Connor went to the dentist today. His dad went with him.
Kids with autism don't handle things like this very well. It's incredibly invasive, and you can't really explain why it has to happen. Yes, your teeth feel fine right now, but this is to prevent and protect for later... A hard concept to sell to a kid like Connor.
Anyway, we have a dentist in town, who does all levels of sedation. He has an autistic son himself, so he's more aware than a typical dentist as to what's involved for Connor. We had to make an appointment a long time ago, because the doc only does these kinds of cases when he shuts down his regular practise. He's prepared to head to the hospital with the patient if things get hairy.
So Connor wasn't allowed to eat all morning, and he got to the dentist's office around 1:00. They gave him a drink with a sedative to help him be calm enough to do the next kind of sedation, which was nitrous gas. Connor accepted the mask over his face okay, but hte nitrous wasn't having much effect on him. He kept counting down, 5 minutes left.... 4 minutes left.... etc.
So then they had to go to an IV. At this point, Connor is NOT happy. There were 4 professionals in the room and they were having a hard time restraining him. So Lee had to go and help (we used to have to do this to pull out splinters, etc.). Lee kept his arm steady once the IV was in, and watched the doc keep upping the dose before Connor finally went under. He fought all the way.
He had 2 cavities filled, and all his molars got sealant on them. The dentist said his mouth was actually in very good shape for an 8-year-old who'd never been to the dentist.
Once that was over, they put oxygen on Connor to help wake him up, but it took longer than normal, I guess. Once he was up, he wanted to walk, but wasn't really able to do that yet.
At home, he went to bed. He was still sleeping when Diana & I got back from our Girl Scout meeting. He slept thru me taking the older kids to College Fair Night at the High School too. He slept thru dinner.
After dinner, he asked for water. Then he got up and puked in a couple of spots on the carpet before we got him into the bathroom. He's sleeping again now. He hasn't really eaten since early this morning. I will try giving him toast later when he gets up again.
As I said in the title, poor little guy. He won't have to go back for another 6 months at least, and hopefully he won't need fillings again for a long, long time.
2 comments:
We were wondering if it was the first time. As you said, poor little guy! My kids have yet to have a cavity so far...druck die daumen! I am truly hoping that they have their daddies teeth and my gums, because the opposite would be awful! My cavities and Carl's family history of periodontal problems!
Give Connor a big hug, for me!
I'm home with him today. He couldn't get up without vomiting, but he seems to be doing a little better now. He's more vocal and he's able to sit and play video games on the computer. He's held down about 1/3 of a soda so far... No food yet.
I called the dentist and he said if Connor couldn't keep anything down by noon, he'd have to do a suppository and maybe even an IV to keep him from getting dehydrated, but I think we'll be okay now that he's more "up" than he was when I called.
Yeah, this was the first time. Before now, we couldn't even get him in the dentist's office! At least this time he was willing to go in. :)
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