ohbloodyhell8

Be a dentist…

I love going to the dentist.  The song from Little Shop of Horrors is one of my favorites.  I’ve never been bothered by any of the lovely dental work I’ve had, including having wisdom teeth removed or root canals.  I got my “adult” teeth early.  When I was 12, the dentist (who clearly hadn’t read my chart) asked how I liked driving.  I said I didn’t drive because I was only 12.  He thought because of the wisdom teeth I was older.

Younger son had a follow up visit at the dentist on Friday.  Six months ago he had his first root canal (yep, at the tender age of seven-he was completely unfazed by this).  Still, he needed four more fillings.  Younger son sat in the chair and asked his questions about the equipment.  (He enjoys going to the dentist too.)  The dentist came in and started poking at the cavities, asking if it hurt, and younger son repeatedly said it didn’t hurt.  She opted to take another x-ray before doing the fillings because it should have hurt when she poked.  She came back in and told me she wasn’t doing any more fillings on his upper molars and was going to pull one of the teeth instead.  She kept referring to the x-ray, but I wasn’t getting it.

Finally, the dentist explained the two rows of teeth I was looking at.  The bottom row were not his bottom teeth but his baby molars being pushed out by the adult molars making the top row.  The nerves had already been wiped out by the adult molars.  The pressure of the adult molars is what caused the pain when he chewed, not the cavities.  The dentist couldn’t believe that in only six months time younger son’s adult molars had shown up.  I told her about my dental development and she said he has my teeth.

Well, one extraction later, younger son expressed surprise when the dentist told him he was all done and could have ice cream for dinner.  Boy, did he milk that.  He has to return in two weeks to check the left side of his mouth.  Soon, he’ll have shiny new molars and we told him, these are the last ones so take care of them.

The dentist couldn’t believe a seven year old boy is getting his adult molars.  Younger son is enjoying the fact that he freaked out the dentist just a little bit.