urgent dental advice needed please!

[chickiewoo]

Can anyone offer me any help or reassurance please? My 4 year old DS is due at the dentists tomorrow to have a bottom back tooth extracted. This tooth has been filled twice in the past and was filled for the third time last Friday by our Dentist and by Saturday morning DS's face had swollen so badly he could hardly open his mouth. The on call dentist at the emergency clinic at our local hospital treated him by drilling out the filling and advised me that the tooth should never have been filled as it was dead. The hospital prescribed antibiotics and advised that the tooth should be extracted when the swelling had gone. Needless to say, we had a few restless nights with my poor DS in so much discomfort. I rang our dentist yesterday to book an appointment for the extraction where I was advised she would refer him to our hospital to have it removed under a general anaesthetic - waiting list time approx 4-5 weeks. Today DS in pain, so I rang our dentist again for advice, who has now offered to extract the tooth tomorrow though has said it will be quite traumatic for him. I'm now in a quandary as to whether to put him through this tomorrow and cure the problem or wait for a month for a hospital appointment while he suffers. Has anyone been through a similar situation that could offer me any help/reassurance? Thanks

It might not be that traumatic to have it out. If they use plenty of local anaesthetic, it could be OK. Otherwise the next month could be difficult.

Do you have a dental hospital near you? If you do, give them a phone and explain the situation - the staff there will typically be better at extractions, so it might be less traumatic.

It depends on how your ds is. Did he have local anaesthetic for the fillings? How was he with the fillings? Having a tooth out especially if it has had an abscess can be pretty straightforward. If he is 4 he would usually just need anaesthetic around the tooth, this is a bit stingy. When the tooth comes out there is lots of pushing and wobbling but no pain. I think it would be worth trying it out. Keeps things simple with your son; "The dentist is going to take your poorly tooth out, this will make it all better." Be truthful don't tell him he won't feel the anaesthetic tell him it might pinch but only for a moment. Tell him the tooth fairy will come. Let the dentist and the nurse do the talking but be there to hold his hand if that is what he wants. If he can accept local anaesthetic this is much safer than a general anaethetic.

Dd (4) had a tooth out under LA - the dentist was really calm, I made sure I was incredibly calm (although I didn't feel at all calm inside), she said "owwww" at the injection and the extraction itself was quick and nit traulatic. I think 4 year olds don't visualise what is going on in their mouths so pulling a tooth out if done by a good dentist doesn't need to be traumatic. I also promised a present afterwards for being so brave and talked about that ingreat detail during the procedure so her mind was on that most of the time.

Thanks for your replies - much appreciated. DS is really good at dental/doctors appointments - his fillings were done without anaesthetic and he was fine. He also didn't flinch when he had his pre-school jabs so I do think he will be ok. I was just a bit thrown by the dentist referring him to hospital for the extraction one day and then making an appointment with her for the extraction the next! I'm really not keen on him having a general anaesthetic so the plan is to go ahead with the appointment tomorrow and like you say, be honest with DS about the procedure. I'll let you know how we get on - thanks again x

How did it go? Hope it went well. My ds had a front one removed last week and we were referred to a dental practice specialising in children and he was sedated. TBH I think he could have done it under local and in hindsight the sedation was a bit OTT. Even though he is only 5, I think having the canula was the worst bit for him and having coped wonderfully with that, he would have coped with a local. Like you, raging abcess and 2 lots of anti b's that didn't work, we were desperate and got a cancellation. Hope it went well,

Well, what a morning! I had prepared DS for the extraction when the dentist decided that she would not take the tooth out after all but 'disinfect' and then seal it off. I did query this, but she was adamant that because of the position of the tooth, large root and the large hole where the filling had been drilled out of it (due to her filling it when she shouldn't have done, I may add!) that she could not guarantee removing it in one piece. She reiterated the trauma for my DS and said she would not put her own children through it. I therefore allowed her to continue with the 'sealing' - I would like to say that I'm confident this will do the trick, but I'm not. In any event, she won't remove it, so we have to wait for the hospital appointment to have it extracted under a general anaesthetic which is expected for 4-5 weeks time. He finished his antibiotics today, so fingers crossed he doesn't have any more trouble as he is starting school next Monday! Thanks for all your concern x

Chickie, the disinfecting isn't terribly successful especially on a tooth that has already been abscessed so given your ds's age I would go ahead and have it removed under the GA. In the meantime the cleaning out will hopefully last until then.