Those teeth...

One thing I love about Allen's face are his top front teeth. They are always peeking through his little smile and for some reason remind me of an American Girl doll. Random thought, I know...but so cute all the same!

Well...today we had an "incident" that may bring an end to those adorable teeth. We finally got the full story tonight from the boys and it goes something like this...Drew & Allen had just watched an old Scooby-Doo episode that involved a ghost. As they were headed down the hall to their rooms for nap time, Drew decided they should "play ghost". Allen agreed and put his blanket over his head to be the ghost while Drew was Scooby-Doo and chased him. Allen ran face-first at full speed into a wall. I was back in my bedroom and came running out to screams, tears (which rarely come from Allen) and a lot of blood.

His front teeth were still intact, best I could tell, but he said they really hurt. I got the blood to stop after about 20 minutes but at least one tooth was pretty loose. I called the dentist and they were able to get him in this afternoon. After an exam and x-rays, we discovered that this is definitely not the first time he has had trauma on these teeth. The root system is damage and they both appear to be cracked above the gum line. The dentist said today's incident would not have caused that much damage and most likely he has fallen or hit something in the past. Obviously, he hasn't been around this child much. He falls, runs into, jumps (or falls) off of things all the time. The fact that we have gone 3 years without major injury is an amazing with this kid!

So the prognosis? The teeth will come out. We can choose to have them pulled now so we can control the time and pain when that occurs. Or we can wait to have them pulled until they 1) die and turn brown or 2) become infected and abscess. Finally, we can wait until they come out on their own either by 1) breaking off due to another trauma, or 2) reacting negatively to something he eats and fall out. No matter what, at some point those teeth are going to come out. I am beyond distressed about this thought!!! We will see his regular dentist on Monday for his scheduled cleaning and get his opinion. I also have the name of a pediatric dentist in KC and will try to get an appointment soon after we arrive to get his opinion and transfer care.

His adult teeth are visible on the x-ray but are at least 3 years from making their appearance. Since the root system is affected, there is no option to put anything temporary in their place. So he could be 3 years without his two front teeth. Not only am I sad about his appearance (and I know that is so shallow and there are much worse things that could happen to my child...but give me time to get used to this idea!) but I am very upset about the thought that his speech will be affected. He already has problems with his enunciation and people really have a hard time understanding him. This is compounded by the fact that his vocabulary is rather advanced so people aren't expecting the words he uses so they don't try to hear them. This is very frustrating to him and we have experienced some behavioral problems because of it. So it makes me sad to think it will only get worse. Not to mention the fact that he might be made fun off by kids at school. And it is all compounded by the fact that we move next week where he has to go to a new school, make new friends, and generally have the life as he knows it turned upside down.

I know they are just teeth. I know I am completely overreacting at this point. But it just makes me sad. I'm sad for my baby...and those adorable front teeth...