Ok, not my story, but Sofi’s.
About a month ago, Sofi had a molar toothache. It was the same molar we’d been fixing with dental fillings. The dentist did an x-ray and, yes, it turned out to be an infection. Sofi had to go on antibiotics and get it treated. The options were either a root canal or an extraction. I didn’t want a root canal on a baby tooth, and extraction on a strong, restored molar felt too invasive, so I asked the dentist to just do another filling, at least temporarily, for as long as it could last.
But since then, she’d been having headaches almost daily, for nearly two weeks. Along the way, she also had other symptoms: chest pain, a high fever (once), and chills. We had her checked, referred to the hospital, and did all the required tests, but everything looked fine because the symptoms didn’t seem connected. Still, I couldn’t keep giving her paracetamol every day. So I decided it was time to go ahead with the molar extraction (assuming the headaches came from the infected molar).
I made the appointment and started preparing her mentally for the procedure.
The dentist suggested using laughing gas to reduce her awareness (basically, to get her a little high), so it wouldn’t be too traumatic. I had a molar extraction last year myself, and yes, it was manageable for an adult without getting high, but for Sofi, it’s different. She’s really scared of anything painful, and molar extraction requires several gum injections while fully awake. So, I agreed to the laughing gas option.
My main worry was: what if I paid for the laughing gas, but they couldn’t proceed for some reason? I’d still be paying RM450 for an untreated molar. On top of that, I still clearly remembered my own extraction and I was nervous imagining Sofi going through it.
But because I knew what would happen, I explained everything to her, step by step. I reminded her daily, even about the painful parts; the shots, the gas, the scary moments. Having to be the adult in the room, with my child trusting me fully, was nerve-wracking.
The gas took about 20 minutes (on the highest setting, I think) before she was half-conscious. I was massaging her foot the whole time, my way of letting her know I was there (she kind of expected it, since I always do that at the dentist). Once the gas kicked in and she got drowsy, the dentist gave her the multiple gum injections. We asked her to close her eyes so she wouldn’t see the needle. Then the difficult molar extraction began. Since we were already there, I asked the dentist to also pull her loose front tooth. I was literally sweating the whole time.
Alhamdulillah, it all went well.
She was a bit woozy on the way home and even managed to snack a little (while still numb). But about an hour later, when the anesthesia wore off, the real drama began. She started crying, rolling around in pain, the whole ordeal. It took another hour before the painkillers kicked in, and eventually, she fell asleep with an ice pack on her cheek.
Even at midnight, she woke up crying from the pain, and I had to give her another round of medicine. She went to school the next day like a champ (on a painkiller) and I prepared all her manageable foods and snacks for school. We will see how long the pain would last (if I'm not mistaken, around 4 days).
I'm proud of my bb.
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Here's the details:
- Laughing Gas: RM 400
- Mask: RM 50
- Difficult extraction: RM 70
- Loose extraction: RM 40
- Medicine: RM 10
Thank you Dr S for being Sofi's trusted dentist since the first visit. He treats Sofi so professionally and ok with explaining to her about the procedure instead of just talking with 'the adult's in the room (and not all dentists/doctors know how to treat kids so I'm very particular on having him instead of other dentist).
She's not scared of going to the dentist then, and even after going through this procedure, she is still fine and ok with dental appointments. I don't want her to be scared of dentist, so I'm glad I started early.