Once Upon a Lindley: A visit from the Tooth Fairy....

Wednesday night, as I was putting the girls to bed, Amy started to complain that her mouth was hurting. I wasn't too concerned because she hadn't complained at all during the day...and I was a little suspicious that it was just a "get out of going to bed" scam. I did check her mouth to see if I could see anything and I also asked if she had bumped it. I couldn't see any scratches or sores and she said that she thought she had bumped her mouth at school. I gave her a dose of tylenol and sent her off to bed.

The next morning, when I went to get her up for school I was surprised to see that Amy's lip/cheek was swollen! It looked like someone had punched her in the face. I showed it to David and he said that she got up more than once during the night crying, but he didn't know that her mouth was hurting. I kept her home from school and called the dentist as soon as they opened. I was able to bring her right in to the office. They did an x-ray and the dentist examined her teeth and gums. Upon examination, two of her teeth were loose and the dentist noticed some beginning signs of infection in her upper gumline. Her gums were pink with just a slight hint of white. The x-ray revealed an abscess that affected both her top right front tooth and the one next to it. He said the abscess was probably caused by her hitting her mouth sometime recently. He sent us home with a prescription for an antibiotic and an appointment to come back in two weeks to have the teeth pulled.

When we got home, Amy was still complaining about her teeth hurting. I gave her a dose of Motrin along with her antibiotic and had her rest for a while. She did okay most of the morning, but in the early afternoon she started to get more uncomfortable. She started crying, whereas before she had just been whining, so I decided to take a look at her mouth again. This time when I just slightly lifted her lip, I could see a big abscess just above her tooth! What was barely visible at 9 that morning was now impossible to miss just five hours later! I called the dentist back and he recommended we bring her back to the office that afternoon.

When we got back to the dentist office, the Dr. was shocked at how quickly her infection had progressed. He was worried that if we left the teeth in any longer, she would continue to have swelling and pain issues and it would be best to take the teeth immediately. He was concerned that because of the size of her infection they may not be able to get her numbed without causing a little bit of pain for her. It was still the best option to go ahead, so we just went ahead. Amy did fantastic and even amazed the dentist and hygienist. She didn't even flinch when they gave her the Novocaine or when they pulled the teeth! She is an amazing little trouper!

That night, we put her teeth in a baggie and tucked them under her pillow for her very first visit from the tooth fairy. We decided to keep her home from school again the next day to fully recover from the infection/extraction. When she woke up she was super excited to find that the tooth fairy had left her a $5 dollar bill, 4 quarters and, the best of all, sparkly lip gloss!

Amy continues to do well...the swelling has just about gone away completely. I'm posting some pictures...some of her lip before we had to go back to the dentist and a couple after the teeth were removed. I'll post another snaggle-tooth picture soon once the swelling is all gone.

This is what it looked like when she woke up....