Dental Disaster

It all started Valentines weekend. Buck and I had gone out for dinner that Friday night while Pop and Gran watched the boys. We got a call from them that Owen was complaining about a toothache. He'd had a cavity filled a few weeks ago (his first and we were hoping the last!), and it was this tooth that he was complaining about. We didn't think much of it until he kept complaining the next morning. So, Buck called our dentist that Saturday morning and took Owen in. They did an X-ray, and the dentist said he thought Owen's filling was just close to a nerve and when he chewed down on hard candy, gum, etc it made it hurt. So, we're like okay, stay away from candy. Check. Well, that night Owen couldn't sleep and cried that it hurt even when on Tylenol. We called the dentist again Monday morning asking what to do. He said Owen might need a pulpotomy (yikes!) and suggested calling a pediatric dentist. Did I mention it had snowed overnight and schools were closed and the roads were slick? Anyway, we managed to get an appointment at a pediatric dentist in Murfreesboro. Buck took off work to drive Owen there in the snow while I stayed home with Luke. Still with me?

We were flabbergasted with what the pediatric dentist told us. They did X-rays and said Owen's tooth was abcessed and would need to be pulled in the next 7-10 days. Also, said he had 4 other cavities that needed filling, one would need a pulpotomy and two others needed crowns!!!! We are still in shock! We've taken Owen to the dentist since he was 2, and couldn't believe it. I guess they just do more detailed Xrays at these pediatric dentists, and so these cavities were missed at the regular dentist. Now, we had a choice to make. Bring Owen back in and fix his teeth over 5 different appointments and have him orally sedated each time, OR have him totally sedated through an IV at a surgery center and do all the work at once. Since Owen was already getting really apprehensive about dentist and his teeth, we opted for the 2nd option. We are scared about having him put totally out but have to trust it will all be okay.

So, then I had to take him 2 days later on Wednesday to get the okay from his pediatrician for the surgery and then back to the dentist AGAIN for more Xrays and pre-op consultation. Long, long day. Now, we think we're all good to go for his surgery on Monday. His appt. was not until 2 pm and we were supposed to be there at 12:30 pm. Oh yeah, and Owen can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight the night before. Hello? Do these people have children? We called the surgery center to confirm this and were told to strictly follow these instructions or the anesthesiologist would cancel his appt. Well, Monday comes and Owen does super. He doesn't start to complain about being hungry until about 11:30 when we are on our way to the surgery center. Buck took off the whole day from work, and my mom was lined up to keep Luke. Well, guess who calls us on the way? The surgery center calls to tell us there as been "a major delay" and we'll have to reschedule. What??? Are you kidding me? It's already been a week since that first appt at the dentist and supposedly this tooth has to come out, right? Sorry, they say, call your dentist. We were super ticked! Had to go get Owen some lunch, Buck went back to work for a few hours, and now we're rescheduled for Thursday with a totally different dentist and at at different place! Oh, and now Buck has no vacation time left so he can't go with us.

Can you tell I'm a little frustrated? So, please pray this all gets over with on Thursday and that Owen has a smooth recovery. We're still not sure what exactly we did wrong to cause Owen's teeth to be in such bad shape. We brush them every day. But, we're having to rethink all snacks, watch the sugar, the juice, quit using sippy cups, floss religiously. Sigh. So, this is what we've been consumed with the past 2 weeks. So, ready for this to be over and to move on to March.