Well, Today was traumatic day, more for me than my son,when it was all said and done. Other than shots for vaccinations and my son's circumcism when he was 9 months old, I have not had to witness my children undergoing any type of painful procedure. They will be 6 and 8 in a few weeks and we have had no broken bones, no stitches and no visits to the emergency room.And yes, I am knocking on wood as I say this.
My son, almost 8, has lost no teeth. Nothing loose. His dentist reassured us that boys quite commonly loose teeth later and not to be concerned. He has great teeth, never a cavity or even the slightest plaque buildup despite his sensory aversion to brushing regularly. His dentist told me his teeth look like he brushes and flosses about 3 times a day. 6 months ago, right before his checkup, I noticed that his two front and center permanent teeth had begun erupting through the gum behind his baby teeth. At his visit, we took xrays , everything was fine and we all though that in the next few months his baby teeth would come out.
This past Tuesday, 6 months later, we all realized that his baby teeth are not going anywhere unassisted.
"We will need to pull those two baby teeth, it will be easy and take about 10 minutes" is what she said,
"We will need to velcro your son down and violently and bloodily pull those teeth out with pliers" is what I heard.
Two permanent teeth were now about 50% in and I knew she was right.Knowing school starts back next week and the week after we are heading to Walt Disney World, I scheduled the extractions for today. My husband turned green at just the thought of it so I knew I was on my own.
This morning we left the house, dropped little sister off at my niece's house and took off to do "errands", my son innocently and joyfully along for the ride. My omission in telling him where we were going was not sneaky of cruel, he just would not have understood. The minute I got off at the exit, he knew where we were heading, not why but that 6 months had not passed since his visit on Tuesday. When I pulled in the parking lot, his radar went into full alert and it took me 5 minutes to coax him out of the car. Once inside he was, let's say, unhappy and not user friendly. We began to play and he relaxed and even went along to the ROOM and climbed up on the chair and laid down. Then IT BEGAN.
In about 30 seconds we had him velcroed into place as he shouted"Leave Riley Alone"
They slapped the happy gas on him and QTipped some topical analgesic on his gum.
60 seconds later she gave him an injection that was so fast neither Riley or myself realized she had even done it.
2 minutes later, her assistant(Who is also my best friend since 6th grade) handed her the pliers and in 5 seconds both teeth were out. A little gel foam , a rinse and a wipe and he was sitting up, no tears and telling them , Thank You
I tossed and turned all night about a 6 minute procedure. Literally 6 minutes is all it took.
He skipped out of there with tattoos, stickers and a promise of many escalators rides at the mall nearby.
30 minutes later we were riding those same escalators and he was looking as if he was having the best day of his life.
An hour later he was eating lunch and feeling pretty special.
I am just now relaxing about the whole thing and realizing that my oldest has just reached another milestone in his life, his first lost teeth and the first visit of the Tooth Fairy to our house.
He already looks a little older, a little wiser since this morning. Those two permanent teeth already making a grand appearance.
I am glad that I turned a deaf ear to my Overprotective Mommy Self and quickly got this over with. I see that it bothered me much more than it bothered him. I also see that by my not mentioning it and acting rather nonchalant on the outside probably helped. Inside I was a sniveling crying mess.
I will save these teeth forever. It is a sign of his courage. And Mine in some small way.
I was so proud of him today.
Once again he surpassed my expectations by a mile.This precious special son of mine has once again shown me that I should never underestimate him or what he is capable of handling with grace and an amazing spirit. I will never underestimate the healing power of a ride up and down an escalator. Not once or twice but about 15 times.
Now, I must make a call to the Tooth Fairy and place an order for a visit.
My son, almost 8, has lost no teeth. Nothing loose. His dentist reassured us that boys quite commonly loose teeth later and not to be concerned. He has great teeth, never a cavity or even the slightest plaque buildup despite his sensory aversion to brushing regularly. His dentist told me his teeth look like he brushes and flosses about 3 times a day. 6 months ago, right before his checkup, I noticed that his two front and center permanent teeth had begun erupting through the gum behind his baby teeth. At his visit, we took xrays , everything was fine and we all though that in the next few months his baby teeth would come out.
This past Tuesday, 6 months later, we all realized that his baby teeth are not going anywhere unassisted.
"We will need to pull those two baby teeth, it will be easy and take about 10 minutes" is what she said,
"We will need to velcro your son down and violently and bloodily pull those teeth out with pliers" is what I heard.
Two permanent teeth were now about 50% in and I knew she was right.Knowing school starts back next week and the week after we are heading to Walt Disney World, I scheduled the extractions for today. My husband turned green at just the thought of it so I knew I was on my own.
This morning we left the house, dropped little sister off at my niece's house and took off to do "errands", my son innocently and joyfully along for the ride. My omission in telling him where we were going was not sneaky of cruel, he just would not have understood. The minute I got off at the exit, he knew where we were heading, not why but that 6 months had not passed since his visit on Tuesday. When I pulled in the parking lot, his radar went into full alert and it took me 5 minutes to coax him out of the car. Once inside he was, let's say, unhappy and not user friendly. We began to play and he relaxed and even went along to the ROOM and climbed up on the chair and laid down. Then IT BEGAN.
In about 30 seconds we had him velcroed into place as he shouted"Leave Riley Alone"
They slapped the happy gas on him and QTipped some topical analgesic on his gum.
60 seconds later she gave him an injection that was so fast neither Riley or myself realized she had even done it.
2 minutes later, her assistant(Who is also my best friend since 6th grade) handed her the pliers and in 5 seconds both teeth were out. A little gel foam , a rinse and a wipe and he was sitting up, no tears and telling them , Thank You
I tossed and turned all night about a 6 minute procedure. Literally 6 minutes is all it took.
He skipped out of there with tattoos, stickers and a promise of many escalators rides at the mall nearby.
30 minutes later we were riding those same escalators and he was looking as if he was having the best day of his life.
An hour later he was eating lunch and feeling pretty special.
I am just now relaxing about the whole thing and realizing that my oldest has just reached another milestone in his life, his first lost teeth and the first visit of the Tooth Fairy to our house.
He already looks a little older, a little wiser since this morning. Those two permanent teeth already making a grand appearance.
I am glad that I turned a deaf ear to my Overprotective Mommy Self and quickly got this over with. I see that it bothered me much more than it bothered him. I also see that by my not mentioning it and acting rather nonchalant on the outside probably helped. Inside I was a sniveling crying mess.
I will save these teeth forever. It is a sign of his courage. And Mine in some small way.
I was so proud of him today.
Once again he surpassed my expectations by a mile.This precious special son of mine has once again shown me that I should never underestimate him or what he is capable of handling with grace and an amazing spirit. I will never underestimate the healing power of a ride up and down an escalator. Not once or twice but about 15 times.
Now, I must make a call to the Tooth Fairy and place an order for a visit.
4 Comments:
I needed this post. I have been through tons of dental visits, extractions, crowns, hours of screaming, pulling out little pieces of decayed teeth with my two new sons. However, my 6 year old boy who has very healthy teeth has started growing in his first permanent teeth behind the baby ones with no hope that the others are even loosening up. I'm wondering if he will have to have the same thing done. At least I now know it is not abnormal. Thanks.
That was an extremely enjoyable read. You should publish that one!
That was an extremely enjoyable read. You should publish this article!
I'm glad things went well. About a year and a half ago, our dentist decided my son needed to get four teeth pulled. They recommended two at a time. I told them take them all at once because he's not coming back! He also did fine, though they wouldn't do happy gas. He still refers to it though as getting his teeth "yanked". Makes me cringe every time.
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