A dinner lady has pulled out my child's tooth, am I overreacting?

GobbledyGook

The only issue I would have with it is that any knock to the face/head should be reported to the parent.

MrsAtobe

carlamarie wrote: »

I am absolutely fuming right now! And my instinct is to go into school and have words, but I just want to check that I'm not being a drama queen about it!

Basically the story goes like this......
On Saturday my dd developed a slight wobble on her tooth, I checked this morning and the back part had come away from the gum, the front still completly intact, it wasn't overly wobbly.
She has come home from school today with a nice gap in the middle. I thought 'wow that came out quick' but she said she has banged her mouth and could taste a little bit of blood. She asked the dinner lady for so e water to swill her mouth out.
The dinner lady then said 'the tooth might go in your belly, so I'll have to pull it out first'
She then pulled it out before giving my dd any water.

We, as parents encourage the to kids to leave their teeth until they are almost disconnected from the gum. Then they have the 'joy' of pulling that last little bit and the new tooth is sat there waiting.

Now if the tooth had been knocked that hard that it had dislodged and was almost out, would there have been a lot of blood( dd said there was a little bit) and wouldn't it have hurt? (Again, she said it didn't and she's a bigger drama queen than I am)

Also don't you think I should have had a phone call, saying what had happened and asking my permission to remove it?
She hasn't even had an accident note sent home with her!

So whats your thoughts? Am I overreacting? Or is it wrong that a dinner lady can do this?

Yes, you are completely over-reacting.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

MrsAtobe wrote: »

Yes, you are completely over-reacting.

Don't know about other kids, but when my milk teeth were like that on a weekend, I would have spent almost every minute of the day sucking, poking and worrying at it with my tongue. So it would have significantly looser by school on Monday - if it lasted that long.

yvonne13_2

OP you should be thanking the dinner lady for what she done. Your daughter banged her mouth and tasted blood......Removing the tooth was the only option as it's possible the tooth could've gone down her throat or at worse got stuck in her throat.

Over-reacting you are indeed.

*Louise*

carlamarie wrote: »

I am absolutely fuming right now!

Glad to read you aren' t going in to complain now.

I think you should save your anger for if/when something serious actually happens.

I never complain about minor irritations at our school, that way when I do go in with a problem, I am taken more seriously.

moomoomama27

I'm glad you're not reporting. I work in a school, and the always complaining mums are never taken seriously after a few, you missed sending this note home eyc!

We live in a weird world, where a helpful act is seen by some as an opportunity to get bent out of shape! I gave 3 children, all have lost all their baby teeth, and let me tell you, a tooth won't come out pain free unless it's absolutely ready to! So the fact your daughter was ok suggests the tooth was ready, how do you know the bang on the mouth, or her eating her lunch didn't loosen it to the extent that it looked like it was a danger? Without photo evidence that poor dinner lady would in all likelihood lose her job, as most schools have rigid policies on not even allowing a child to hug you, I work in reception, and if a child tells me they love me and hugs me the protocol is to say ". That's nice" and steer them away with minimal contact! No wonder children's self esteem is low

I'm with the others who thinks you should be grateful, that in an age where people are so worried about rules and lawsuits, this lady saw your child's predicament, asserted common sense, and dealt with it in a kind, calm way that left your daughter with no bad memories!!!!

IrishRose12

GobbledyGook wrote: »

The only issue I would have with it is that any knock to the face/head should be reported to the parent.

School doesn't have to report it if there wasn't any concern, or if there were no marks on the child's face. It's at the school's discretion as to when to inform on falls, however whether the OP knows or not, it has more than likely been written in the accident book in school.

pollypenny

Yet another storm in a tea cup! Silly woman, the dinner lady was helping your child!

It's unusual for the new tooth to be showing as soon as the milk tooth comes out. Most kids have helped it along anyway, with wiggles and pulls. And most kids have gaps for weeks, if not months.

Remember that old song, 'All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth'?

paulineb_2

Judi wrote: »

Actually, not splitting hairs or anything but the dinner lady could have put herself in danger IF the child had HIV.

Only if there was contact between bodily fluids, if the dinner lady had a cut etc.

No idea what procedures are in schools for blood spillages but when I worked with young people, even as far back as 15 years ago there was protocol you had to follow re bodily fluids, spillages etc, you treated everything like the worst case scenario for your own safety.

Rottensocks

Early eighties I can remember being in the single file line into the assembly hall wobbling my tooth furiously. The headmaster stopped me, opened my mouth, pulled the tooth out (painlessly) and handed it to me. All completely silent.

He acquired godlike status in my eyes after that day.