Missing Muse

my son has brought to my attention today that he has a red swollen sore in the front of his mouth on his gums. I think it is pretty large maybe 1/4 centimeter. I am consurned because my son just about a month ago had problems with his gums they hurt realy bad because he had a bad sinus infection.I dont know if this is a canker sore, or something more serious.He says his mouth does not hurt.He is extremly frightend by going to the dentist he had two horrifying experiences.If anybody had any information i would greatly apreciate it.Also i have the hardest time getting him to brush his teath.I have to chase him around for like a 1/2 hour and then he does not want to coaperate with me so i am afraid that i am not getting his hole mouth clean because he is kicking and screaming he hates brushing his teath.If anyone has gone through this before and have any tips on how i can get him to coaperate that would be wonderful.thank you.
can you get canker sores on the gums?I dont believe i ever have had one there.

Yes, you can get a canker sore on the gums (known as an apthus ulcer) but they are very painful and I’m sure he’d let you know that it hurts. I have a few questions for you…is the sore near any tooth that has any kind of blackness or discoloration OR a large chip in it? Also, if you gently push on the "sore" does anything come out of it, kind of like a pimple? If something can be expressed from it, it’s a draining fistula, which is a tunnel through the bone under an infected tooth that lets the pus in an abcess drain away. If an abcess drains, it won’t cause any pain in many cases. That’s also why I asked if you can detect any decay (the blackness I mentioned) in a tooth near the area. If he’s such a reluctant brusher, he could quite possibly have a decayed tooth, OR he could have a canker sore (which is viral and there’s not much you can do about it but wait it out and some folks use a salt water rinse to swish around which seems to take some of the sting away but you said it’s not hurting him). The only other thing is that if it’s such a struggle when you do brush, he might have banged the gums with the brush and caused a sore from that. Hard to tell you over the internet, without seeing him in person.
I’m a dental hygienist and I love working with kids…it’s very important to me to make sure they have a fun and friendly visit, we are so crazy at my office! I just wish I could bring him to my place (I’m in central Illinois) but I know ours is not the only kid-friendly office out there. If he has had bad experiences at the dentists in the past, you MUST find a different doctor. It’s very hard for kids to get over that bad experience, it takes alot of time and patience to bring a child back to that level of trust again. I show the kids everything I’m going to use, tell them everything I’m going to do first, let them try the mirror and the "water gun" themselves first, etc. My feeling is that fear is based on the unknown and the lack of having control over a situation. My patients (adult and children both) can raise a hand and I will stop immediately if they have any questions or problems (which gives them a sense of control). The fear is alleviated as they get to have more positive experiences than negative ones and that starts to outweigh the bad ones. Ask around and see if someone you know can recommend an office that works well with kids. You really need to have this checked if it’s a draining fistula, or if it doesn’t resolve on it’s own in a couple days.
As far as getting him to brush, you know your child and what works best with him. Some respond to "bribery", some to funny antics and others are just testing you to see how far they can push you (there is nothing painful about brushing a normal childs teeth, so I think alot of his struggle is a power play with you). I made it kind of a fun thing for my own 2 kids, I’d brush their teeth first (to be sure it was done right), while making up a silly song and then THEY got to brush right after I finished to check and see if mommy missed anything. They loved to show me "spit bubbles" on their brushes and tell me that was "gunk" I missed. They were so pleased with themselves that they did a better job than their mom! You’ll find some kind of trick that works, but above all, don’t give in and let his oral care slide. Sooner or later, he’s going to need a dental visit and the better you take care of things at home, the easier his visits will be. I have always told my kids that their health care is NOT open to negotiations. There are some things in life you just have to do and they don’t get to argue with getting vaccinations, dr. checkups, etc. Whew! It’s tough being a mom sometimes!
Good luck to you!!