Friday, December 5, 2008

Technical Difficulties and teeth

I've been waiting patiently for the technical difficulties to be resolved with our main computer. You know, the one I download all my pictures onto and generally use for all my cyber duties. Alas, it still remains in the shop to figure out why it doesn't like the internet right now. We ruled out connection problems since the other computers in the house run the internet wirelessly off the same modem. They all work! Therefore I am confined to blogging from my pictureless laptop. Never fear! Google images will help illustrate my blog!



Regardless of the state of my computer, however, life continues on and so I must continue on with it.


Our family has issues with lateral incisors. Daniel is missing both of his. His retainer has fake ones that fill in the space and leave room for future implants ($3000 apiece--if it's important to him). Paul and Holly are each missing one lateral incisor and the other is what they call a "peg lateral"






Note the triangular shape to the tooth.


Somehow, Emily escaped the lateral incisor curse, but Maddie supposedly has two "peg laterals" (according to the panoramic x-ray--I haven't gotten a good look at them since they started coming in). The jury is still out on the state of Ellie's lateral incisors.


So, Wednesday we went to the dentist with Ellie and Maddie. They were due for a cleaning, but my ulterior motive for getting them there was that both of Maddie's permanent lateral incisors were in--way back behind the baby lateral incisors that were not even close to being loose enough to come out. Ellie has the same issue with a lower incisor that is sitting (not even loose) in front of the the permanent lower incisors that are completely in.


The night before, at Maddie's request, Paul managed to pull out the one lateral incisor (painfully) that was slightly loose--and it had most of the root on it!


Look how little of the tooth actually sticks up above the gums! The way it's supposed to work is that the root dissolves before coming out--but apparently this is not to be with my two youngest children. The dentist extracted Maddie's other lateral incisor which had the entire root INTACT! I did not make her go back to school after the tooth trauma. Thank goodness for novocaine and nitrous oxide! Ellie's tooth will have to be extracted at a later time--not looking foward to it!

3 comments:

ash said...

And this is why Olivia refuses to go to the dentist. Her cousins go and have such scary tales that we can't even say the word dentist without tears and crying.

Good luck!

Elise said...

I can't get anything done without the nitrous! Thank goodness for that stuff.

Sorry for all that trauma!

dishes and laundry said...

Holy. Crap.

Paul is freakin' doing in-home dentistry! I thought we were being all medical, attacking the occasional pimple or ingrown townail, but WOW! Poor, brave, Maddie!