Wordful Wednesday

I have a lot to say today, so there is no way I am doing a wordless Wednesday. The past three weeks have been trying, to say the least. This weekend, however, was more stressful than those three weeks combined. Hudson fell in the bathtub and chipped his left front tooth. He also possibly shoved the tooth back into his gum, but there is no way to tell at this point.

This morning I took him to a specialized pediatric dentist. Her office was amazing! Lots of toys, even a couple of old Atari games. Hudson sat perfectly for his oral exam and even allowed them to take an xray of his teeth. He did cry some, but it wasn’t nearly the freak-out I anticipated and dreaded.

The official word is that his chip is very minor, there are no fractures in the root, and his gum looks fine. With time, the tooth should re-erupt and will hopefully look better than it does now. I am so thankful he didn’t hurt himself more seriously and I feel awful about the whole thing. If you have any stories about your children chipping their teeth, send them my way. Your pain will make me feel better about mine. Very selfish, I know.

I think this tooth incident was especially stressful for Nathan and I because both us had mishaps with our front teeth growing up. Injuries of varying degrees at different stages left us both a little scarred, so when our son hurt his front tooth, we both had an extremely difficult time coping with the whole thing. It was also the first time he hurt himself this seriously, so it was one of those ‘parenting is tough’ moments.

Thinking back on my childhood, I know oral hygiene was not a priority and we didn’t even know what needed to be done. Teeth are brushed once a day. There is no concept of flossing and you only go to the dentist when something hurts and becomes unbearable. No one ever voluntarily went to the dentist just for a check up. No one ever heard of regular teeth cleanings, or sealants for children’s teeth.

Things have changed somewhat now, but I don’t think flossing is something a lot of people do/know about. Also, numbing teeth for dental work has been fairly recently introduced. When I was growing up, I never had my teeth numbed, so I pretty much felt everything. It was scary and very painful.

There were no pediatric dental specialists; no brightly colored offices filled with toys, balloons, and happy people. I remember one of the very first times I ever had to go to the dentist — it was a horrifying experience. My mom wasn’t allowed to be in the room with me. I wasn’t numbed for the procedure, so I screamed in pain. The dentist’s idea of comforting a scared child? She had her assistant bring out a huge needle and said they would have to stick me with it if I didn’t shut up. After they were done, I remember telling my mom I never ever wanted to go back there.

Eastern European dental visits in the eighties were like a torture scene from one of those kidnapping thrillers. At least that’s the way it was for me. If you grew up in Eastern Europe and had a gorgeously delightful experience with your dentist during that same time period I’d say you are either lucky or certifiably insane.

Anyway, that was a long trip down memory lane and, boy, does it stir up all kinds of emotions. I just wish all those dentists from my childhood could see the dental office we visited today. I just want them to see how things can be done without traumatizing and scaring the living lights out of little ones.

I am thankful Hudson is ok. I am glad his injury wasn’t more severe. I am thankful for the power of prayer and that God carried me through this weekend and all those emotions I felt as a parent and also the flood of emotions from my childhood. I leave you with a picture of Hudson with his new smile. I say he is still as stinking cute as ever.