Well, I wasn't wrong
Today was a bad day. I am really starting to believe in jinxes. Something seems to happen every time I dare to make an audacious claim about how well my life is going. I am against doing so, constitutionally, and yet every now and then, I can't seem to stop myself from spouting out with some little song of happiness...and look what happens. Anyway: it could have been worse. (That's not too audacious, is it??)
We were going out to meet our friends Nancy and Franny, and Daisy did her usual happy dance in the lobby (which has a hard tile floor) in front of a full-length mirror. She fell down, but it didn't look like a bad fall, so I comforted her but with every intention of continuing with our day. She was screaming, LOUDLY, but she often screams when she has an accident. She says, "Mommy, make it feel better," and I do, and everything is fine. Except this time, she wouldn't stop screaming. She screamed and screamed and screamed. And she was weeping, of course, and it got so bad her chest was heaving like she might barf. I was still jollying her along, and I'd put her in the carseat, when I noticed a big piece missing out of her front tooth.
I thought it was a pretty typical, if unfortunate, childhood accident, so I decided to call the Kaiser advice line to see what was to be done. As I was making my way through all the different menus (VERY annoying this time, when something seemed urgent but not necessarily urgent enough for 911), I decided I'd better at least start driving toward the ER, because she would not stop screaming. Or, occasionally she'd stop for a few seconds, and it was like she was trying to calm down--and usually when that happens, she goes back to normal. But this time--she always started screaming again, at the same level as before. So I figured she was in serious pain and I started feeling worried.
Luckily, I got hold of someone at Kaiser as I was driving who booked me a Pediatrics appointment so that I wouldn't have to go to the ER. It was perfect--he got me an appointment in just 20 minutes. So I drove to Pediatrics... with Daisy screaming the entire way. It was very stressful. Focusing on the driving, and trying not to let the screaming throw off my driving concentration, and trying to say reassuring things when she would scream, "Mommy, make it feel better," and also trying to book the appointment as I drove... it is kind of a miracle I didn't crash the car, but I was so discombobulated that when I finally parked I realized I hadn't locked her entirely into her carseat. In my starting to panic, I left the seatbelt unbuckled. AAAA. So: I know she's not the most stoical girl about pain, but I have to think it would have hurt pretty badly for her tooth to have hit those hard Spanish tiles hard enough for a big piece to break off. I'll bet the nerves in her head were ringing (and it turned out there were cuts in her mouth, too--like she bit into her gums). Anyway, a lot of crying and screaming later, we were at Kaiser, and the doctor gave her a big dose of Motrin, and she felt better. And Mark came from work to meet me, which was very nice of him.
Now, she's got to see a dentist tomorrow and he will determine whether any structural damage was done to the tooth, and whether it will have to be extracted. The Kaiser doctor didn't think it would, but he admitted we need a dentist's opinion, so I am a little nervous. I would hate for my girl to lose her tooth. It is actually a recurring nightmare of mine, losing teeth. If the dentist decides the tooth can stay, then filing it or possibly capping it are options. I don't think it can be left in its current state, because it's really jaggedy and sharp. I am sure she would cut her lip and tongue on it. Plus, I don't know if nerve endings are exposed, but that could be really painful. Yet I am also nervous about her having to have an Xray (which the dentist said they might want to do) or about having to take anesthesia. The Kaiser doctor said the dentists might want to do general anesthesia. That makes me very nervous. He said it might be better just to let her tooth stay this way, rather than put her under-- but again, it is so jagged that I think that would be a problem. I don't know--I guess I'll learn more tomorrow.
We also have to wait and see if she develops any infections from the cuts in her mouth, the doctor said, in which case she'll need antibiotics. It was sad when we put her to bed tonight, to see spots of blood on the sheet from when she took her nap in there earlier. My poor girl!!!!! Her poor smile!!!! I never realized I loved her teeth so much! I don't think tomorrow is going to be much fun for anyone. Daisy really hates having her mouth poked at anyway (toothbrushing is always a big struggle), and now it's the site of pain and trauma, so it can only be worse. Aaaaaa.
We were going out to meet our friends Nancy and Franny, and Daisy did her usual happy dance in the lobby (which has a hard tile floor) in front of a full-length mirror. She fell down, but it didn't look like a bad fall, so I comforted her but with every intention of continuing with our day. She was screaming, LOUDLY, but she often screams when she has an accident. She says, "Mommy, make it feel better," and I do, and everything is fine. Except this time, she wouldn't stop screaming. She screamed and screamed and screamed. And she was weeping, of course, and it got so bad her chest was heaving like she might barf. I was still jollying her along, and I'd put her in the carseat, when I noticed a big piece missing out of her front tooth.
