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THE MOTHER OF a four-year-old girl in Dublin has said she feels like she has nowhere to turn after finding out her little girl would have to undergo multiple tooth extractions under local anaesthetic or face waiting months for the procedure under general anaesthetic.
Aisling O’Neill told TheJournal.ie that her daughter Georgia was put on a course of antibiotics for two mouth abscesses but has been told that two of her back teeth will now have to be removed.
The dentist told her this would have to be done under local anaesthetic but O’Neill explained her little girl would never be able to sit still during two tooth extractions.
You can’t expect a four year old to sit in a chair and let someone do that. I know my own child. When they tried to drain the abscess she was hopping off the chair screaming. I just know she’d be hysterical, she’s only four, she’s still a baby really.
O’Neill said she worries that if she were allow her daughter to undergo the procedure under general anaesthetic, she would be “traumatised”.
I don’t want her in years to come having an awful fear of going to the dentist because of that.
The mother of four has been told that Georgia will now have to be referred to the National Dental University Hospital where there is a long waiting list and the four year old could be left waiting for months. In the meantime, her mother says she is in “absolute agony” and, because of her age, she can not take the kinds of strong painkillers that would be prescribed for adults in this situation.
“It’s absolutely heartbreaking. I’m watching my own daughter suffer and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Bill Fenlon, who is a paediatric dentist in Dublin, told TheJournal.ie that in general, it may be possible to complete the treatment on a child this age under local anaesthetic but this always depends on the cooperation of the child and the skill of the dental team.
The long term risk of developing dental fear and anxiety is related to our early dental experiences; if these experiences are positive then we are less likely to develop dental fear and anxiety. Dental extractions under local anaesthetic are the worst introduction to dentistry and may result in dental fear and anxiety.
Up until September of last year, the HSE provided a dental extraction service at St James’ Hospital and this was done under general anaesthetic. It provided care for around 2,500 people a year.
“Since this has ceased there are many young children left untreated until they develop symptoms such as pain and swelling,” Fenlon said. “I am seeing more and more of these children.”
When contacted by TheJournal.ie, the HSE said it is not in a position to comment on individual patients and that these decisions are made on a case by case basis.
It acknowledged that some children are unable to tolerate having treatment under local anaesthetic and but decisions to do it under general anaesthetic is not based on age. Rather, it “balances the level of treatment required, the urgency of the treatment, the level of infection being managed and the risks attacked to general anaesthetic.”
“Many children of 4 years of age are able to complete a variety of treatment plans in the dental surgery including extractions, conversely some children of 12 are unable to complete dental extractions in a dental surgery setting. The majority of dental treatment is carried out in a dental surgery setting, with exceptional circumstances requiring general anaesthetic referrals.”
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For gods sake, my 5 year old just went under double eye surgery and was on a waiting list for 4 years but I didn’t moan and whine because there was children waiting longer than my daughter.
This mother has solutions and is just out for a sad story or to get something for nothing.
She should be ashamed of herself if her daughter is in agony and she has options.
Sam that’s disgusting your child had to wait so long for surgery. No child should have to suffer. So I would think you would empathize more with this mother trying to do the best for her daughter instead of tearing her down. Maybe if parents stood together and expected better for their children we would have better.
Any chance she should have brushed her child’s teeth??
Fiona I did everything to push the surgery up trust me.
This woman is lucky to have options for her child, it has nothing to do with empathy for her but more for the child with the parent who refuses to have this sorted rather than let her child suffer.
As for waiting four years for my daughters surgery? Disgusting it is but welcome to the Public Health Service in Ireland for the last five years.
Most parents would love to ease their child’s agony and would happily opt for another solution if available but unfortunately for most there isn’t.
I have the upmost sympathy for this poor little girl but not the mother.
Meanwhile dun laoghaire spent 36 million on a library and is considering building a beach, while just down the road on the west pier millions of gallons of water from a burst water pipe are flooding into the sea but it’s no one’s responsibility. Children can’t see a dentist but our tds cost 8.5 million. I don’t think this country will ever be right.
