Last Friday we had our hospital appointment, in the Children’s Dentistry section of our local hospital. After a check up (and being told all of H’s teeth are in excellent condition) we were sent for an x-ray which H did with no fuss at all – she quite enjoyed it and wasn’t at all bothered – I think she found the top she had to wear funny, and indeed the one daddy wore hilarious (only one parent could go into the room so I waited outside).

Once the x-rays were processed (it’s all digital these days) we were sent back to Dentistry with a number on our slip of paper, the consultant called us in and confirmed that H will need an extraction. One of the really interesting things was seeing her grown up teeth formed and waiting to come through – she’s going to have good teeth!

The Consultant suggested the extraction should be done with just a local anaesthetic rather than general – this is by far the best option for us, mainly as it doesn’t involve fasting beforehand or taking a day off work – just an afternoon instead! If H doesn’t like it and won’t keep still then we will need to re-book and have a general, but we were reassured that H will be fine.

I was pleased we got an appointment just three and a half weeks later – and I’m especially pleased it’s a week after her last nursery photo, so she’ll still have two front teeth on that!

So, onwards… these next three weeks are going to fly by so now we’ve just got to prepare her. At the weekend I was chatting with an old friend who recommended the Cbeebies programme ‘Get Well Soon’. We haven’t watched it before but I had heard of it, so headed to the BBC iPlayer which has it on demand – the episode is about injections, many of which H has already had, so we watched it and found it fun – while it doesn’t deal with going to the dentist it’s still showing how important it is and how it doesn’t hurt.

Anyway, onwards.. I’m so proud of my little girl and how she’s just getting on with it – I think it’s worse for us parents!

(the first post about the tooth)

H is three and a half, and generally she has really good teeth. However, one day a year or more ago I noticed one of her front teeth was a little darker than the rest – it wasn’t obvious, it was one of those things you notice way before everyone else and they all think you’re going mad (a bit like when I spotted her squint). In December last year when she got chicken pox a mysterious spot appeared on her gum.

Now this bit may be me being overdramatic, but it’s where I feel like a rubbish parent. I work four days a week and only realised the spot hadn’t cleared fairly recently. A bit of a google and we had an answer (of sorts) – that it could be an abscess, which made me feel rotten – how could I not have noticed? There’s nothing quite like parental guilt. Fortunately H has been in no pain at all, but regardless, I got an appointment at the dentist yesterday, where he confirmed it wasn’t an abscess but was something bothering the nerve. The discoloured tooth is also wobbly – not horribly so, but things aren’t right (and could get worse).

H is now being referred to our local hospital to an Orthodontic Nurse who will try to save the tooth, or worst case, extract it. We’ll find out when in the next month or so – and it’ll be a day in hospital as she’s so young and she’ll be knocked out with gas for them to do it.

At some point in the past she’s bumped that area, and has nerve damage. I’d mentioned it to her dentist in the past and we were keeping an eye on it… but missed this.

Right now we have no answers, but in the next month or two we will, all being well. If you’re in a similar position, this is what H’s mouth currently looks like:

Right now I’m looking for as many books as possible about losing teeth – we’ve got ‘Topsy & Tim go to the Dentist’, and Peppa Pig’s ‘Tooth Fairy’ book, if you’re reading this and have any recommendations please let me know!