Toothless

Today Squeaker went to the dentist, Dr. Brandon. The dentist is never fun. Squeaker inherited my poor baby teeth. Combine that with teeth grinding, antibiotics, inhalers, nebulizer treatments and overnight drinking and well you have lots of teeth issues.

<--- This was while we were waiting for the medication to kick in.

This is how our day was supposed to go:
1) Stop liquids and food at midnight
2) Go to Dentist at 9am
3) Take the waking sedation medication
4) Wait and hour for Squeaker to get loopy
5) Get her in the procedure room
6) Start the nitrous oxide
7) Clean Squeaker's top incisors
8) Fit caps on incisors
9) Leave Dentist
10) Be home by 10:30-11 at the latest

     It was all great until Step 7. At that point the plan went out the window and we went down a rabbit hole.
     As Dr. Brandon trying to clean off the decay on Squeaker's teeth he started to worry about how much tooth would be left. He tried to figure out if he could even get a cap to fit. He went through what he had. I'm sure you have figured out that Squeaker is not happy about this. Poor Squeaker is being such a trooper. Even though she has been given a pain killer, nitrous oxide and Novocaine she was still uncomfortable and not afraid to let us know. Squeaker wasn't really kicking or wiggling but was pretty vocal that as she put it "I'm Done! I'm Done! I'm Done!". Poor Kid.
     After about 5 minutes of pushing and trying to get a cap to fit Dr. Brandon stopped and turned to me. He told me our options. We could try to glue the caps on but we would be replacing them in 3-4 months. We could try just cleaning and run the risk of further rotting, chipping, or abscess. Or we could pull the teeth. My heart sank. Dang it.... after a minute I just said, "Dr. Brandon I trust you. You do what you think is going to keep Squeaker's mouth healthy." I could see Dr. Brandon's wheels turning, then his shoulders dropped and his eyes got sad and he said "We should take the teeth. I don't want to but if we don't you're going to back here in two months doing something else to these teeth. Or worse we will have to go back to the hospital because it will be a more complicated procedure."
    That's what we did. The hygienist went and grabbed the tools needed. Dr. Brandon sat there with us and tried to soothe Squeaker while he waited for the tools. He was very sweet. Once we had the tools the teeth were out in less then 2 minutes. Squeaker was soooo not happy but the worst was over. After about 10 minutes of cool down time we were cleared to go pick out a toy and leave. We left at 11am.
     Stopped in at Kroger to buy ice cream, popcicles, and some other favorites for Squeaker. Then finally headed home. Gosh it was a long morning.When we got home Trey was a wreck over the news. Trey has naturally good teeth. I mean straight, clean, self healing. At 35 he's had all of 3 cavities I think. Watching his daughter have poor teeth has been hard for him. Feeling that he should have been able to prevent every filling, crown, and pulled tooth. He thought dental health was something that he could help control. He was terrified that at this rate she would lose all of her baby teeth long before her adult teeth came in. Once I reassured Trey that the rest of her teeth were healthy and that there was little or nothing we could have done he started to feel a little better. He really started to perk up once Squeaker started to eat 5 minutes later. She didn't eat a lot but Trey was happy to see that even with less teeth Squeaker wasn't going to change her life, so it shouldn't change his.
     The good news is with these teeth pulled all of the problem teeth are taken care of. She had 6 teeth pulled up top, and the top 4 molars have caps/crowns on them. Her bottom teeth and in perfect condition. Dr. Brandon said their isn't even plaque or tarter on them. He can tell we try our best but life and genetics were just against us. But by taking care of this now Squeaker's gums will be able to stay healthy and grow healthy adult teeth. And those teeth, my friends, are what she will have much longer. For now and the next few years Squeaker gets to be our Toothless wonder.