Dental Success!

[lunabee34]

Thanks for all your well wishes. Fiona is minus a baby tooth but in good spirits. :)

So, about three years ago, when she went to the dentist for the first time, you may remember that we were shocked and appalled that her little baby mouth was full of cavities. We were brushing her teeth, but apparently her mouth is tiny and crowded and whatever. She had cavities. Three grand, multiple fillings, and two silver teeth later, her mouth is perfectly fine. Hasn't had a single cavity since that initial round. I was super relieved when the dentist told us that her tooth didn't break; it was just that one of the fillings came out (again, probably when she was prying apart those Legos). So much better than her teeth being crumbly.

We were supposed to take her to the orthodontist in April because her teeth are growing in all kinds of special, but of course that was cancelled. This is a problem that runs in the family from me through to Emma and now Fiona. Emma and I both had a bunch of our baby teeth pulled because our teeth would not fit in our tiny mouths. LOL So, the dentist didn't know whether he should just replace the filling or pull the tooth; he didn't want to replace the filling only for the orthodontist to tell us when we can finally be seen that it needs to be pulled.

He called the ortho, and he said just go ahead and pull it; he said he trusted the dentist's judgment that her mouth is that crowded. I am doubly pleased about this; I am not sure when we are going to be able to reschedule the ortho appointment (that's on the agenda for today), and pulling this tooth is going to help her teeth grow in better, especially if it's months before she can be seen.

So this all worked out for the absolutely possible best. Yay!

Comments

[musesfool]

I also had teeth removed as a child before extensive orthodontics work, because my mouth was too small to hold all my teeth. I'm glad Fiona is okay!

[lunabee34]

I wonder how common an experience that is.

I am so relieved that it was no big deal. She is such a champ. She didn't even cry or anything.

[musesfool]

Yay Fiona!

[lunabee34]

*high five*

[benbenberi]

I didn't have any of my very crowded teeth removed (except for a stubborn baby tooth that refused to fall out when the permanent tooth grew in behind it). My orthodontist didn't believe in extraction of healthy teeth. But he was a perfectionist: for the next five years, I went in every 3-4 weeks for him to tweak his work till he had moved and turned every tooth in my head till they all sat precisely where they wanted them. (And then a bit of overcorrection on top, so when they were freed from their cages they slid on their own into the Right Place.) Ow ow ow ow ow! My before-and-after mouth molds were the ones he used to sell his skill to the parents of prospective patients!

Yay for Fiona's successful step on the Road to Dental Perfection!

[lunabee34]

Heeeee! Thank you.

I never had braces. I had a bunch of teeth pulled, about eight I think, and I had a retainer. We lived really rurally and it would have been cost and time prohibitive for me to go to the ortho that often.

My older daughter had some teeth pulled too; I can't remember how many (at least four), and then she had braces she wore for several years.

Your teeth are a paragon! Not many can say that. LOL