So, anyone looking for a pediatric dentist in the San Diego/ Del Mar area? Hoping to find a kind, gentle dentist for your little girl or boy for their very first trip to have their cute, little teeth looked at and/or treated?
Well, I definitely have found a place to NOT go to! Soudabeh Sharafi in Del Mar, San Diego CA! Look at all the love this pediatric dentist left my 3 YEAR old with:
The bruises under her eye came from the doctor pushing her face down, while trying to give her the oral sedation for the treatment she was supposed to have (2 crowns and 4 fillings). Makena was laying on my lap, with her head in the doctors lap. I was hugging her close, arms by her sides. Joe was holding her legs from kicking and wiggling around. The doctor was holding her face, left hand on her cheekbone, obviously pressing WAY too hard, right hand giving medicine. Granted... Makena wasn't happy, doesn't ever like taking oral medicine, and having it shoved down her throat thru a syringe, will make one gag as well, BUT pushing this hard? Come on! Really? And they still charged us for it $250 for stuff Makena didn't even get down her throat...
Oh wait... the fun at this dental office wasn't over yet... check out my baby's fat lip:
This was about 3 hours later, AFTER icing it!
Makena got this shiner towards the end of the 2 fillings that were getting done. After the shots kicked in and Makena calmed down a bit... had a DVD player overhead playing, with headphones, the doctor began to work on the drilling andfillings. I think it was the 2nd filling... Makena began to yell that it was "ouchie" and was OBVIOUSLY in pain. Did the doctor care? Nope... just told her "you are fine, keep watching the show, your doing great". Pushed Makena's head back down in the chair, continued. Makena kept cry, doctor continued to work. I couldn't take it, went outside for 5 minutes. At the very end, doctor gave her one last little shove down into the chair, via Makena's bottom lip shown here, said it was all done and for Joe to pick her up and "take her out of here now!". Joe sees blood coming from her lip, but obviously is more concerned with calming Makena down and soothing her. Doctor leaves room, says NOTHING more to us.
As we begin to drive off, to Toy's R Us of course... we notice the marks on Makena's face and her lip swelling up like a balloon. We stop to grab some ice for her lip, then I decide to call the doctor to let her know what was happening, literally, I just wanted to tell them, MAYBE to get some understanding, dumb advice like icing the lip, something? Receptionist answers, I tell her whats going on, explain that she has bruising under her eye and a fat lip. She says that Makena got the fat lip because she bit it. I say "oh, ok, um, well what about the bruises?" You will not even believe what this girl says next.... so good that it deserves its own line:
"Wow, she must have really bit her lip hard!"
WTF? You didn't just say that did you?... You have got to be kidding me lady, Im thinking in my head.
Me: "You mean, her biting her lip caused her eye to get bruised, is that what you are really saying right now?"
Her: "Oh, well lemme get the doctor"
"yeah go ahead and do that because your ass isn't making any sense"... thinking in my head.
Doctor: "So Staci tells me that you are having some problems?"
Me: "yes, she has a big fat lip..."
Doctor: cuts me off mid sentence... "yeah she must have got that when she bit her lip AFTER she left our office, we told you that could happen and to watch for it!"
Me: ignoring her statement... "and she has bruises under her eye also, probably from when you were trying to sedate her?"
Doctor: "oh I didnt even touch her face, she got those after she left here too because our office doesn't do things like that. That couldn't have happened here."
I knew at that point nothing would happen and I was already getting more upset at the lame ass answer. Had this doctor just owned up to pushing a bit too hard, saying "Oh Im so sorry, it must have happened during XYZ or ABC", I wouldn't be here right now telling the www about any of this. I'd be upset about my daughter being traumatized of course, but not searching the web for EVERY dental review site in San Diego. How dare this woman even hint that WE did this to her... that it didn't come as a direct result of her hands!
Needless to say... Makena won't be going back to Del Mar Pediatric & Adolescents, remember that name Del Mar Pediatric & Adolescentsand Dr. Soudabeh Sharafi D.M.D! Gonna give her a break for a couple of weeks and find a referral to someone else, someone I know who has used the office before. I can't even believe any of this happened today. I was scared and stressing out about today for weeks now, but never did I think it would end up this way. Bottom line and a few words of advice...
- do your homework about the dentist you go to
Do searches on the net for reviews about offices and doctors. If possible, get a referral from a friend or other mommy's that have really great experiences with their dentists. If you book an appointment, go for a visit and something DOESN'T feel right, run, dont walk outta there! There are plenty of dentists around and you have to find someone that both you and your child feel comfortable with.
- don't give your 1 year old apple juice... just don't do it
We learned the hard way, thats for sure! Joe was all excited about Makena getting to finally drink juice, that we let her have some way too early. After that first sip, she never looked back. Never had milk or much of anything else to drink. Hooked just like that! Even though she probably takes after me with soft teeth and being prone to dental issues, we are certain that the juice just sped everything up 100%. If I could turn back time, I would have waited a bit longer for juice AND limited the amount she had to maybe once a day, in addition to watering that down even more!
- brush, floss, brush, floss
Even if you think it's not doing anything, just take a couple of minutes and rub those bad boys down! We have brushed Makena's teeth twice a day since she was about 1... but we have been told many times now that some kids/people are just more prone to cavaties. But there is no harm in it and if you get the kiddos used to it early, then doing it more as they grow won't make a difference to them at all!
Whats the harm in that kwim? Have them take a look, see if they might have issues, locate areas that might need more attention when brushing and flossing. From what I hear, they even have options to seal your baby's teeth... kinda like a protective coat I think? Man, I would have jumped on this a LONG time ago!
ugh, anyways. Whats done is done and hopefully in the next few months we can start all over again with another dentist... one who listens to our needs and is sympathetic to my kids needs!
OK, Joe is done giving Makena her bath to get the all the sticky medicine and dental smell off of her! Time to play with the new toys we got her today and then let her have a cheat day and eat whatever she wants... she deserves after a day like today :)
