It's like pulling teeth

Poor Blue Eyes.

He had a tooth pulled today. And you should know that he took it like a man.




We recently switched dentists. And by recently, I mean Tuesday.

I took Blue Eyes for his 6 month cleaning and checkup on Tuesday. Only his second visit to the dentist...EVER. They don't send orphans to the dentist in Ukraine.

You may have noticed by now that Blue Eyes has been missing one of his front teeth since the moment we laid eyes on him. We didn't get much information about what happened, so our guess is that he somehow knocked it out......thus the scar on his bottom lip.

At Blue Eyes' first dental exam we explained all of this to the dentist. The dentist (now the old dentist) said that he thought whenever Blue Eyes knocked out his tooth he damaged the other one in the process. The dental hygienist (whom we adore) mentioned that she saw the beginning stages of an abscess above this tooth. The dentist told her she was foolish and explained to me it was just damaged when he fell, which made it a little discolored. He assured me that everything was fine.

We went back to the dentist (now the old dentist) six months later, on Tuesday for another routine cleaning. During this cleaning, the dental hygienist mentioned that there was an abscess on that front tooth, a fairly awful one. I reminded her that she said that 6 months ago and the dentist argued with her in front of me. She just sorta giggled and went on cleaning his teeth.

When the dentist came in for the end of the visit checkup, he mentioned that the front tooth had an abscess. He also mentioned that it needed to come out. I was thinking he was going to have me set up an appointment to have it taken care of. He then proceeded to tell me that he wanted ME to pull the tooth. Keep in mind that this tooth isn't even loose.

I was thinking to myself....NO WAY JOSE! And then he mentions that I also might need to pop the abscess with a needle. To which I said (aloud and on accident)

"You want ME to do that? Isn't that the kind of crap we come to the dentist for?"

He looked at me like I was silly because I didn't want to yank that tooth out of his mouth. I explained to him that I didn't want to because I didn't want to traumatize him with the first tooth I pulled (because it wasn't even loose) and have to fight him over every tooth from now on.

To give the short version of what happened next, I'll say this.......when I started asking questions he told me I was just another pretty face without a dental degree. We started arguing. He was being a jerk. I just couldn't take it.

When I called to explain this scenario in depth to my husband, he got MAD! And the more I thought about it, the madder I became. How could he berate me for asking sincere questions. I wanted to know if Blue Eyes also needed an antibiotic for the infection and things like that. I was so mad that I called back up to the dental office and switched my whole family over to the dentist that owns the practice.

I hesitated to do this for two reasons;

1) This (new) dentist is an older man, a sort of rough fella when it comes to his personality. He is a no-nonsense kind of guy. He doesn't waste time on pleasantries. And I'm totally fine with this, when it comes to my dental work. I actually prefer it. Get in, get out, get on with life. But when it comes to children, that isn't such a comforting kind of person in such an already scary place. Good news is that my kids don't hate the dentist. They aren't really scared to go there. Partly because I fostered that emotion very early. I like the dentist, so naturally they see me like it, they like it.

2) The old dentist and new dentist share an office. Granted, one works on the left of the building and the other on the right, but they share an office in common. You pay your bill at the same place. The old dentist will see me in there visiting the new dentist.....NO WAY AROUND IT! This makes me uneasy for a few reasons. I don't want him saying anything else hateful to me and I don't want to create "bad blood" between the two dentists. The receptionist assures me that this sorta thing happens all of the time, but I'm not so sure.

Anyway, I bit the bullet and did it. I switched all of us over. And boy am I relieved. I'd been feeling a little strange about our old dentist for the last few visits. Like he wasn't really paying good attention to what was going on. Nothing I could actually put my finger on, I just felt funny about it. And Tuesday there was something to put my finer on.....so I did.

Today I took Blue Eyes in again to see the new dentist and get his opinion on that tooth. He agreed that it needed to come out, but also agreed with me that I didn't need to do it. It was not loose enough to be yanked out at home. He said the trick is to pull VERY hard and all at once, not letting up on pressure. He also said that mommies weren't built for that sorta thing.....inflicting pain on their babies like that almost always makes a mommy let up on pressure. And if you don't get it the first time, GOOD LUCK CHUCK!

So, he then looks at me, him being the no-nonsense kind of guy that he is, and says

"You want me to do it right now?"

And I say,

"Sure"

Not really knowing the gravity of situation coming on.

I was thinking,

"how nice......he isn't going to make me pay for this office visit and another to get the tooth pulled later. Just one visit, isn't this handy."

And it is nice. I'm not complaining.

He then looks at me with those eyes. You know, the eyes that say "stay with me, pay attention, I'm fixin' to talk to you in a way that the tot won't understand". And I start thinking, Oh crap! What's about to happen here?

He says to me (with those eyes),

"I'm not going to use a S-H-O-T. It will end up taking a lot longer and scaring him more if he sees the S-H-O-T, so I'm not going to bother with it."

To which I respond,

"But it isn't even loose, won't that REALLY hurt?"

And he says,

"Oh yeah. Be ready for the S-C-R-E-A-M."

And I thought....Oh Jesus, here we go. This kid will fight with everything he has.

So, the dentist just tells Blue Eyes that he wants to wiggle it again, grabs the pliers, (I have to turn my head cause I can't watch my baby bleed), and then CRACK! It made the awfullest sound, but he got it first try.

My sweet lil' man immediately sat straight up in that chair and said,

"OUCH! You just pull my toof?"

dentist: "Yeah, I did, but it's over now."

Blue Eyes: "IT HURT!"

He looks at me with tears in his eyes about to cry and says

"Mama, him pull my toof hard and it HURT"

And that was it. No crying screaming fit. He screamed OUCH once and cried a few tears and then he was over it. Like a grown man, he just took it.

We had trouble making him keep gauze in his mouth to stop the bleeding (he kept flirting with all of the ladies in the office) but other than that it was a successful visit to the dentist. I don't think he'll be scared to go back.

You never know about kiddos. They'll surprise the heck out of you if you give em' a chance.

Now he so sweetly talks funny. Tooth becomes Toof.

Precious I tell ya, just plain precious.




On a totally unrelated note......

I have a new project, I'm re-organizing my whole house. I've been following a blog,
A bowl full of Lemons, that gives great ideas for cleaning and organizing your home.

Now, those of you who know me personally already know I am an organization FREAK! I color code my closet for crying out loud!

BUT....

I don't go so far as to containerize everything and label it. I am going to begin this process. I will take before and after photos so that you can see the difference. Maybe it will inspire some of you to check out her blog and follow along. I'm really far behind, so I may do several a day in order to catch up.

She starts with the junk drawer......I don't have one of those, so I'm already a step ahead.

Hope y'all have a great night.