10 -14 Days

Before having children, I carefully read "Motherhood", the manual in which the job description is outlined. Dentistry, beyond brushing and flossing, was not mentioned.

Monday we went to see our favorite pediatric dentist, Dr. Pugliese. He really is very good with the girls and last September I pointed out if you added the digits of my age together, I would only be 7, so could he please be my dentist too? He just laughed. Rude!

So, great check-up, no cavities, etc. He looked at Madeleine's two center, bottom teeth and told me there was nothing he could do about the fact they are coming in diagonally at this point, and to save for braces. Then came Emily. Emily's second center, bottom tooth is coming up behind the baby tooth, instead of under it. As of Monday, the permanent tooth had barely broken the surface of the gum...as of today it is clearly there and fighting for space. Dr. Pugliese said the baby tooth needed to be out in 10-14 days maximum and "You ladies can handle this at home." We are hoping with the baby tooth out of the way, the permanent tooth might move forward a bit into the space.

His suggestion was to put a little Anbesol on her gum, have her rest her head in my lap and "apply outward pressure" to the tooth. I confessed to him I had "assisted" one tooth per child this past December and he said he wasn't too opposed to "caveman dentistry".

So, Monday, I tug...nothing happens. Wednesday I tug...nothing happens. This morning Emily came flying in (at 5:15) to announce "my tooth is much looser". I send her back to bed. At 7ish I tug...nothing happens.

This afternoon I decided we had to deal with it...and it appears very loose and wiggly. Stuffing my queeziness in my back pocket, I attempt to put Anbesol on her gum and tell her to keep her tongue back out of the way. 1. There is saliva everywhere so the Anbesol won't stick to anything 2. Her tongue heads for the Anbesol with the homing capabilities of a child spotting a box of cookies in a car full of grocery bags 3. Lucy is having a blast chasing the Anbesol cap around the floor.

Yank...nothing. Tug...nothing. Deep breath, yank again, Emily screams - it's out. Now she is bleeding...a lot.

I had Emily start swishing with ice water and the bleeding was not slowing down. So, thinking back on my joyful experiences with "serial extraction" (for every permanent tooth I got, the lovely Dr. Conley pulled two baby teeth to make room for it) I was suddenly hit with the visceral memory of riding in the car up Cowley Street clenching blood and spit soaked gauze in my mouth (I literally remembered the smell and taste). Needless to say, Emily found herself holding gauze between her teeth and the bleeding stopped within 2 minutes.

We are happily awaiting the Tooth Fairy's arrival. I'm rereading the manual and filing a complaint.