Time for the Dentist

The kids had Monday and Tuesday off for the President's day holiday. With the holiday, came their 6 month dental appointments. 

Emily got a "clean" report, Matt on the other hand did not. We were back at the dentist Wednesday afternoon, for the extra work that needed to be done.

Matt had a very bad cavity in one tooth which required a baby crown, the tooth next to this one was effected and needed to be filled. He had to have the sealant on one tooth repaired and a surface cavity buffed from another tooth. This wasn't all.....

Matt's tooth next to his front left tooth fell out a while ago. We've been waiting for the front tooth to fall out but it was not budging. About a week ago, I looked at the tooth that was coming in (you can see it off to the right in the pic) and thought it looked too big to be that side tooth. I was right. It turns out that front tooth decided to come into the "open space". The dentist pulled the front tooth during this visit.

Looking at the tooth, you can see that the root was just as wide as the tooth. There was no way it would fall out on its own and it created a barrier for the front tooth causing it to shift to the other side. Now we are in a waiting game.....for the next 2 months we have to see if the front tooth shifts over. If it doesn't, we go back to the dentist and possibly the orthodontist to ensure that the side tooth doesn't "swap" places with the front tooth.

I have to tell you at this appointment, I was more nervous than Matt. Of course, we omitted telling him about the tooth pulling part. He only knew of the "repairs" to the cavity that needed to be done.

Normally, I do not go in with the kids while they are being treated. I asked Matt if he wanted me to go in with him and of course he said "yes" because I normally don't go in with him.  

Thankfully Matt did great.....the dentist had scheduled a 50 minute treatment for Matt and because of his cooperation we were done in 35 minutes.  So proud of my boy!! 

Matt took the rest of the afternoon off of school and within an hour he was asking if he could eat a pickle. 

One plus that has happened because of the tooth pulling is that Matt has not sucked his thumb for 2 days now. We told him that his thumb could have germs on it and if it gets into the open "sore" it could get infected. Crossing our fingers that maybe his habit is broken. Time will tell.