will get her calcium via cheeses and yogurts.
In 6 months we will take her back for another round of fluoride in the dentist's office but she is very unapproachable right now and she screamed the entire time to the hygienist and the doctor. So until she is 3 or 4 and can tolerate a visit more, she will not have her teeth cleaned and we will not attempt to repair her chipped front tooth.
It was such a bittersweet feeling leaving the dentist's office knowing that we don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on tooth repair. But knowing that my daughter faced "extreme malnutrition" the first 22 months of her life is just so heartbreaking. Just heartbreaking.
I'm so glad she's home and not facing those issues anymore! So glad!
Please take a moment to pray for the millions of orphans worldwide who are facing sub-standard living arrangements and who lack basic care, like my daughter did. As we like to say in the adoption world...
"Praying until they all come home!"
No comments:
Post a Comment