Friday, August 12, 2011

The Dreaded Face Plant!


Sitting in the dentist chair waiting for the dentist to give me the verdict! Watching a movie!!

The teeth. This is after he pushed them forward a little with his tongue. (The discoloration has been there since his baby teeth grew in).

What a day! What started out as a promising day turned out to be one of the most traumatic days I've experienced this far in my parenting journey! I know I sound totally mellow dramatic... and I feel that way... and I'll probably feel really silly in a few days after I read this blog post... BUT I am still feeling the emotions of the day.

Ok, so today we decided to head up to the outlets in Park City. Berto and I have been in need of a few clothing items and are preparing for a trip to California. Also, Oliver has been needing new shoes... so our plans were made. After a quick and successful shopping trip I was sitting in the shade with the baby and Berto was letting Oliver test out his new Nike's at the playground. After about 15 minutes they came calmly walking over to me. I was surprised because Oliver doesn't typically leave a 3 year olds happy place (playground, park any where really) without a fight. Berto starts to tell me he tripped and fell and I suddenly realize there is blood coming out of Oliver's mouth. I hand off the baby to inspect the damage and find his right middle front tooth and the one next to it are severely pushed back and bleeding. PANIC. NAUSEA. DREAD. SORROW. Those are only a few of the emotions I felt. I get out my phone and start calling our dental insurance to see what our coverage is. THANKFULLY, I talked to a wonderful lady who suggested before I see our provider through our AETNA DMO, that I call our health insurance and see if they have accidental dental coverage! SCORE! I called and YES, he is covered 100% after a $50 copay which was a much better option for us than paying 20%! And they were amazing. They took the accident report, and helped me find a provider that could see him immidiately AND stayed on the phone while I made the appointment. They also told me EVERYTHING I needed to say so that they were billed properly. What a blessing!

So, we raced down the mountain. Oliver fell asleep so I called my mom and cried. I was trying so hard to keep it together for Oliver when ALL I wanted to do was morn for his poor front teeth.

Ok, so we made it to the dentist. They took an x-ray and thankfully there was no damage done to his permanent teeth which are just chillin up there waiting to come down. The dentist cautioned us not to have him numb Oliver up and try pushing the teeth forward. Oliver had already pushed them back up pretty far with his tongue and the Dentist didn't feel that he'd be able to do much more and it would be more traumatic than necessary for Oliver. So, basically they want to see him for a re-evaluation in 2 weeks as I guess it can take some time to really see the damage with dental trauma's. We just have to watch him for any absesses or anything like that or if he's in extreme pain then we have to bring him back in. The dentist doesn't think they'll fall out or anything like that at this point. So really it could have been much worse. I know that it's not the end of the world, they're just baby teeth... but I'm sad. The poor kid already had discolored baby teeth from who knows what reason... and now they're all wonky (for lack of a better term).

I am relieved that he's ok... but I'm sad. My Oliver doesn't look quite the same when he smiles. And he's been so subdued today. I think he got really scared and I think he's in some pain... and that breaks my heart.

1 comment:

Team Hansen said...

Poor Oliver. All your emotions are justified, so don't feel silly. I don't know how any kids have any teeth in their mouth with the amount of times they face plant. Hope he is feeling more like himself soon!