Dental Adventures, Part 2

Somehow, I neglected to mention that in the same week Edward had his big makeover, Ethan's looks underwent a major change. (This post might be long and boring for most of you, so if you just want to see the change, scroll to the video.)

After looking for a new dentist (for a second opinion and in-house anesthesia if necessary) and the interruption of job loss (meaning no dental insurance), we finally had Ethan's teeth evaluated again.

The new dentist spent an hour talking Ethan through the x-rays, but didn't manage a cleaning at his first visit. Looking at the x-rays showed that Ethan did need some of the work recommended by the first dentist. Two crowns in the back instead of multiple fillings (but not the root canals, thank goodness), several small fillings, and a problem with a front tooth that we had two options for. But because he was so resistant, our little Ethan would have to go under general anesthesia.

Because most of the work was on his molars, which he needs for the next ten years or so, we couldn't ignore it. So we scraped together the money and made the appointment.

The day of, before I would sign the final consent, I had two discussions. First with the pediatric anesthesiologist. I asked not only about Ethan's experience (what they'd do while he was still awake, how kids usually come out of this particular type of anesthesia, and how much he would remember) but also some medical questions. I liked this guy and wasn't worried about Ethan at all. It probably helped that his name was Dr. Heaton. (I would still have rather entrusted Spencer with this, but he lives to far away. Next time??)

The second discussion was with the dentist about that front tooth. Ethan had a cavity that ran the length of the tooth. He'd actually had it for several years, but every dentist before would treat it with fluoride and say not to worry about it. We really couldn't ignore this deep channel down his tooth anymore. The problem was that a traditional filling would fall right out. So our options were to cap it with a plastic crown or pull it. Initially we'd planned to go with the crown, but it's also likely to get knocked off multiple times before the tooth falls out on its own. And with Ethan, that would likely mean more anesthesia to replace it. I went with the obvious decision and had them pull it.

Now, even though it made sense (and was cheaper), I still felt bad about it for a few weeks. It was hideous. The tooth next to it stuck way out and there was a gaping hole. I'd go look at him in the middle of the night and cry about what I'd done to him. But now that the hole has healed up and the other tooth has shifted a little, he just looks like an older kid. Good thing too, because his teeth seem to be on a late schedule. He'll have that gap for the next 4 years or so.

Would you like to see it? Not a great video, but be grateful you can't see the hole very well. This was the day he had the work done.