Suffered very painful toothache all Sunday, my old gold crown, fitted I believe when I was 16, after a bad blow with somebody’s head while playing for Barry Boys Grammar school second fifteen rugby team in 1965, was all of a sudden very lose. I know I’m a baby when it comes to pain so I called in sick for the next day, and was lucky enough to get a dental appointment for 11.30 a.m.

I duly went to my dentist in Merthyr Tydfil, where he gave me the options, the best one was to extract the tooth. A couple of injections and a snap, then the dentist heave-hoing on the peg and it was out. This is where bleeding became a problem, I take blood-thinning tablets because of the DVT I suffered January last year. My dentist plugged the hole in my gum and put in a couple of stitches, but said any problems come back to him?

The problems didn’t start until the evening, and the bleeding started again. This meant a visit to Prince Charles A&E department from midnight to 02.00 a.m., where a fabulous young doctor/dentist Emma removed the stitches, repacked the abyss in my gum, then restitched it all up. This stopped the bleeding, but my mouth is still quite sore.

It was a brilliant experience of the NHS for me, I have nothing but praise for all concerned. And I was allowed to keep my old gold crown!

Cheers.