High Maintenance Mom

Many of B's friends started to lose their baby teeth when they were five but because B's teeth came in late, I assumed he would also lose his late. When he turned six and still didn't have any loose teeth, I decided to push on a few of his teeth and I was surprised to see his bottom two permanent teeth growing in behind his baby teeth. We were very excited he was finally getting adult teeth but when we showed them off, we were told they might need to be pulled. The dentist told me not to worry. We'd make an appointment in five weeks and if the teeth weren't out, they would be pulled. After they were pulled, B's tongue would move the adult teeth into place. It sounded relatively simple and although I hoped they would come out naturally, his teeth didn't loosen before the appointment. When the dentist saw the shark teeth he immediately told us he needed an x-ray and we would most likely need to see an oral surgeon to have them removed...

I was furious as I had taken the day off, pulled B out of school, and needed to have his teeth removed before my summer of travel. It also turned out that by waiting to come in, I was now competing for appointments with all the kids who were trying to get work done on their summer break. I had no idea there was a busy dentist season. After several frantic phone calls, I found an oral surgeon from the list who could see us two days later.

I then took another day off work, prepared B for the visit by feeding him breakfast at 9 pm the night before (he likes to make sure he gets breakfast), and managed to make it to the appointment without any breakdowns. We sedated B, which I found frightening but he wasn't going to let anyone put big needles in his mouth without the drugs. I was told to talk to him and be there but it was hard to maintain a smile while he struggled against the needles. I was impressed at how even in his drugged state, he could fight the needles. Eventually I decided he would have ample attention even if I was sitting and holding his hand. Once it was over, B had two holes in the front of his mouth and we had to wait 30 minutes for him to be more cognizant. The teeth had huge roots, which if the permanent teeth had come in the right spots would not have still been there so it was clear that having them removed was the right thing to do.

After it was all over, the dentist let me know that the two teeth would probably not move into the new spaces because they weren't aligned properly. I was too tired to comment so we headed home for ice cream. On the way, B asked me if I was the tooth fairy and if he could receive the Lego Castle for losing his teeth. S and I decided on $1 per tooth, which was well received.