My Little Bird began losing her baby teeth in January of this year. Right after Christmas! Eleven short months later, while climbing down the slide ladder during a park play day, she slipped and hit one of the steps with her permanent tooth. This was her second tooth to give to the Tooth Fairy when she began losing teeth.
It broke. I felt so bad. I should've been right there to catch her...but I wasn't. As we exited the park, I was on the cell phone with the dentist informing them that we were on our way in for tooth repair....mud, dirt, and all. Little Bird would not even close her mouth for the entire ride. When she spoke, it was quite funny as she didn't want to close her mouth or use her tongue to form words.
The dentist was great! He took us right in and got us settled into the chair. His assistant came in and got Xray's of Little Bird's teeth to see if any damage was done to the root. He tells me that the tooth is still forming and that the root hasn't finished developing yet. It is because of this that he can't put a "cap" on the tooth. He chooses instead to put a filling on it. The same sort of filling that they use to fill cavities.
He explained every little thing to Little Bird. Every time he touched a tool, he explained to her what it was used for, let her examine the tool, and even let her touch the end of it. I was severly impressed!!!
Since he had to numb her mouth in order to work on it, he explained to her that he would use a special numbing gel that tasted like bubble gum. As he placed that on her gum, he talked to her the whole time! I was concerned that she would go ballistic when she saw the needle but he had a system all worked out so that she never saw it!
He had turned to get the syringe, but held it down below her line of sight while at the same time, reaching up for the light above her to adjust it so that it was in her eyes...causing her to close her eyes. At the same time, he made his move.
When I brush her hair at home, I encounter tangles that are sometimes so bad it causes her to cry. Sometimes she'll even scream. So, we've developed a technique where she will squeeze my knees with her hands when it hurts instead of screaming out loud. As the dentist was giving her the novacaine injection, he was talking to her the whole time. I was holding her hand and also telling her to squeeze when it hurt. She was so brave! What a trooper!!
To make a long story a little shorter, she now has a little filling on that gap you see. It looks just fine, like nothing happened but because it isn't a real tooth, it isn't as strong and now we have to "baby" it. No more biting right into an apple or baby carrots and such things. :(
No comments:
Post a Comment