Beginning at an early age, Marina Looyen and her husband taught their two young daughters to brush their teeth every morning and every night. The girls were diligent with their dental routine, so in October 2017, Marina wasn't worried when she took 4-year-old Ella to get her annual checkup and teeth cleaning.
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Because of a change to the family's insurance, Ella saw a new dentist in Burnsville, Minnesota, who'd been in practice for over 20 years. But after a problem-free teeth cleaning, the appointment took a bizarre turn.
The dentist emerged from her office and told Marina that Ella had nine cavities, four of which needed crowns that required general anesthesia.
Marina went to school to be a dental assistant and couldn't believe what she was hearing. She felt uncomfortable with the idea of jumping into the procedure that same day, as the dentist urged. She decided to get a second opinion instead.
The second dentist, after redoing Ella's X-rays and looking inside her mouth, had a much different diagnosis.
Marina took to Facebook to share her story with other local moms — and she was stunned when similar stories began pouring in. As it turned out, the Looyen family wasn't the only one to have this type of experience with this particular dentist and the topic of child cavities…
