Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Only Mae

Mae has been officially well for about 2 months now and apparently needed a little excitement in her life by the way of a medical emergency.

Last week both girls had dentist appointments to have their teeth cleaned. They go to one of those super happy rainbows and sunshine pediatric dentists. During Mae's exam, Dr. Rainbows and sunshine decided that Mae's new front bottom teeth were being crowded by her existing baby canine (the long pointy ones) teeth so doc said there were 2 options to hopefully correct this little issue before her teeth start twisting all around to fit in her mouth. Of course he could do an extraction which would mean pulling both lower canines or he could do a less invasive procedure called disking which is basically shaving off some of the baby canine teeth in hopes that it would offer enough room for the new teeth to align themselves properly. We decided to try the disking first and made an appointment for Thursday of this week, which would have been tomorrow.

We all know that Mae seems to have no trouble ripping teeth out of her mouth that aren't quite ready so we made it clear to her that Dr. Rainbows and Sunshine would be taking care of this one because her tooth was not ready to come out yet, just in the way. Well Monday rolls around (just 3 days before her appointment) and Mae starts playing with the doomed tooth. By evening she had the thing knocked loose but still very attached to her gums and her cheek was all red and swollen. Uh-oh.

First thing yesterday morning I called the dentist office and took her in. I knew this wasn't going to end well, but I tried to stay upbeat and positive for Mae and the ever sensitive Binny who was along for the ride. I debated going in the room with Mae but held back and stayed with Binny in the waiting room which I believe was a good move on my part. The dentist and assistants are really good with kids and most of the time prefer not having the parents around for procedures anyway. As I'm anxiously waiting to hear what's going on, I see doc's smiling face peek around the corner with a finger motion to step into his office. Apparently Mae is stronger than we think because she actually broke off the BONE that holds the canine teeth in place. Doc was in absolute disbelief that a slight 42 pound six year old pushed and pulled so hard on her tooth with her bare hands that she broke the bone. Well believe it doc because I sure as hell didn't hand her a pliers and tell her to go to town. He must have told me 6 or 8 times "She must have a high pain tolerance because that was one hell of a tooth to pull", then immediately apologized for his foul mouth. Like the word "hell" bothers me.

Anyhow, it was no question now that she would need the double extraction after all. The broken tooth had to come out and the other canine needed to come out as well to make sure that the new teeth would seat themselves properly. Back to the waiting room for us. After about 30 minutes we were allowed to go see Mae. Her face was tear soaked and she was crying through a wadded up piece of gauze in her mouth to soak up the blood. Doc. prescribed an antibiotic just to be on the safe side considering her history with infections as well as some Tylenol with codeine for pain and called Mae's pediatrician with all of the details to make her aware of what was going on. Both Dr. Rainbows and Sunshine and the assistant gave specific instructions to a crying Mae that she may not pull any more teeth out of her mouth.

After a few hours and ice cream for lunch Mae was feeling much better and announced to us last night that she only has 4 more baby teeth to go. Almost in unison the gardener and I say "no more!" I just hope she listens.

Oh and did I mention we're leaving tomorrow for a week long vacation? Perfect timing as usual.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow.

Watch out for her. With a pain threshold like that she'll be getting piercings and tattoos all over the place.

Are you sure she's not a closet super hero?

Momma Bear said...

hahahahaha....i'm totally not laughing at your babe being in pain or the inconvenience of the whole thing but instead you have one funny kid!! Oh my gosh i can't believe she knocked apart her own tooth. Have a great vacation Aliceson. I bet you'll be able to unwind once you actually get there.

Shady Lady said...

Holy cow! Mae is brutal. I'm with Kelly, keep her away from the tattoo shops. She'll find a way to prove she's 18 and start getting inked before you know it.

And please, do have a fabulous vacation!

Stacy Hackenberg said...

Could be worse. She cold be like my eldest and be part shark. By which I mean she could have multiple sets of teeth. You know something's wrong when there's a crowd around the x-rays.

Have a good vacation.

Secret Mom Thoughts said...

OMG. Mae has super strength for sure.

Riot Kitty said...

Ouch!

Tami said...

WOW! Amazing little gal! My son has a similar personality and got the nickname "Moose". I don't think Mae wants to be known as a moose!!! LOL

VeRonda said...

I'm in agreement with Kelly... it would be tattoos everywhere except the neck line.

LL Cool Joe said...

Ouch that sounds damn painful. Yeah and great timing too!

Sounds like you have a good dentist though. :)

Sidhe said...

Always entertaining, wow!

Have a great vacay w/monkey and your girls!

sheila said...

OH MY GOD.
:) Wow, that's one tough kid!
The canine is the longest root you know. My son had to get one pulled (a front bottom, not a canine) and I was ASTONISHED how long it was. I posted it awhile ago. But that was a permanent one. Is this tooth of hers a permanent one?

I'm just totally amazed at your daughter...lol.