By Most of us have a fear of the dentist. For the rest of her life, young Savannah White is likely to be terrified.
Savannah's mom, Alecia White, took her daughter to have some routine dental work. The dentist informed White that her daughter had four cavities. White consented to have them filled. The dentist sedated 4-year-old Savannah, while White sat in the waiting room. When the procedure was done, the Whites went home, Savannah still feeling groggy.
A short time later, White looked into her daughter's mouth. She was, to put it mildly, shocked. Her daughter's teeth (every single one of them) were capped with silver crowns. Savannah looked a bit like the infamous James Bond villain "Jaws."
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White contacted 3 On Your Side, a consumer rights segment from KTVK-TV in Phoenix. "I didn't expect for her entire mouth to be covered in silver," White explained. "We went in to have a couple of cavities done. ... On a daily basis [Savannah] says, 'Mommy, I don't like my teeth. I don't like my teeth.' And it's really kind of hard to hear every single day."
Investigative reporter Gary Harper contacted Dr. Richard Chaet, former president of the Arizona Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Chaet, who did not perform the procedure, explained that while Savannah's dental work is shocking to look at, it was probably necessary. "This is a child who is obviously very high risk for decay," he said, noting that crowns will save other teeth from deteriorating.
The story does have a happy ending, of sorts. Another dentist saw Savannah and volunteered to put white veneers on Savannah's crowns free of charge. Here's hoping her future trips to the dentist are a lot less traumatic.