Exactly , you beg & borrow to go pay private ,
I brushed my teeth carefully but had awful trouble with them. I had very weak teeth where my sister’s teeth were very strong. Some of us just get a bad shake of the dice.
Why did her mother not take care of her dental health? This level of decay is caused by poor oral hygiene. Also, tooth removal under local anaesthetic is not ‘agony’. This is exaggeration by the mother for press so she can get what she wants for free.
My thoughts precisely. She is being offered 2 solutions; local and general but refuses both. No sympathy for the situation but do feel bad for the child. But dental hygiene is a parental
Responsibility. Shame on the mother.
Kitty how on earth do you know what is wrong with the child? Have you physically examined her? Very quick to judge. And in any event, it’s hardly the child’s fault, even if that is the case.
And have you tried to extract multiple, back teeth from an adult, never mind a four year old?
It’s impossible to explain to a child of that age what’s going on and it is simply cruel to expect any parent to allow that kind if treatment under a local.
The local itself can really hurt, the child could then become hysterical and that’s before any attempt to try remove the teeth. Traumatic and unnecessary and solely down to funding.
It could be due to multiple factors, genetics, other illnesses, not always due to a bad dental routine
Mothers can’t be expected to do everything. Where was the father in all of this?
Kitty is that you professional medical opinion given the medical notes published in the article. Do you not think the mother distraught enough without your judgement ?
She put it on a public forum, judgement is par for the course.
She is also asking the public to cover the unnecessary cost of it*…
Are the public good enough to pay for it but not allowed to pass judgment?
*the general anesthesia not the procedure
Kitty it doesn’t matter how often you brush your teeth if you have week enamel due to genetics you are screwed. That on top of antibiotics every time a tooth is cut due to chest infection and my daughter was breastfed till 2.5 YEARS.
Her enamel was that weak she couldn’t even eat fruit as a snack. The acid in fruit was too severe.
Exactly what I was thinking Kitty, don’t get me wrong its not the child’s fault the poor girl has to suffer, but too many children are fed too many sweets and junk and this is the result, having to put a child that young under GA for something that is so avoidable is ridiculous, people don’t understand the dangers of GA.
Parents would want to cop on and stop shoving a lollipop in their kids mouth to keep them quiet, or juice in their bottles etc.
Absolutely no need for decay and abscesses at such a young age.
Don’t care what anyone says, having teeth going that bad at such a young age is down to the parents and and the parents alone
Lily that’s fair enough but majority of the time it is not the reason for kids getting teeth out, if she had such weak enamel, her mother still had a responsibility to keep sugary and acidic foods to a minimum and increase dental hygiene, abcesses are cause by bacteria that find there way in through cavaties, I mean its common sense.
Kitty. WRONG. Not all tooth decay is caused by poor oral hygiene. My own daughter had tooth decay and it was because at the time her teeth came through she was going through poor health and it affected her teeth.
That’s not true Lily, genetics can have a role to play to but decay is down to one thing and one thing only.
Massive exaggeration from the mother. Why would she even want the risk of general anesthetic for a simple double extraction where local will do the job and be much safer?
How to get the child to sit still? Erm… parenting?
They don’t even require parenting anymore…
Kid safe sedatives like midazolam and a TV over the dentist chair that plays spongebob. Kid will be lucky to remember she even had anything done even at the dentist.
My daughter had her back teeth removed under GA. I think I was waiting 6 months. However, if she needed them out desperately there are dentists who do sedation, I would have brought her there.
This is great news.
Its all to do with how you explain all this to the little girl. Ways and means!. All she would feel is the gum injection and no more pain. Dentist are not like in the 50′s and 60′s where they would pull the mouth off you and you just have to get on with it.
She could be a hero if the Mother approached this in the correct manner.
@ Potty. Children don’t even feel the injection there is a gel that numbs before the injection is given, i asked my Dentist for it before a filling, it was great no pain
Been there done that… Two impacted teeth local anesthetic, oral sedation. Absolutely no big deal and don’t remember a thing.
Creating a dramatic story to shame the health service where there is none. You should know that the most dangerous part of any surgical procedure is the anesthetic and a general greatly increases the risk to her daughters life. she’s gambling her life vs. her (perceived) comfort.
