**Collaborative post**
I’m not sure if I ever told you about Harry’s accident last year. We were at his Grandad’s house playing in the garden, kids running around happily as usual when Harry fell over, tripping over his own feet. An accident all children have often, only this time he fell hitting his face on a ladder resting against the garage wall splitting his gum badly and hitting his teeth.
After 15 minutes the bleeding wouldn’t calm down so off to A&E we went. There wasn’t anything they could do other than pain relief but at that time we were unsure of the damage as couldn’t see for blood.
Around a week later his tooth went black and the dentist advised it was dead but to leave for now and hopefully they’d be no damage to his adult teeth but time would tell.
2 weeks ago after a trip to the park, Harry lost his footing on the roundabout and hit his face into the metal bar. Cue lots more blood and a run home for ice packs and flannels.
It was then we discovered he’d hit his teeth badly again. A call to the dentist secured an appointment for the next day. That morning before we went, while brushing his teeth, I discovered his front tooth was actually wobbly.
Teeth extraction referral
At the dentist we discovered it was worse than we’d feared. No leaving it to see what happens this time but a referral to have both front teeth extracted under sedation with a warning that his adult teeth may well be affected. He could end up needing lots of dental work once he is older and they could grow back black, discoloured or even wonky……but we won’t know for a few years as only being 3 and 3/4 his adult teeth aren’t due to come through for a few years yet.
He was given antibiotics to help fight off infection and to reduce the swelling.
A week later he developed an abscess above his top tooth so we went back to the dentist. Another course of antibiotics were given with a word of warning his referral could take up to 9 months.
The next day his referral letter actually came through for me to make an appointment……7th April was the earliest date available.
We’ve been told he will keep getting these abscesses; he is in agony from it and it’s doubled in size to the size of a marble.
I’m to keep calling regularly to see if we can get a cancellation appointment or we can go private and he will be seen and treated within the month for a cost of around £300 – this could be more is any other treatment is needed.
Another option is to go to the dental hospital in London – St Thomas‘, explain our situation and what our dentist has advised and they maybe able to do it there…..but it’s not a guarantee.
As much as I love the NHS in this country and it’s not let my children down yet I feel it has on this occasion. Harry can’t eat on his front teeth as they are too sore so is eating at the side of his mouth and he can’t eat any hard foods…eating this way until April will misalign his jaw and cause even more problems and I will not let him stay in pain any longer, especially seeing as these painful abscess’ will reoccur.
I’ll be phoning to see if there are any cancellations this week and making an appointment to see Paul’s Dad’s private dentist this week for his opinion on what to do, as well as searching around for oral surgery Essex to see if I can get another opinion – hopefully this will be sorted very quickly that way as there is NO way on earth I’m waiting for that appointment in April, if it needs paying for then so be it!
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Ouch! Painful story. Something similar happened to my boy. Our dentist took care of it fast and easy!
Sorry to hear this, It’s shocking that you wait til April.
That’s absolutely ridiculous to have to wait until April – I’d definitely be going private too x
Oh my goodness, poor little man. It’s quite shocking that you’re having to wait until April for it to be properly sorted. Let’s hope you manage to get a cancellation appointment or are lucky with St Thomas’
Poor Harry. I can totally understand why you would pay privately for treatment as April is too long to wait. I hope he feels better soon x
One of my worst nightmares! I can’t deal with anything medical let alone teeth extraction!
Oh my poor Harry, that abscess looks awful. I did think that they would not treat teeth if there was an abscess present anyway but waiting until next April is ridiculous. I’d take him to the dental hospital once the abscess was gone. My neice had to have her teeth out at three but her adult ones, although it felt like they took forever to come through, were fine. She’s in her 20s now.
Oh bless him – poor mite. Can you take out private dental insurance to get this sorted, its not that expensive and will save you loads of money and hopefully get it fixed asap
I don’t think people realise how easy it is to hurt your teeth. Good luck I hope all gets fixed.
It’s not the NHS that’s let you down, it’s the government. Where I live, my husband waited 6 weeks from referral to having his wisdom tooth out at the hospital so it must depend hugely on the area and funding.
I’d go private, many dentists offer payment plans too. Months of pain and antibiotics sounds awful, especially for such a little one!
Oh no! Poor Harry – accidents with teeth like this are quite common but distressing. My friend’s daughter had the same thing – her tooth went black but thankfully when the adult teeth came through she was absolutely fine.
That’s utterly ridiculous! Oral health has a huge bearing on overall health. If he keeps getting abscesses then he’ll keep digesting all kinds of nasties and end up on repeated antibiotics. How is that better or cheaper than getting him into hospital quickly and removing them? The NHS is a real mess because they aren’t allowed to treat anything as urgent or even important unless it is an emergency. If they’d done my hernia in 2010 when I first went to the doctors it was a 10 minute local op. Instead I had to wait 2 years before my first operation, and ended up back in 3 years later for major surgery, adding up to 6 hours on the table and thousands of pounds of painkillers and anti-emetics and all the rest, and it’ll never be ‘perfect’ and will likely fail again in time. It’s insane. Poor lad.
I love the NHS, but right now it is a mess.
Oh no poor thing. It is really bad that he has to wait for April…..but sadly this seems to be a common story at the moment….people waiting months to be seen!!
I really hope you manage to get a cancellation soon
Ah, poor thing. My neighbour’s son had something similar but his adult teeth came through fine so fingers crossed for your little man.
Oh no. Poor Harry. I bet that’s so uncomfortable for him as well. My nephew had his two bottom teeth extracted after he got them caught on a dog crate. Luckily they were able to deal with it quickly and because they live in Dubai have it covered by health insurance. I would try St Thomas’ as it could work out worth it.
So sorry to hear this. My sons have been unlucky with their teeth also.
The eldest has a condition which means that his teeth corrode really easily causing tons of pain and dentist appointments. We have gone private with him and a small fortune later, he has 2 crowns to try and protect the teeth and has had loads of repair jobs.
Our middle son fell over and hit his teeth on the back of our eldest and now has a dead front tooth. Dentist said it will come out eventually and cause no problem to the new teeth but it does look off colour
It seems so common for children of this age to bump their teeth sadly, sorry to hear you have to go private to sort your son’s teeth – it shouldn’t be the case really
Oh my goodness. Poor little man, that looks so painful and what a worry for you too! I can’t believe the earliest the NHS could fit you in is April! That’s crazy! Fingers crossed that an alternative becomes available. I hope he feels better soon x
I know – it’s really crazy isn’t it