I'm a horrible mother!!

[Marguerite53]

I've had a very intense year. I don't know how else to figure this, I guess I was too distracted. 3 kids, the two boys in college. Squeezing in all the doctor appointments while they are home, briefly, for the summer. My son comes home showing off his pearly whites. My 16 year old daughter, smiles, looks at me and says, hm....I haven't been to the dentist in ages.... I call the next day, and it's been 18 months!!!

Now maybe this wouldn't be that horrible, but after having read all the threads on inherited BAV and wondering if I am going to shell out $500+ to have each child "screened" when there are no murmurs present (I've had them each listened to very carefully by their GP), I'm suddenly faced with a totally preventable unknown.

What if she has BAV? What if it just hasn't shown up yet? Mine didn't until my late 20's. What are her risks of endocarditis especially since I haven't taken her to the dentist in 18 months!!!

We've been watching her especially closely because she has had dizzy episodes and chest discomfort. She plays very intense volleyball (club team is ranked 14th in nation, high school varsity were state champs). So I'm hysterical about wanting to do what's best for her. (she's also 16, 5'11 and 135#. Lean and mean. Low blood pressure. Eats in spurts, not always in the healthiest way. That's what doctor presumes brings on these spells)

I made an appointment to see our doctor and she is such a lovely, understanding young doctor -- she gave me an Rx for amoxicillin and said to go ahead and give her the 2000 mg before the teeth cleaning. Then, she said, if it were her own daughter she really wouldn't bother. The actual need for prophylactic antibiotics for a regular teeth cleaning is minimal. They only do it because dentists want to avert potential lawsuits. Hm. I had never heard that.

So, what would you guys do? Am I crazy to medicate her? At least, just this once?? I feel awful. She is the one who I will probably have screened. I think I'm right to get her an echo, don't you? My husband thinks I'm a worry wart.

Thanks for your input on any of this!

Marguerite

 

[Ross]

I side with you hubby this time. I don't think there's a need to premedicate her. It's really not that big of a deal as your doctor says. In fact, there has been some discussion that makes me wonder if the antibiotics do anything at all besides cost you money.

 

[tobagotwo]

Yes, Marge, you're a horrible mother...

Fortunately for you, all of us other horrible parents have had equally foolish and outrageous oversights, tripped over our own kids, closed doors on their tiny fingers, tromped unknowing on their pudgy little toes, or unintentionally whacked them with elbows, tools, or kitchen implements when our brains were otherwise occupied. It's amazing any of them live to grow up at all.

I wouldn't premedicate, if it were my daughter. I would be more concerned about the possible psychological damage from the frantic premedication than the extremely remote possibility of her getting a heart infection from a cleaning (even after 18 months).

She sounds young and healthy. If so, let her live that way. I wouldn't premedicate without a confirmed diagnosis. As far as I am aware, there is no actual evidence that shows that premedication works effectively as a preventative anyway. I agree with your dentist.

My two cents.

Best wishes,

 

[MelissaM]

Just to throw a monkey wrench in this thread, I thought I would post.

I went through life for 30 years without any mention of a heart murmur. Never showed up on medical records, in pre-op, or in general physicals. Two years ago, I went in for thyroid surgery (with all of the requisite pre-op tests) and BAM - came down with sub-acute bacterial endocarditis. The onslaught of this infection was slow and insidious. Over the course of six weeks, very subtle symptoms grew. Doctors told me it was stress, depression - anything but a real, life-threatening illness . If it hadn't been caught at the last minute, I would have died.

My previously undetected prolapsing mitral valve was the culprit. No murmur, no signs (outside of slight dizziness, which I dismissed), no warning.

It's worth an echo to double check for valves that enable this silent killer.

Melissa

 

[Harpoon]

No premedication unless it's indicated by a known heart condition or related issue.


This doesn't include the "possibility" she might have a bicuspid valve through genetic predisposition...



Why bother really? On one side, premedicating isn't all that harmful. It makes your pee stink for a day or tow and it's a pain in the ass to get those pills down exactly an hour before you see your dentist, but it really doesn't create a major inconvienence for most. On the other side, the risk of contracting endocarditis through a dental cleaning isn't all that clear either and most of us who are on prophylaxis are on it to minimize whatever risk there might be even further because endocarditis for us would be almost certainly a death sentence, or at least a one way ticket to heart transplant.


She's strong, she's healthy, she's VERY active, and she hasn't shown any signs of a heart condition through regular physical examination. She experiences some odd "chest pains" once in a while but the doctor's probably right, it's more likely from her screwy diet than a heart problem if she's so active in volleyball.

If she's got good dental hygene otherwise, brushes regularly and flosses and uses mouthwash then I don't think it should really be that serious of an issue.

Heck, you might be able to argue a good brushing and rinse with Listerine before seing the dentist would do as much good as taking antibiotics for her! =)

 

[gijanet]

No, you are not................

No, you are not................

If you were truly a horrible mother, you wouldn't give a rat's rear end one way or the other!

Just my two cents' worth, which is worth about .5 cents with inflation:

Give the antibiotic. What can it possibly hurt? It's not like your daughter is going to build up a resistance to antibiotics after one short-term dose.

And get the echo for your peace of mind if nothing else. That said, do make sure that you have a "grow-up" insurance plan taken out for your daughter - one that she can continue for life. If she truly does have a heart defect (I pray not!), I can tell you from first-hand experience that no life insurance companies will touch her after the diagnosis..........maybe years down the road, but no time soon.

Many hugs and let us know what you decide to do and how the appointment goes. Take care and God bless............

 

[Marguerite53]

Thanks

Thanks

Thanks so much for the input. We're back from the dentist. I talked it over with my daughter and she also thought I was crazy and so I popped some extra vitamins into her and kept the antibiotics in a jar.

Maybe a good thing I saved the antibiotics. NOW she has 4 wisdom teeth ready for surgical removal!! All are impacted with no room to grow in. I knew this when she had braces years ago (that she had 4 and there probably wouldn't be any room). I forgot all about them. Of course. Horrible mother strikes again. She's only 16 (hm, 17 next week) so it's not a calamity. We have time -- it's not an emergency situation.

I am definitely taking her in for an echo though, and especially before we get her wisdom's out. I appreciate the comment about life insurance but I was able to get good insurance as an adult with BAV diagnosis already in place because the prognosis at the time was so excellent. I guess I don't see that as a problem given what my experience was.

Well, thanks again. I listened!! I really appreciated your advice.

Marguerite