Baby Teeth

I remember being told years ago that I still have two baby teeth, and no sign of permanent teeth under them. "Weird, but OK," I thought, and didn't think much of it since. Fast forward to the end of 2012, and my tooth randomly breaks. This was pretty surprising, because I am very good at taking care of my teeth. I floss at least once or twice a day, and brush whenever I can. So why and how does my tooth just break?! It started to feel sensitive to heat and cold so I finally went to the dentist a few weeks ago. To my relief I was told that it was my baby tooth that broke (I didn't even think of that until she told me), because I am all of 24 years old and baby teeth are not meant to last that long, no matter how well you brush. The same baby tooth on my left side had a cavity on the side of it, but all my permanent teeth were in perfect shape. Phew! I felt so much better.

I had the option of either having my two baby teeth extracted, or the dentist could perform a baby root canal of sorts, and put steel fillings/covers on them. The second option has no guarantee of saving them for an extended period of time, so I imagined I would likely have to get them out at some point, so I chose extraction. Of course, that would leave gaps in my face, but as they're right before my molars, they're only visible when I smile really big (which I don't do often anyway). I didn't care too much about the gaps, and the two teeth behind might shift up and gradually fill in the gaps anyway. I also thought it would be super cool to have my teeth to keep, because I am a huge dork and like bones and I can teach my kids about teeth and tell them my baby teeth story when the time comes for them to lose theirs. Turns out I wasn't allowed to keep my teeth, my own teeth that they wrenched out of my face. Sigh. The procedure was fine I guess. I was nervous so they put me on laughing gas, which was fun. I had four shots to various places in my gum, waited a while for it to set in (what is with Disney channel shows these days?!), and then they went to work on getting out my teeth. That was weird, let me tell you. I could hear it, and feel a lot of pressure but very little actual pain. My broken tooth further broke in the process, and hearing that happen was unsettling, you can imagine. It was very uncomfortable, but life is that way sometimes. Afterwards Kyle and I stocked up on jello, yogurt, and shakes for me for the next several days until I can eat normal food again (I can only eat room temperature or cold, soft foods).

I imagine you all are as disappointed as I that I can't share with you a photo of my freshly pulled and bloody teeth, huh. My mouth feels really weird with my line of teeth being interrupted with what feels like two really huge gaps, but it's probably not as bad as it feels.

Fun story (not that fun, but I'll tell it anyway): When I got my wisdom teeth out in summer of '07, Kyle came to visit me so we could talk and hang out, but I was out of it and my face was in pain, so it really wasn't the best time for that. But he was there anyways. :)

- From the desk of Mrs. M