Government vs child and drew sides with government. Classy.
Dr vs. Child and Drew sides with the medical professional.
Thats true, there is a lot of evidence that general anesthetic can pose a risk to children’s brain development esp under 5s. Thars way municipal fluoridation is so important cause it shows 75% less under 5s requiring such operations than in unfluoridated areas
Anywhere in Ireland unfluoridated Ken?
Roughly 85% fluoridated in the republic but northern ireland completly unfluoridated which makes it easy to compare. 67% more cavities up there among 15 year olds which roughly translates to 3 or 4 extra fillings a year.
Maybe they can afford sweets?
You mean 3-4 extra fillings total or by the time they grow up….If it was 3-4 extra a year and that equated to 67% more. Those kids would have had 130 total fillings. That’s nuts.
Unfortunately its the former, fillings only last so long as I myself can testify. Of course extractions and dentures will happen long before you get to 130.
Will u fluoridation flutes feck off….too much sugary juice..the kid needs to get her teeth sorted….
For all of you jumping the gun about poor dental hygiene it is not always the case with young children. My own niece has mega dental issues caused by being ill when she was a baby and the medication she was on affected her teeth. That being said, her mother has made sure she saved enough money to pay for her future dental treatment she did not sit on her ass hoping she could get it done for free!
Case by case, in others words they say no until you make a scene.
The HSE is far more competent than people give them credit for.
As kid I can remember being taken to the dental hospital for all manner of dental work under local anaesthetic because my parents could afford to pay for a dentist. If your child us suffering you’ll find a way, I’m struggling to have any sympathy for these parents.
*couldn’t
My daughter was 3 when she had 10 teeth removed under general anaesthetic. We waited 3-4 months to be called she then got chicken pox and we had to wait a further 6 weeks. This was 13 years ago. She then had 2 more teeth removed at 6 in the dental surgery under local anaesthetic.
She has no fear of the dentist and sees one every 6 months.
That’s an awful lot of teeth for a.child of such a young age to lose when it is so avoidable
Like in my childhood, under gas in the dentist’s chair….??? I am still here and I am not ‘terrified’ of dentists…. just saying
Go to credit union and beg borrow or steal the money!! Sorry but as a father of 3 I’d do what I had to, to ensure what needed to be done got done ASAP,
Appalling!
The sooner this government is booted out the better.
Yes it will be all fixed immediately by any new government!
The sooner a mother teaches her chins dental hygiene the better.
Chins don’t have teeth my friend.
Yeah those old chins are an awful divil to keep clean LOL!
Let’s not hope it replaced by sinn fein. Its anti fluoridation policy will increase cavities by over 50 % according to the last dental health survey
Disregard whatever opinion you have of the hse and think about if you were the parent of that child. Would you or would you not pay any amount of money to take your child out of this pain? If it were me I wouldn’t have had the time to moan about waiting lists as I would be too busy selling anything of value to sort my child out. She is your child and your responsibility just get it done!
My Daughter needed 6 teeth to removed when she was about 4.
I’m not in any way wealthy , actually I was on very low income at the time. I didn’t take holidays for years . I didn’t get much , only every few months. I could barely pay my bills.
Yet….Somehow , I got the money together to bring her to a private clinic and get her the treatment she needed.
It is really frustrating to listen to people who insist on the state paying for everything . Even if it means waiting 4 months and letting their child suffer.
No patience with this. Her Daughter needs treatment. Pull out all the stops and get it done..
How to get a 4 year old to sit still for tooth extractions…parenting??! Are you actually seriously making that comment? You obviously don’t have a 4 year old. It would be practically impossible!
Jayniemac, they dont give a flying one about the child or the mother’s dilema. To them its a case of someone showing up the HSE and the government over cuts made to healthcare, that is never to be highlighted under any circumstances. We all live in a utopia under this FG/Lab fascist government, and we should be grateful.
If you explain to the child that it will make them better and build them up for it then they have time to let it sink in. My 4 year has 4 vials of blood taken last week and didnt budge an inch when the needle went in.
brushing their teeth twice a day and less sweets is probably the better way to avoid the dental chair!
