Swollen cheeks, tooth problem?

Last week, Sunday, Kelvin had toothache. It got worse and his cheeks were swollen. 

The following day, he still went to school with plans of going to the school dentist for a check up. We were already expecting another filling or worse, tooth extraction. Unfortunately, the dental clinic for this month only opens Thursdays and Fridays (sudden change in schedule as it was supposed to be open the whole week). Hubby and I thought the situation wouldn't be able to wait until Thursday so I called the Health Promotion Board, which handles health care needs of school-going kids (I think). Unfortunately, for dental cases, the students had to be checked by the school dentist. Since Kelvin's school dentist was not around, Ms. Jenny, the HPB admissions/appointment officer I spoke with, advised that we bring him to the school dentist nearest to our place. Good thing there were a few school within walking distance to our place. Ms. Jenny helped in calling the schools to check if there are available school dentists to attend to my son in the earliest possible time. Fortunately, the school just across the street front of our block had dental schedule for Tuesday afternoon. I received a few call backs from Ms. Jenny to update me on school schedules and also on appointments she made on our behalf. I was so thankful for her help and very efficient service. Before an hour passed, I received a call from the school mentioned. The school officer confirmed that Kelvin could visit their school dentist from 2-4pm the following day. I was relieved.

As for Kelvin, the swelling on his cheeks got worse, and by the time he came home in the afternoon he looked like he had some fishballs on his cheek (quoted from his classmates). 

The following day, he didn't attend class so he could rest. We went to the school dentist for the check up. That day, the swelling subsided a bit and the toothache was bearable. Surprisingly, when the dentist checked him, she did not see anything wrong with his tooth or his gums. She asked if he had any accidents over the weekend, but he did not. So there was really nothing to worry about. She gave a referral letter for xray just in case we decided to dig deeper into the real cause of the swelling. But other than that, she said Kelvin should be ok. If the swelling goes back we could push through with the xray appointment and further dental check up.

I was quite impressed with how efficient the system is. With the HPB connecting us to the different school dental clinics and finally getting an immediate appointment. Thumbs up to that and to Ms. Jenny.

Contact for Health Promotion Board: 6435-3765

Ira's 3rd Eye Check up

We just came back from Ira's follow up check up at KKH. 

First, he was sent to Room 11 for an eye check. He was asked to look into this machine. Then he was asked to read some letters on the TV screen. After the eye check, we were asked to wait at Rm 1 to talk to Dr. Garcia. We waited for quite sometime (more than 30mins) before we were called, but to another room - Rm 9, for another eye check. He was asked to look into the same machine again. Then the doctor let him wear  the spectacles used to test the degree of the eye (i think). He was asked to see if the pictures on the wall were clear or blurry, each time changing the "lens". The assisting doctor was good with Ira. She really knows how to handle kids. After the long wait,  we were sent to Rm 1 again. I was happy to know the results were good.

He now has 6/6 vision, quite an improvement from his initial check up (6/12) and second check up (6/6.75). Dr. Garcia explained that this means he now does not have lazy eyes. It has been corrected. His brain now recognizes what is the "correct" clear vision, as opposed to the blurry vision. He can now read the very small letters, although he still falters with the letter C (as O) and Z (as S).

Unfortunately, his eye degree is still the same. The doctor elaborated that this was because his eyeballs haven't grown yet (as compared to last check up). This is the case for long-sightedness. The eyeball size is small and the shape of the eyeball is elongated. But the prognosis is good. He is still young and his eyeballs still have time to grow until he reaches 8 or 10 years old.

With continuous use of spectacles, his normal vision will remain. As he grows up, his eyeballs might still grow. Since the degree of his vision is not that high (at 300 it is still ok since it is below 500), if he can tolerate it, he might not need to wear spectacles when he reaches 10 years old.