It all started with Tate's {first} dentist appointement.
All went well and fine, Tate got a goodie bag and a token for a prize and we were off. He had some small cavities, but we were going to wait on them since he is so young and with the hope that with good brushing they would not grow bigger.
Well, just about a month later Tate's front tooth turned dark.
Back to the dentist we went.
He took another x-ray and compared it to the one a month before and there was evidence that it was starting to get infected and it was little loose.
He said that right around his last appointment he must have hit it, and he was shocked that I was not aware of what happened.
Tate plays outside a lot and gets banged up all of the time. I vaguely remember him coming in grabbing his mouth and crying a couple of times, but no blood and I did not see exactly how he did it so, I never concluded that it was serious.
So, we had to go back another time to take out the front tooth.
Well, since he was going to have the sedation anyways we decided to go ahead and fill the cavities. Well, this is where it all started going downhill. I was under the impression that the dentist was going to pull the front tooth out first and then get the cavities-that would make sense right. Well, the dentist decided that he would do the cavities first and after he had drilled the last cavities Tate's eyes popped open and decided that he would have no more. So, the dentist hurried and filled those.
So, we had to come back again another day and get the sedation again in order to take that front tooth out because that could not wait. The dentist also redid those other quickie fillings and then we were off and done ,or so we thought! Tate immediately started complaining that his face hurt and would grab his face on the side where they refilled the cavities. I just figured the spots where they did the shots were sore or his mouth was sore from it being open so long. Well, several days later he was still complaining about it off and on and waking up at night, but I kind of thought it was getting better.
Back into the dentist we went.
Since he was not complaining continuously he thought it might have been the bite so he did the little paper thing and sanded some more of the filling off until it looked right thinking that that would fix the problem-WRONG.
The next day or two he was still complaining about it. At night it was really bad and he was not sleeping. Friday night he kept crying and not sleeping at all so I turned on the light to get him a drink and some medicine and his face was swollen HUGE!!!! I was taken aback. And then the "mother guilt" hit me that I should have known it was something more serious especially since it was Tate complaining because he is usually so easy going and slow to complain about anything. All I could do was give him pain meds and hope it would help. Of course, I called the dentists emergency line because by golly if I was up in the middle of the night he was going to be too! He called me back in the morning and called in a prescription for the antibiotics and he was on a 3 hour rotation of Tylenol and Ibuprofen and man, he needed it every 3 hours on the dot! The next week the dentist had him back in to look at it on Wednesday and the swelling had just started to go down. He took an x-ray and of course it was infected and needed to come out. So, since the dentist was going out of town for the 4th of July weekend he was just going to pull it right then. He gave him the laughing gas and tried to numb it the best he could, but Tate was kind of fighting him and he warned me that he would feel it. I held Tate's hand while the dentist yanked his tooth out! It was horrible!!!! Tate was screaming and would not bite on the gauze so there was blood all over my shirt and we just had to get out of there so Tate could hopefully settle down.
WRONG again!
Tate screamed bloody murder straight for atleast an hour afterwards.
On the way home he just kep screaming things that he wanted, I am sure anything that he thought would make him feel better. The things he kep yelling for were a drink, blanket, ice cream cone, blue slushy from Sonic. I just don't think he could figure out what would make him feel better. So, I attempted to stop at McDonalds and after I ordered the cone and pulled up to the window they informed me that the machine was not working-WHAT?!?!?!? UGgghhhhh. I quickly drove to Burger King to get a chocolate milkshake (that was what he wanted now even though his mind kept changing every 30 seconds). I felt so bad for him and now he will probably forever be scarred and terrified of the dentist. We got home and I gave him some Ibuprofen and as soon as that started to kick in he settled down. As I was driving home I felt this anxiety and distress that I have never experienced before and my driving was definately not at a safe level, but by the grace of God we made it home safely. So now Tate is missing 2 of his teeth that should not be coming out for years. Infection is gone and so is the pain. Poor guy.
I tried to get a good picture of the swelling. He must be all doped up since he is sort of smiling in the pictures because he was miserable.
I tried to get a good picture of the swelling. He must be all doped up since he is sort of smiling in the pictures because he was miserable.
1 comment:
Oh, poor Tate! I am mad at your dentist that he didn't know what he could get done while Tate was sedated. He should have known and could have saved you and Tate a lot of stress and pain! He looks so grown up in those last two pictures. What a handsome guy.
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