Monday 22 September 2014

Troublesome Teeth! ⌗whatsthestory


So things developed rapidly since DD was complaining of toothache last week when, on Wednesday morning, she woke up to a puffy cheek on one side looking like a sleepy chipmunk.

Fortunately, we had recently done the paperwork to have the kids registered with DH's dentist, so he whizzed over to hand them in and then booked an emergency appointment for DD. 
With the appointment booked for after lunch, DH had to go back to work so I nervously took her in. However, the lady dentist was lovely, putting Chloe at ease, and she eagerly clambered into the chair. The examination confirmed decay in one of her baby molars which was causing an abscess to develop, hence the swelling, so she drew up a prescription for antibiotics and we made an appointment for next week to have the tooth removed.
DD seemed unperturbed by this news, only focussing on the silver lining of having £1 from the tooth fairy afterwards!

Having taken two doses of antibiotics by bedtime I was expecting to see some improvement by morning, but although the cheek didn't look any worse, she had a slight bruise under the eye. I was a bit concerned but DH said to carry on taking the antibiotics for the day to give it a chance to work and, as she was fine in herself, eating and drinking normally, we decided to wait. It didn't seem to get worse by the end of the day but it also didn't seem to be lessening.

However, this morning she woke to find her eye more swollen so we immediately decided to take her to A&E at Stoke. She was still well otherwise so I wasn't panicked, I just wanted the infection cleared up.

We were seen very quickly and A&E was quiet, but once we'd explained the situation to two different staff members, the doctor explained that they couldn't drain it as it was too specialised and that she probably needed a stronger dose but as she advised we go back to the dentist anyway, then they could write the prescription.

So back to the dentist we dutifully went, who seemed bewildered as to why the hospital couldn't do the draining as other hospitals in the Hertfordshire area she dealt with offered that service. She decided to have a go at draining the abscess which was a horrible, painful procedure for poor DD and unfortunately only a small amount came out, so it was back to A&E again, this time armed with a letter and pre-visit phone call from the dentist!

More waiting, rehashing of events and paperwork, we were finally transferred over to Oxford where they had specialists in the field who would extract the troublesome tooth along with a couple of wobbly ones and a molar on the opposite side to balance it up!

DD was very happy to learn that she would be asleep whilst they did this so she wouldn't feel anything, unlike at the dentist's, and that she would be getting even more money from the tooth fairy!
After a good sleep she woke the next morning feeling "starving" and after two rounds of toast, yogurt and juice she was feeling much better and the doctor said she could go home once the medicine was ready.

So, the moral of this story is, even though I wasn't keen on dentists, I wished I had seen one regularly for their check ups as this could all have been avoided!

A much happier DD now the
troublesome tooth has gone!


2 comments:

  1. That really does look painful, at least she got some money from the tooth fairy for her tooth. Glad you got it all sorted. Popping in from What's the Story.

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  2. I find it fun that she was only interested in the money! Glad to hear she's better.

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