{Well Ain't That A Pain In The Teeth}

This week has been a little crazy to say the least. I am trying to figure out how we made it to Wednesday already. Do you ever have those weeks when time is moving fast yet somehow it seems to be standing still? That’s where I'm at this week and I can’t say that I like it all that much.


The dentist office seems to be my second home these days. Luckily, the kids all have healthy teeth. The only one who has a cavity in her mouth is Miss Kalyssa. That filling taught her an extremely valuable lesson in keeping up with a strict daily flossing routine. She was pretty excited to be the only one who didn’t have to make a second trip to the dental office this time around and being entered to win $50 was a pretty big bonus =)


I learned a few things about Bryanna and Travin’s teeth in the past week that didn’t exactly bring a smile to my face. I was pretty sure that all of my kids were going to need braces eventually. Jason and both of his sisters had to wear them so, I just assumed that mine would end up taking that route as well. What I didn’t expect was that I would have to put two of my kids through some rather rough dental procedures.


Bryanna has always taken pride in her teeth. She has always taken really good care of them. She has about a 30 minute routine each night (she’s a little obsessive like someone else in the family). =) When she was 6, her baby brother who was so little and cute at the time, was swinging a broom around and hit her in the face knocking half of her front tooth out. She has sported half of a fake tooth for the past 5 years. Unfortunately, over Spring Break it started to bother her so, back to the dentist we went. We found out that her root had actually been fractured by the trauma and over the years, it has slowly been dying. The dentist was rather impressed that it held as long as it did and was happy to share that it didn’t affect the growth in her adult teeth.
However, we were referred to a specialist because he was pretty sure that she was going to need a root canal. The car ride home was a little gloomy. I had to explain a root canal to my daughter. She was so heartbroken because she truly has worked so hard to keep her teeth as perfect as can be.


We set up an appointment and made our way in a couple of days later. The x-ray’s revealed exactly what Bryanna had feared. She was so hopeful after her few doses of antibiotics. She was feeling so much better. She had hoped that she would get to avoid having to go through the root canal process. The specialist was really great at explaining everything to her but she still walked out of the building with tears in her eyes and her heart feeling a little heavy. We had a long talk about everything and we came up with a plan. As a special treat for being the girl that she is and for having to go through all of this, we are going to move forward with the painting process in her bedroom. At the end of this month, Bry will have the purple retreat she has always wanted =)

As for Trav, gosh where do I start? At his regular check-up, I learned that my son’s teeth were growing in at an angle. The original plan was to place fillers in between his baby teeth so that his adult teeth could grow in a little straighter. The x-ray’s that were taken yesterday were a bit more extensive. Once the dentist looked at them, he realized that Trav was going to need more work than they originally thought.


Problem # 1: His teeth are too big for his little mouth.


Problem # 2: His teeth are growing in at an angle because of problem # 1.


Problem # 3: His roots are basically being twisted during growth because of problem # 1 & problem # 2.


How do we fix the problems?


Shaving down the front teeth.


Two teeth extractions.


Possible fillers if the top molars don’t show improvement in the next 3 months.


For those of my dear family & friends who are in the military and have the great United Concordia as your dental insurance, you can only imagine what my bill is looking like at this point. And the best part, we aren’t even close to being done!!! The orthodontist is still waiting for me to call.


Yesterday, we showed up at the dental office 1 hour before Trav’s scheduled appointment because he had to take a special medication to help him relax. I have never in my life watched my son go from one extreme to another the way that he did yesterday morning. I was warned but I had no idea what I would witness. Trav went from an all time high to a complete crash down in a matter of 40 minutes. He was so out of it by the time they called us back to his room that I literally had to carry his 53 pound body and lay it down on the table.


Trav did really well until they came at him with the mask. For those of you who don’t know my son, I will tell you that he doesn’t like to cry in front of others (unless he is out to try to prove to the world the he is the boss). He tried so hard to hold in his tears. I had to put my ear next to his face to hear what he was saying. He told me “I’m done being here mommy. I can go to school now.” I explained what they were going to do and I promised to stay right by his side. The dentist was fantastic. I got to know him rather well. My seat was positioned right next to his. I had to watch every little thing the dentist did to my son because Trav's little hand would not let go of mine for anything in the world.


Tooth # 1
Bigger than expected



Top tooth is about the size a tooth should be when it is pulled out.

After all was said and done, Trav was a happy camper. He got pretty spoiled by everyone at the dental office. The dentist told him to take the rest of the day off from school and that he could eat all of the ice cream he wanted. Needless to say, I didn’t have to make any special deals with my little man. He was pretty happy with what the dentist ordered him to do =)