WHAT a relief … schoolboy Finn McEwan Paterson finally had his aching teeth extracted after his despairing mum challenged the health authority to take pity on him.
Dentists put him out of his misery just days after the Wilmslow Express told of his eight-week painful wait for a dentist.
Finn, five, a pupil at Ashdene Primary School, Wilmslow, needed two extractions and had developed an abscess, but his Mum Karen Walker, was told there was a six month waiting list for patients needing NHS dental treatment under sedation.
The delay was due to the long-term absence of one of the dentists who provide the specialist service in the district.
Now the Cheshire Primary care Trust has speeded up procedures. A spokesman said in future appointments would be based on clinical need.
The PCT is also in the process of recruiting another dentist to the salaried service and has also commissioned additional dental services from another practice under the new NHS Dental Contract which came into force at the beginning of April.
Relieved Karen, 38, of South Oak Lane, Wilmslow, said she was glad Finn's suffering was over and pleased that as a result of her actions procedures had changed.
She also praised staff who treated her son. "They were fantastic, they had so much patience. They really were brilliant, " she said.
He is out of pain now but will return for more treatment.
Karen added: "It's great that the waiting times are to be reduced and that there is now a priority system in place.
"But it is a shame that I had to go to such extremes to get treatment for Finn, after all he just needed a tooth out.
"I feel sorry for the other boys and girls suffering the same way. The waiting list for people in pain should never have got to that level."
