My sons 8 he is autistic and struggles with brushing his teeth, the sensation on his gums freaks him out and more often than not causes a melt down, I try brush his teeth or get him to brush them every day but it can become a HUGE adeal. A few months ago I noticed he had a hole in his tooth so I took him to the dentist straight away. After being at the dentist I found out that he had 3 molars with holes, 1 being an adult molar and a chipped tooth but because he struggled during his appointment and the dentist couldn't get proper x rays and gave me a referral to another place who dose child dentistry only.
I was able to get in within a few weeks and they were able to do some good x rays on him, thank God!!
After they did the x rays they sat me down and what I was told sent me into a huge panic!! My son was born with a condition called supernumerary teeth and very thin enamel on his teeth causing them to decay quicker. With the supernumerary teeth condition he has 4 extra teeth behind his 2 top front teeth stopping his adult teeth from coming down and a few extra on the bottom as well. She has told me that he needs to get the top 4 baby teeth removed as well as the 4 stopping his adult teeth from coming down AND the 3 molars with holes in them and put a spacer in until his adult teeth come through, he will need to be put to sleep while this is done and will need to have braces to ensure his teeth are in the correct position when they start to come through. I am terrified by this because he already can't deal with a tooth brush and the pain is going to be so hard on him.
The quote I got was INSANE!!! I am a single mum, I am on a good income but holly hell I do not have thousands laying around! I contacted his dad and his dad is refusing to pay a cent and said I am on my own because he dosent want to deal with it! Its not like hes strapped for cash either he's on $150,000 a year, has a big house, an investment property, 4 cars, a jet ski AND happily paid for his step daughter to have braces. Yet my son gets nothing!! He wont even help him when he's in pain after having a major operation on his mouth, so ill need to take time off, pay for it all and try help my son when I know he's suffering.
I am lucky enough that after talking to my parents they offered to pah for it as they have a university fund for him which I am sooo grateful for but I'm still really angry and so nervous for my son!
I don't know why I'm writing in but I wish there was something I could do.
7 Replies
I would see if you are eligible for this: https://orthodonticsaustralia.org.au/give-a-smile/
Do you receive child support for your son? You might be able to receive extra child support to cover some of the dental bills. Do you have private health insurance? Depending on your level of cover, it will help to reduce the out of pocket amount. Do you have a health care card for your son? If you receive carer allowance from Centrelink, he should automatically be issued one. If you do have a HCC, get a referral to your local public oral health unit. There will be a waiting list, but there won’t be out of pocket expenses. Does your son see an occupational therapist? They may be able to help him get used to the feeling of the tooth brush on his gums, hopefully reducing the meltdowns around cleaning his teeth.
I have a health care car for my son yes I will definitely try this avenue. My son dosent see a occupational therapist as yet due to wait times but sees a psychologist/general speech therapist weekly. My private health cover I got through work when I started 6 months ago and have to wait 12 months for dental. I have also looked into asking childsupport to review and get them to take the amount from him but last time I did that with his paediatrician appointments he got narky about it and stopped paying till child support started taking it from him again, then 8 months later elected to pay it himself instead of out of his wage then it took another 6 months to get anything from him again. He really isn't the nicest person in the world.
just a question, did other dentists miss this or was this the first time he went to the dentist? just an fyi, if you have a hcc you mustn't earn a lot so you most def are entitled to the annual $1100 free dental payment from centrelink. i get it as a single mum and don't qualify for hcc, earn too much. i would suggest you use that and visit regularly, although i'm sure you'll have post op checks for quite a while.
Speak to the psychologist and speech therapist about what’s going on. They may be able to offer some advice to help and make things easier on your son.
First things first, they don't allow kids to suffer in pain post op. They manage pain levels very well and when you leave the hospital, they give you pain medication as well. You will also be surprised how quickly kids recover, you probably won't need as much time off work as you think. Things could be a lot worse, in terms of surgery, this isn't major, you've got this. As for the ex, the karma train will hit him and when your child is older and doesn't want much to do with his dad, that's when he will reap what he sowed. His day will come, don't worry about that.
Can help with the cost of dental. But for the tooth brushing issue, try tooth mouse.
My sons dentist suggested it when he was little and had similar issues with teeth brushing. It's not a replacement for brushing but is definitely better than nothing.