H is three and a half, and generally she has really good teeth. However, one day a year or more ago I noticed one of her front teeth was a little darker than the rest – it wasn’t obvious, it was one of those things you notice way before everyone else and they all think you’re going mad (a bit like when I spotted her squint). In December last year when she got chicken pox a mysterious spot appeared on her gum.

Now this bit may be me being overdramatic, but it’s where I feel like a rubbish parent. I work four days a week and only realised the spot hadn’t cleared fairly recently. A bit of a google and we had an answer (of sorts) – that it could be an abscess, which made me feel rotten – how could I not have noticed? There’s nothing quite like parental guilt. Fortunately H has been in no pain at all, but regardless, I got an appointment at the dentist yesterday, where he confirmed it wasn’t an abscess but was something bothering the nerve. The discoloured tooth is also wobbly – not horribly so, but things aren’t right (and could get worse).

H is now being referred to our local hospital to an Orthodontic Nurse who will try to save the tooth, or worst case, extract it. We’ll find out when in the next month or so – and it’ll be a day in hospital as she’s so young and she’ll be knocked out with gas for them to do it.

At some point in the past she’s bumped that area, and has nerve damage. I’d mentioned it to her dentist in the past and we were keeping an eye on it… but missed this.

Right now we have no answers, but in the next month or two we will, all being well. If you’re in a similar position, this is what H’s mouth currently looks like:

Right now I’m looking for as many books as possible about losing teeth – we’ve got ‘Topsy & Tim go to the Dentist’, and Peppa Pig’s ‘Tooth Fairy’ book, if you’re reading this and have any recommendations please let me know!