MY SHAME WHEN DENTIST TOOK OUT MY BABY’S TOOTH
KELLY MONIE, 24, is studying health and social policy. She lives in Barking, East London, with her son Kayden, 19 months, and says: TWO months ago, I found myself in a dentist’s chair with my baby son on my lap crying. The dentist and I had just spent ten minutes trying to coax Kayden into opening his mouth so that she could examine his teeth.
But he was in so much pain that he refused to open wide. I felt awful. In the end I had to sit in the dentist’s chair and hold Kayden’s head back.
He had started to feel pain in his mouth two weeks earlier. He can’t yet talk properly, so he could only communicate by crying ‘Mummy, Mummy’ and rubbing his mouth.
All of his teeth were through, so I knew he wasn’t teething. I could see that one of his front teeth was coming loose. When we walked into the dentist’s office I burst into tears.
But instead of the telling-off I was expecting, the dentist said she sees more and more children of his age with the same problem.
The tooth was so rotten that Kayden didn’t need anaesthetic. The area was washed with salt and water before it was pulled, and Kayden was given painkillers for a week. His gums were so sore he couldn’t eat for 48 hours.
It isn’t that he has a phobia about cleaning his teeth. He enjoys brushing every morning and every night.
I’ve always thought Kayden’s diet was healthy. We sit down together for breakfast, when he’ll have cereal. At lunchtime I’ll make pasta or rice then soup in the evenings. If he wants a snack it’ll be an apple, grapes or some strawberries.
When he was younger, he drank baby orange juice, but I had cut that out before his teeth started hurting. I’ve since learned it can be very high in natural sugars.
But Kayden will do anything for sweets. Since he lost his tooth I have had to fight to stop him eating them. His other weakness is lollipops. They’re at his height in the supermarket, so it’s a nightmare trying to keep him away from them.
While I’ve been reassured his tooth will come through again, I am determined to keep him away from sugarladen treats. I would do anything for Kayden, yet I know I’ve let him down.