The story behind the gap...
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 02:45PM So. Yesterday morning, as we were getting ready for the boys' first day of Options for the year, Micah noticed suddenly that his bottom two front teeth were loose. I took a look and, lo and behold, they were actually rather loose...and the permanent teeth had broken through and were in need of room. Don't judge. :) We hadn't noticed this until just then. The other two boys were seven when they started losing teeth and we just figured we had another year yet.
Anyhow, unlike some who would be thrilled to discover a loose tooth, Micah freaked out. :) He did *not* want to listen to his big brothers reminding him about the tooth fairy or to his parents assuring him that the teeth were not loose enough to fall out during class. Stubborn. :) Fortunately, the joys of being back in Options distracted him and it appeared all would be well for at least a bit longer.
When I arrived to pick the boys up, though, Micah (though he'd enjoyed his classes and participated happily and all) was distraught by his teeth, one of which had become rapidly more loose during lunch apparently (such that he didn't eat his lunch because his mouth hurt). I took the boys for a snack and to talk about their day, at which point it became apparent that Micah was truly in pain. (Part of this, I believe, was due to his tendency to overreact...part was just plain fear of pain...and part was that whenever he closed his teeth together, the bottom teeth hit on the top teeth and caused him to cry out.) Anyhow, I called and scheduled an appointment at our pediatric dentist. I was fairly sure we were going to need to pull some of the teeth to make room for the permanent teeth. We've been through this already with Asher and knew it was coming. The two of them just have very small jaws apparently. We were hoping that the two teeth would fall out on their own, but that was unlikely given that he refused to wiggle them or let anyone near his mouth.
And, given that he refused to eat solid food, this was a problem. Micah managed some yogurt, a protein drink and a smoothie by night's end, but that was pretty much it and he wasn't feeling up to doing much. By the time we had our appointment with the dentist, he'd gone about 40 hours without solid food (since Sunday at dinner time).
So. At the dentist's office earlier today, sure enough...all four of those bottom front teeth needed to come out to make room for the permanent teeth (which had already started pushing on the roots of the next two incisors)...and to get Micah eating solid foods again and not have him in pain until the teeth fell out on their own (and to not drag out the inevitable into even more visits that he would dread).
Now. Let's just say that Micah's not had the most positive feelings about dentists (or doctors, for that matter...I actually don't know why). Ever. Though his brothers do great and we like the dentist and everything, it's only been in recent years that we convinced Micah to stop trying to bite the dentist. :) Needless to say, there was screaming involved (by Micah, fortunately not by the dentist). Oy.
But. After all was said and done, (thanks partially to the nitrous) Micah was in good spirits and we headed home...with a brand new gap on the bottom of his smile. (I don't have a picture yet because, well, it's icky looking.) Still. He's not happy about it:
;)
Now that the nitrous has worn off, he's pretty dang miffed. We'll see how he feels after the tooth fairy's visit, I suppose. :) Wish us luck!
Reader Comments (4)
Poor guy! Hayley is sorta in the same boat. Luckily her teeth are falling out on their own and so far haven't needed to be pulled. But she's in for braces within the next year and another set when she's older. Oy vey!
Poor Micah! But don't feel bad, when Emilee was in kindy or first grade, she wasn't feeling well one day. So I decided to take her temperature with an oral thermometer...and discovered she had two rows of bottom front teeth!
But if they both/all have small jaws? Start saving now for the orthodontist.
Take pictures of the "icky looking" smile. If he's anything like my boys that'll be his favorite part. :-D And if he doesn't like it, bonus! Pictures for his 16th BD party. ;-D
We went through the same thing with Alyssa (except it was her top teeth). She had to have 4 teeth pulled. I bet In a few days he'll feel so much better!