Dental Drama!

Here's a good one! (by the end you'll be able to sense the sarcasm here...)

So, Eben had a dentist appointment on Monday, just a regular cleaning, which always goes well. The girls were with a friend (so grateful for that!!). After talking with the hygienist a little she said we'd get some x-rays since it had been awhile since the last ones. Eben did great, and she mentioned that his back 6-year molar was coming in in front of his baby molar. The one on the other side had come in a little crooked, but straightened itself out. However, it didn't look like this one was going to. Anyhow, we move back into the other room and she starts looking at his teeth. While checking out the "troublesome" molar she notices that part of his gums around there look kind of white. She thought maybe there was something stuck in there, so she cleaned a little, but then said it looked more like an infection. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here feeling horrible that I hadn't noticed it. I guess when I floss, I'm in front of him and when he opens his mouth, I don't see the top outside of his gums. Anyway, I felt like a real great Mom. Back to the story - After talking with the Dentist, she decides not to poke around there too much b/c it probably hurt. I asked Eben if it hurt and he said it did when he ate carrots. Nice of you to tell us before this Eben!! We end up having to go get more x-rays done so she can get the entire root system. Here's where it gets interesting (at least I thought so). The hygienist said that the adult teeth actually dissolve the roots of the baby teeth which is why they become loose. How cool is that! Totally didn't know that! However, in this case it isn't so cool. It turns out that because the 6-yr molar is coming in so crooked it has already dissolved two of the roots of the baby molar next to it. Therefore it left a gap up there for things to get stuck in, thus creating the nasty infection in his gums. Yes, good times...

If you haven't guessed yet, this is a problem. So, here's the plan. Next Friday, Eben goes back to the dentist (during the middle of school), gets hooked up with some laughing gas, and has the baby molar "wiggled out" (that's what the Dentist said, though I think that sounds a little too gentle). This way the adult molar can come in all the way. Three weeks later, we go back again to get some sort of spacer put in to hold whatever space is left where the baby molar was. Keep in mind that the baby molar that we're getting pulled won't be replaced by an adult molar until he's about 12!!! Therefore, Eben will wear this spacer for 6 years! That's as much time as he's even been around!! I was totally in shock by all of this. And oh yes, Jared had left for Maryland that morning. Lovely.

So, that's the dental drama. I guess this spacer thing somehow connects to the top of his mouth...I don't know. I was kind of lost at that time. It should be interesting. They say they'll give him oxygen after the procedure is done next week to get the laughing gas out of his system. So, I guess I'm going to attempt bringing him back to school. Of course its an early dismissal day for parent/teacher conferences, so he'll only go back for another hour and a half, but oh well. I know he won't be happy to have to leave school. Throws off his routine and all. He was actually crying Sunday night about not wanting to go to school because he would have to leave early. Come on buddy, a little flexibility would be helpful :)

On that note, I guess I'll get ready for bed. Here's hoping your next dentist appointment goes better than Eben's did!

Oh yeah, the pics are from the MOMS Club Halloween party yesterday. The girls are butterflies and Eben is the War Machine from Iron Man. No, he has no idea what that is ;) Aliza is also with her little friend, Ava...who has a crush on Eben :) Notice Aliza's "cut job" is starting to grow out. Isn't it the cutest... or something... ;)