Dr Bean says Gingivitis

There was a lump of blood that came out on the finger brush when I brushed her teeth in the morning yesterday and the rest of her gum bled as I brushed her.

So, while discussing about AN's condition over lunch yesterday with Mr Liow's colleague and wife, he recommended we see his daughter's PD for a professional opinion since it won't be easy to find someone who knows of a reputable dentist for toddlers here.

I was surprised at how easy it was to get an appointment with Dr Bean. And the politeness of the staff over the phone. There were lots of details she needed from me which I did not have with me when I made the call yesterday but never once did she sound impatient. She couldn't get me an appointment on the day itself and was apologetic. She said she would put us on an 11.15am appointment "tomorrow" (which is today) and asked if AN's bleeding in her gums could be stopped. I told her it doesn't bleed excessively all the time and she heaved a sigh of relief while still being apologetic that the Dr couldn't see her immediately.

A FAR CRY from our previous call to see AN's regular PD (whose call centre staff was totally RUDE, couldn't care less to make us an appointment even though Mr Liow told her that AN was running a fever last week.) Only upon much insistence on Mr Liow's part did she try and found us an '11.45am' appointment which she obviously didn't bother to look in the 1st place (and we didn't turn up coz it was a complete turn-off by then and thankfully that was the day AN recovered!)

So, we brought AN to see Dr Bean this morning.

Mr Bean is a kind elderly man who was really interested in AN. He spoke to her and maintained eye contact with her.

AN allowed him to listen to her heartbeat, touch her neck (which he told us after that she had sore glands) and check her ears. She only started to stare at him suspiciously after he tried to put the ice-cream stick into her mouth (which she tightly kept shut).

AN would have already started crying when Dr Monica starts listening to her heartbeat. And Dr Monica won't have talked to AN to assure her anything. hmm...

Dr Bean continued to talk to AN and turned to us to joke that it was AN's limit before gently pushing the stick into her mouth afterwhich she opened her mouth as she started to cry (wondering why this wierd man's forcing something into her mouth). He checked her as she cried and then told us that she has slightly inflammed gums.

He said when one falls sick, one's immunity system gets weak and that's when secondary infections sets in.

He prescribed antibiotics for her and explained a whole load of ways to feed that to her.

None of that would have been said at AN's previous PD.

So, other than inflamed gums, AN's fine. Nothing else is wrong with her.

Her appetite has gone back up. I wonder if it's just my imagination but AN seems to be eating better than she did before she had that fever. Maybe that's to make up for the lack of food?

I've also recovered from my fever (after 4 days...and I also have sore gums! Is that a virus?). My sore throat's gone too.

I'm glad this is over.

It's been tiring for Mr Liow who has to take care of a demanding baby and a sick mummy.