At the beginning of the year we all trooped off to the dentist for a checkup. I had an awful time at the dental hygienist (two sessions of painful deep cleaning) but it’s over! Dear Husband had a tooth pulled and a clean as well. Nicky… well, it was his first time (mom fail, I know…) but as it turned out he had some cavities which needed filling. He’s too young for it to be done there in the chair so… operation it was.
His x-ray was really interesting because you can see those grown up teeth pushing behind the milk teeth, biding their time to come up! The main problem was in the back tooth but there were three other areas that needed fixing too.
Once a few kids were rounded up for the op they could set a date. We had to be there at 6:30 in the morning. It was a good thing it was so early as I’m not sure how long Nicky would have lasted without food. And it took a good half an hour to fill in all the forms.
Nicky was in good spirits. We brought two books with. One was a book about going to the dentist (which he loves) and the other was Tiny Travellers which has a pop up rocket. He decided jumping up and down on the bed with the rocket yelling “Blast Off!” was a good idea…
At least this gave the anesthetist a good indication that Nicky was A-ok and ready for his op. I had actually phoned him on Thursday all worried because Nicky was still coughing (not badly, but it was still there) and after a chat with a few questions he convinced me all would be fine.
As a special precaution he put Nicky on the nebuliser just in case.
One little girl went in before us and then it was our turn. Nicky was wheeled in. They put a mask on him with some substance which knocked him out. I just held his hands through this part and then they told me to go off and have coffee and come back in 30-45 minutes.
So DH and I went off to Steers. We went back 35 minutes later and it was just in time. The dentist told me to robe up again as he would soon be out.
Nicky was very drowsy and coughing a bit. They did intubate him and also he had a drip in his arm. So that was removed. He coughed up a bit of bloody phlegm. Then we were wheeled back to the ward.
The anesthetist told us once he had had a drink and gone to the toilet we could go. So we put his clothes on and off we went to the loo, after he had had some apple juice.
Then it was time for a chocolate milkshake to celebrate the end of the ordeal.
After this experience, however, we really have to cut down the sugar and also take more care in brushing teeth and flossing. I think one of the first things we are going to make an effort with is to replace juice with water. I haven’t been buying chocolates for a few weeks now. So hopefully making a few changes will mean we don’t have to do this again for a long time…
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