Today was a milestone for us. Elliott had his two front teeth pulled out by the dentist. Ever since Elliott's very first dentist appointment at 3 years old, we have known his front teeth might cause a problem. It looks like there was a chip on the back side of his top front tooth. Add in nightly grinding and the root was nearly exposed. The dentist has been watching it at every checkup and I was hoping his tooth would just fall out before it needed any work. Our options were a pulpectomy, a build-up on the back teeth, or pulling them out. Well, on Sunday night Elliott said his tooth hurt while he was brushing his teeth. Uh-oh. Then at breakfast Monday morning, Elliott said it hurt to chew. I knew the little root had been breached. I called the dentist and they could get us in this morning which was perfect since Brian has the day off for Columbus Day. I left Trevor home with him and Elliott and I went to the dentist. At first Elliott was happy to be there.
The dentist checked on his teeth and we decided the best option was to pull the two front teeth. However his permanent teeth might not come in until he is 8. So I took a final few pictures of Elliott with all his teeth.
I had prepped Elliott that he might need a shot in the gums to have his teeth fixed. I had said it would pinch and hurt a little. But to numb his mouth for tooth extraction, they had to give 2 shots in the front gums. I know from experience that is the most painful spot. So I held his head still and counted to 10 while he got the first shot. It hurt a lot. And he needed another shot. He was crying and wanted to go home. I kept explaining how he needed to do this and his tooth would keep hurting if we left it there. Then I offered to buy him an amiibo figure for our Wii U if he would get the last shot. Finally he opened his mouth and I held his head and counted very slowly to 10 while he got the second shot. His mouth was numb and the dentist very quickly wiggled those front teeth right out.
He was so sad after. They gave him a little chest with his teeth in it. As I was paying at the front, he mumbled though his bloody gauze. I said yes, I would get him an amiibo. The nurse was impressed I could understand his sad mumbling. I know Elliott pretty well though and he was thinking of his reward that he earned. We went home and had about 2 hours before Elliott needed to go to school. We kept replacing his gauze until the bleeding slowed. Elliott was much happier after he came home from school. The numbness had worn off and he had shown off his gaping holes in Kindergarten.
I remember getting 9 teeth pulled at one dentist visit and then 4 more pulled and then the dreaded wisdom teeth pulled. It was traumatic for me as a kid and it was pretty hard to watch Elliott suffer through it as well. But I am incredibly proud of how brave he was. And now he has an adorable lisp and looks like a kid that is growing up.
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