I thought it was a pretty typical, if unfortunate, childhood accident, so I decided to call the Kaiser advice line to see what was to be done. As I was making my way through all the different menus (VERY annoying this time, when something seemed urgent but not necessarily urgent enough for 911), I decided I'd better at least start driving toward the ER, because she would not stop screaming. Or, occasionally she'd stop for a few seconds, and it was like she was trying to calm down--and usually when that happens, she goes back to normal. But this time--she always started screaming again, at the same level as before. So I figured she was in serious pain and I started feeling worried.
Luckily, I got hold of someone at Kaiser as I was driving who booked me a Pediatrics appointment so that I wouldn't have to go to the ER. It was perfect--he got me an appointment in just 20 minutes. So I drove to Pediatrics... with Daisy screaming the entire way. It was very stressful. Focusing on the driving, and trying not to let the screaming throw off my driving concentration, and trying to say reassuring things when she would scream, "Mommy, make it feel better," and also trying to book the appointment as I drove... it is kind of a miracle I didn't crash the car, but I was so discombobulated that when I finally parked I realized I hadn't locked her entirely into her carseat. In my starting to panic, I left the seatbelt unbuckled. AAAA. So: I know she's not the most stoical girl about pain, but I have to think it would have hurt pretty badly for her tooth to have hit those hard Spanish tiles hard enough for a big piece to break off. I'll bet the nerves in her head were ringing (and it turned out there were cuts in her mouth, too--like she bit into her gums). Anyway, a lot of crying and screaming later, we were at Kaiser, and the doctor gave her a big dose of Motrin, and she felt better. And Mark came from work to meet me, which was very nice of him.
Now, she's got to see a dentist tomorrow and he will determine whether any structural damage was done to the tooth, and whether it will have to be extracted. The Kaiser doctor didn't think it would, but he admitted we need a dentist's opinion, so I am a little nervous. I would hate for my girl to lose her tooth. It is actually a recurring nightmare of mine, losing teeth. If the dentist decides the tooth can stay, then filing it or possibly capping it are options. I don't think it can be left in its current state, because it's really jaggedy and sharp. I am sure she would cut her lip and tongue on it. Plus, I don't know if nerve endings are exposed, but that could be really painful. Yet I am also nervous about her having to have an Xray (which the dentist said they might want to do) or about having to take anesthesia. The Kaiser doctor said the dentists might want to do general anesthesia. That makes me very nervous. He said it might be better just to let her tooth stay this way, rather than put her under-- but again, it is so jagged that I think that would be a problem. I don't know--I guess I'll learn more tomorrow.
We also have to wait and see if she develops any infections from the cuts in her mouth, the doctor said, in which case she'll need antibiotics. It was sad when we put her to bed tonight, to see spots of blood on the sheet from when she took her nap in there earlier. My poor girl!!!!! Her poor smile!!!! I never realized I loved her teeth so much! I don't think tomorrow is going to be much fun for anyone. Daisy really hates having her mouth poked at anyway (toothbrushing is always a big struggle), and now it's the site of pain and trauma, so it can only be worse. Aaaaaa.
posted by Sarah Goss at 9:26 PM
9 Comments:
Poor Daisy, poor Mommy! Will you introduce the tooth fairy now? :-( A similar event happened with a pre-k girl at the school I worked at and the other teachers told me it wasn't uncommon...ugh, I feel for you...
--that was Melissa, btw
That sounds really scary, and stressful! I hope no major medical intervention is neccessary.
OH, I'm so sorry.
Thank you all for the kind comments!
oh wow, poor little one!!! i hope everything went ok today at the dentist! :-(
Best of luck with the dentist! Hope there is no structural damage.
BTW, if it turns out that they decide to bond the tooth (to even out the chip), this is generally a relatively quick procedure and doesn't hurt since they use some sort of light wand to harden the bonding material (it is warm, but not hot). (I had my front tooth repaired earlier this year, so it is a recent memory.) So that wouldn't require anesthesia but I do understand getting a 2-year old to sit still in a dentist chair would be hard.
Do let us know what happens! Good luck, and hope it's basically okay.
oh sarita! how scary! i am so so sorry and i hope daisy bounces back speedily from this.....
Poor Daisy! And poor mom and dad!
Our oldest shattered his front tooth on the side of a swimming pool at 18 months old. The pieces had to be extracted, so from 18 months onward he had a front tooth missing. We quickly got used to it though. He is just now (7 years old) getting his adult front teeth in the gap. And our youngest chipped the bottom third of his front tooth clean off somehow--we're not exactly sure where or when. We are 2 for 2 in the break the front teeth department in our family :(
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