Trip to the dentist

As soon as we started maintenance phase, we asked the doctor if Olivia can see the dentist again. She has the clearance to do so and today was her 3rd visit since birth. Her first couple visits prior to diagnosis were good and she had no cavities at all. In today's visit, we found out that she has a couple of cavities. It is most likely because of her diet.

I somehow feel guilty  allowing her to eat a lot of sweets that could cause cavity, but it's just hard to say no to her especially if that's all she wants to eat. That's one of the things that's hard with chemo. Their taste buds are so different and there's specific types of food they only want to eat. Drinking a lot of chocolate Pediasure in the middle of the night doesn't help either.

That being said, she will need to get evaluated if we need to fix her cavities. She will have to go through sedation for the procedure. The risk of not fixing it could cause the cavity to reach the nerves, which can lead to an infection. That is the last thing we want to happen. Because she is still in chemo treatment, wherein chemo lowers her blood counts, there's a risk of bleeding too if her platelets are too low. And of course in any dental procedure, theres always a risk of getting an infection. At this point, she will need to be evaluated by another dentist we were referred to and we would need to discuss with her oncologist if it is even worth fixing the cavity now or wait till she is done with treatment.

Olivia's last checkup was Friday last week. Her blood counts were good and she has been in good health. There are days when she would look pale, but as long as her counts are good, we try not to worry too much.