Mummy should have made sure she brushed her teeth, like she said “she’s only a baby really”.
Makes my blood boil when children have to undergo the potential dangers of a general anaesthetic for something as simple a teeth brushing.
It’s borderline neglect.
Dont dare anyone blame the cut backs imposed by the HSE. Blame the mother and the child. They are the ones responsible for the cuts. The FG/Lab shills here are pathetic. Some kids at 4yrs of age will be able to take the extractions needed under local anaesthetic, many wont. I would trust the mother to know her own child. If it weren’t for cut backs, the service would be available.
Blame the cutbacks… I’m applauding them.
Unnecessary
Extremely costly
Risky
A legal liability
Based on an irrational fear
Nearly all medical practitioners would advise against anesthesia unless ABSOLUTELY necessary.
This is exactly the kind of cutbacks that should be being targeted.
At 4 they have to be baby teeth so shouldn’t be that bad but if there is a reason for the decay it could mean that they are really sensitive and a local anesthetic might not work. My 8 year old has no enamel on his four back adult teeth and he will need them out at some stage soon. This was caused by antibiotics given to him when these teeth formed in his gums the dentist said that she wouldn’t do it and that he would need a general anesthetic because a local wouldn’t work and that the timing is important because his mouth is overcrowded too.
If she is so worried could she not pay for it ?!,
Any children do, but if you continue like that she will not even go to the dentist, life is hard
That should be many not any, these fat fingers.
Enda €3,500 a week leader will be along shortly to say everything is good.
The 17 so far red thumbs care to tell me why they disagree with me?
Kerry, dont be bothered by the colour of the thumbs. They are a vindication that you are correct. The fascist shills are all over this thread defending cuts to children’s health care. Same faceless trolls trying to defend the indefensible. They are afraid to show their anonymous faces on others.
A toothbrush, less sugar and helping the child to brush her teeth properly would have saved a whole lotta hassle.!!!!!!!
Wait until Barry Lyttle lands back from Australia and he’ll administer multiple extractions with his quick fist!
Fack off love!!!!
Well Fine Gael don’t care how much a child has to suffer – Fine Gael / Labour prefer to spend money giving tax breaks to their rich friends.
400,000 on waiting lists and how many on hospital trollies but Fine Gael / Labour spend our money putting water meters into the ground, paying Gardaí to protect water meter installers and giving tax breaks to Fine Gael / Labours friends.
And the sick languish on trollies .. in PAIN …. or waiting lists . But FG / Labour don’t care ….
NERVER AGAIN FG / Lab or FF !!!
Bill and you obviously don’t care about tuning a child’s pain into a convenient political.football. The mother has a solution. She should use it instead of trying for the ideal and rather more risky alternative.
4 year waiting list for paediatric orthodontics in cork.
At the end if the day it’s a 4yr old in serious pain. Should she have to put up with that because her parents can’t afford it??? Some serious winkers on this news app. Grow up.
Another spoilt brat!!
Ah dave, being anonymous doesn’t change my opinion…shes still a spoilt brat! Ohhh the drama!!!
“The risks attacked to general anesthetic” ?? Anyone proofreading here? Ever?
No …it seems the grandmother is completely helpless too !!!
I had 4 teeth extracted when I was 10. It was done under local anesthetic. Even with the numbing gel and Novocain, it still hurt like hell. After the third tooth was pulled, I jumped out of the chair and tried to get out the door. I did finally get that last tooth pulled but only after I had negotiated a deal for my favorite dinner and ice cream. My point with all of this is that once those teeth were pulled, it was over and I didn’t think about it again until now. That little girl can be taught to sit still to have her teeth pulled and it will hurt but only for a minute. There is no reason for all the whining on her mother’s part, especially when her daughter’s overall health could be at risk by waiting. Abscesses are infections. Untreated infections can spread to the bloodstream causing septicemia, which usually results in death.
Go to GP
What will GP do for teeth!
If infection they’ll send her to a&e and the emergency part of dental hospital
have your say