Luke's Tooth

Two weeks ago Luke was being "Super Luke" at church and fell down, busting his lip. He was wearing a superman cape that had some big plastic front on it like a chest plate or something. When he fell he hit his mouth on that, bumping his front tooth. It became really loose and Andy had to shift it back in place. We did ice etc and thought it was ok because the tooth tightened back up. It bled for a while but we thought we'd done everything we knew to do. About a week later I started noticing that it was changing colors. I mentioned it to Andy and he said that he had noticed too. Now it is a light shade of gray. Don't know if you can tell from this picture but it is on his left, the front tooth. He went to the dentist today to have x-rays and we found out that the tooth is dead. We have 3 options:

1. Do nothing now, wait for it to fall out and take action then. But watch it closely to make sure an abcess doesn't form.

2. Have it extracted. Then have something put back in it's place- a spacer or a fake tooth? Not sure.

3. Root canal. Why? what is the difference in doing this and pulling it?

Andy took him to the dentist today so this is the info he gave me. Anyone else had to deal with this or have any advice?

Busy Day

Throw up breakfast - Check
What a way to start the day! Thankfully I'm NOT doing it everyday :)

Field trip to Gattitown - Check
Lots o' fun!

Dentist appointments for Wilson and Luke - Check
They did awesome!! I'm so glad that teeth brushing every morning (Andy's job) and night (my job) is the hassle and not the time in the dentist's office. The boys were angels. I'll take the fussing and crying every night at home while brushing teeth if it means they'll act as well as they did at the dentist today, every time. Wilson was such a brave, big boy. He laid back in the chair and I sat on the bottom of his chair with him. They let him wear cool sunglasses during the teeth cleaning. He survived the flouride sponge and picked a small toy motorcycle out of the treasure box. He had lots of compliments for his behavior! Luke had his first checkup- 2 pics with the dentist, they looked in his mouth, that's about it! He laid down with daddy holding his hands and was a little afraid at first - but no crying or screaming- and was very brave. He picked a big green foam die out of the treasure box. Then they both sat on the bench and pretended to play video games (they weren't really playing) while I checked out and made the next appts. Very successful!!

First t-ball meeting - Check
Little crazy in that they said they'll be asking for our money all the time. FOR WHAT? That worries me! We don't have extra cash! We already paid our $80 to play! We'll have a fundraiser, I'll work the concession stand for 1 hour, lots of practices and weekly games. Wilson picked #5 for his uniform. He is on the Reds. Red t-shirt and gray baseball pants. Coach seems nice. Hopefully Wilson will get to play- it sounded iffy since he is 4. They talked about how the league is competitive and they play the good kids etc. (These kids are 4, 5, and 6!) So maybe not exactly what I had in mind. We'll hope for the best.

Boys in bed! - Check

Shiny White Teeth!

Wilson had his first teeth cleaning yesterday and he did incredibly well! He has been to the dentist before with Andy and I many times. He had his first official appointment about 6 months ago and screamed the whole time, so we decided to wait until the next visit to clean the teeth. That visit was more a consultation on his mouth problems (over bite, cross bite, small palate...). He did well, after growling at the dental assistant who cleaned his teeth! Yes, you read that right! He did growl once at her out of fear. It was soo funny! I held his hands the whole time and talked to him. The woman that cleaned his teeth was wonderful. So nice, and kept talking to him the whole time too. When the dentist came over to look at his teeth, the first words out of his mouth were "serious orthodontics later". Yikes! So I asked him if anything had self-corrected in the past 6 months (he had told us back then that might be a possibility) but, nope, it hasn't. So, good news is, I can just add the boys to my dental insurance this fall during open enrollment. He said there is nothing we need to do now to begin fixing the problems. He mentioned the age 6, so it seems we have a little time. Wilson's mouth is very narrow and small so his palate is going to have to be stretched (?) or whatever they do. Anyway, we go back in March and Luke is going to get his teeth cleaned then for his first time too!

Busy, busy, busy!

What a week! We have been so busy lately! We've had the carpet cleaned, I painted the trim in two bathrooms plus the wainscoating and vanity in one of the bathrooms. Andy is working on re-caulking the shower and tub. We've been to the dentist, Luke had tubes put in and I had a professional development day. On top of all this tomorrow we're having a yard sale! Today we posted signs and made sure everything was priced. I tutored two former students and met some friends for lunch. It has been crazy! Andy keeps saying "can't we spread some of this out a little?" I know he is a bit frustrated but he is being very helpful through all of it. I guess I know school is coming SOON (I plan to start back next Thursday) so I need to get some stuff done so I can feel like we accomplished SOMEthing!! We have had a great summer and I hate to see it nearing the end. It is always so hard to anticipate the return to school and see the boys drastically less. I do love teaching and am so lucky to have the boys at home with Andy. But it is still hard.
So, I said we went to the dentist today. Good news overall, teeth are clean, no cavities, x-rays are good. But my dentist told me something a little upsetting. How I've been dealing with my stress. Some people may deal with it in other ways, but it seems one way I deal with stress and anxiety is to grind my teeth at night. He mentioned it the last time we were there, about 6 months ago. Today, he told me I've been grinding a lot. So much that I've ground off an 1/8. of. an. inch. off my tooth. That upsets me. I have anxiety a lot. That is well known. Now, guess what I'm worrying about?! Grinding my teeth. He told me I needed to put a little note by my bed that says I won't grind my teeth or something like that. By reading it before I go to bed it will bring my habit to my conscience and hopefully help me to stop. If not, I have to get an appliance to sleep with which cost a pretty penny according to the dentist. I said oh, my mom has to sleep with that (thinking maybe it is inherited and I can blame it on the genes!) he quickly said "oh no, this isn't inherited, it just stress and anxiety related." Great. Hopefully his notecard trick will work!