Chipped Teeth. . .

As a mom, one of my fears is that my child will knock her teeth out. Yesterday, this fear ALMOST came true.

We (Brandon, Brynn, and I) were all in my bed room. I was on the computer and Brandon was playing with Brynn. All of a sudden I hear Brynn fall and start crying. I knew immediately that she was hurt because this was not the normal "I fell down but I'm ok" cry. It was the "I am hurt" cry.

Brandon was to her before me and said her mouth was bleeding, which is never good. I, being the pessimistic person I am, thought she knocked her teeth out, her teeth are through her lip, you know, all the bad thoughts that accompany a child that has fallen and has blood coming from their mouth. As Brandon was picking her up, I notice little white chips of something (later to be determined as chips of her teeth...notice I said teeth not tooth) on the floor.

We took her in the bathroom and I had her swish some water so that I can determine where the blood was coming from. I covered her eyes while she did this, so that she would not see the blood and panic as much as I was on the inside. As I looked in her mouth, I saw that the 1st molar on the right side of mouth is chipped, the 1st molar on the left is chipped, the teeth to the left and right of her front teeth are chipped, and both her eye teeth are slightly chipped. Upon closer examination, I fine the cause of the bleeding. 1 of the pieces of chipped tooth was lodged between the her gum and the back of her 2nd tooth on the bottom.

At this point in my story, I should mention that Brynn was NOT running, but walking when the accident occurred. She did NOT trip over anything but her own feet. She also did NOT hit anything during her fall until her chin hit the carpet.

I did manage to extract the chip from her gum with tweezers...which I am sure was not very safe, but that tooth was now a little loose. Brynn was such a trooper and did not cry anymore once we were in the bathroom. I, on the other hand, was FREAKING out. All I kept imagining was that her teeth were going to fall out or turn black and she was going to look like one of those poor kids whose parents don't really care about their teeth. If her teeth did fall out, she wouldn't have new teeth for YEARS!!!!

While in the bathroom she did ask if her teeth were broken. I said just a little. She then asked if she could get new ones in the morning. A little humor amidst my fears.

Brandon tried to assure me that she would be fine and her teeth would be fine. I wanted to take her to the dentist the next morning, but he said no. I did call one of my clients (the next morning) who is a dental hygienist, and she was able to calm my nerves by explaining to me all her teeth should be fine as long as she was not crying in pain with them. She said her only concern would be the bottom tooth, we should watch for swelling. If no swelling by Monday, we should be in the clear. What a relief!!!

As of right now, the bottom tooth looks a 100 times better. She says her mouth does not hurt. The chipped places on all her teeth are not real noticeable, and according to my client she should have new teeth in about 2-3 years.

Aw, the joys of parenthood!