Many of you have heard of our big dental ordeal we had with Caleb in February, but for those who may not know....On February 21st, my mom and I took Caleb in for his regular dental check up. I went back with him and as per usual, Caleb sat straddle-legged in my lap and then was laid back in the dentist lap, so she could clean his teeth. She was just beginning, and Caleb was doing much better than he had at his first check up. The dentist went to pick up one of her tools and as soon as it was over Caleb's open mouth, it fell apart. Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I would not have believed it, but it did literally just fall apart. Unfortunately, due to the position Caleb was in, the broken piece dropped in his mouth, and he swallowed it. We got him up immediately, hoping it was still in his mouth, but he gagged and coughed a few times, and we knew it was gone. The dentist sent us directly to the emergency room with a tool that was the closest example to the one that broke, so they could see what they were going to be dealing with. After getting him calmed down, Caleb was in remarkably good spirits and just pointed to his throat a few times and fussing. Luckily, he never had any breathing issues. Upon arriving at the ER, they took several xrays and immediately located the hook-shaped piece of metal lodged in his esophagus. After much discussion, the doctors decided that due to his age, the odd shape of the object, and it's unfortunate positioning (hook up), he needed to be sent by ambulance to Riley Children's Hospital. At this point, we had been in a room in the ER for three hours. Darrin had been in Danville (a good hour and a half away), and we had been in touch over the phone. As soon as we knew about the transfer, he was on the road to meet us. Amazingly, looking at Caleb, you would never know anything was wrong. He was busy playing with his tractors and climing the furniture. I was very nervous about the ambulance ride, especially when they showed up with a gurney and wanted to strap Caleb to it. Once he knew that I was coming with him, we were able to get him on the gurney and out the door. Once he saw the ambulance, he was enthralled! The ambulance ride turned out the be highlight of his day! He didn't stop talking the entire time. Even the EMT got a kick out of him! Darrin and my mom met us at Riley. Our story had beat us there. When we arrived doctors and nurses were already asking about the "child who swallowed the dental instrument". The immediately wanted more xrays and by this time, Caleb was DONE with doctors and nurses, and I was DONE with having to restrain him for everything. However, together, we did it. He was such a trooper and despite the screaming, crying, and fighting, we managed through another round of xrays and procedures. When the found that the piece was still in the same place, they told us it would need to be removed, but because of the position (hook up) it would have to be pushed into his stomach, turned, and then pulled out. They would have the pediatric surgery team on standby in case anything would go wrong or if they could not remove it after two tries. Miraculously, they got it out right away with no problems. Caleb had minor scratching in his esophagus, but a few days on a soft food diet would resolve that. Since the procedure went so well, we were able to take him home that evening. He was not at all a happy boy waking up from anethesia, and kept crying "home". I have never been more relieved than when we walked out of those hospital doors, and Caleb's demeanor quickly changed. It was an answer to our prayers that we were able to go home with Caleb in our arms that night. What we learned is that no one in the medical field that we came into contact with that day at either hospital had ever seen anything like this. It has been a wake up call to dentists that everyone we know is connected with, and we have yet to find anyone who has heard of something like this. Everyone, doctors included, have said that this has to have been a manufacturing defect in the tool. The dentist has contacted the instrument company, and we gave her the piece they removed, along with copies of the xray to prove what happened. Many people have asked and wondered about my response to all of this and to the dentist....well, I look at it this way. I was there and saw everything that happened, there was nothing negligent on the dentist's part. There was nothing to be gained by me getting upset and nothing would change it or undo it. It happened, period. The dentist had already offered to pay for all of our expenses, and we have no reason to take any action against her. The only thing we want people to think about is the positioning of little ones at the dentist. I would hope to see them in a more upright position to prevent anything that might fall in their mouths from falling directly into their throats and being swallowed. We had the best outcome to a bad situation, and we are grateful. Since this ordeal, I have taken Caleb back to the dentist just to visit and see her and the office and to help him understand that going there isn't a bad thing. He did very well and even wanted to stay longer.
This is the piece they removed from Caleb. It's about an inch to an inch and a half long.
This is a picture of Caleb's xray. You can see the piece in his esophagus right around his collarbone.
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