I like teeth. I like people's smiles. That's why I went into dentistry when I was deciding what I wanted to do with my life. I became a dental assistant and enrolled in school to start on my way to become a dental hygienist. Like so many others who want to become part of the dental heirarchy, I got married, put my school on hold, and promised myself that some day I'd go back and get my degree. 13 years later I still think that maybe one day I'll go back to school and fulfill my dream of probing and cleaning teeth, but for now I remain on the bottom of the dentistry totem pole.
Imagine my excitement when my eldest son had his first loose tooth last year. I KNEW that all my training would some day come in handy, (especially since Tyler can't even be in the same room as a loose tooth without cringing) and my moment had arrived. My patient, Talmage, was not the willing participant that I had hoped he'd be. After mild coaxing he let me pull his tooth.....this scarred him for life.
The little pain associated with the removal of a tooth has left Talmage afraid to lose more teeth. The past few months Talmage's two front teeth have decided that they want to meet their maker, or go to that "happy place" the Tooth Fairy takes them when they decide to make their voyage. With that said, we could not look, talk about, or joke about the loss of Talmage's two front teeth without a complete come-apart.
As his teeth became more "wiggly", one of them even started to descend about 4 mm from where it used to be. I could not imagine what was possibly still holding this tooth in his mouth, or how he did not accidentally sneeze the little bugger out. It was like a bad movie when you watch someone be mutilated, maimed by an animal, or blown up, and they still don't die. This tooth would not fall out, and it literally could have fallen right out.
One night as I was "checking" the brushing job Talmage had done on his teeth, I noticed that as I brushed this one particular tooth it actually turned sideways. That was the final straw! I was done milking this tooth along. It needed to come out, and it was coming out NOW!
I told Tyler to come upstairs and hold Talmage while I removed this eyesore from his mouth. (Props go out to Tyler for not passing out!) Before Talmage even had a chance to object, I stood victorious, with tooth in hand.
After it was over he stated that he "didn't even feel it!" It might be that he felt nothing because the tooth was hanging on by the smallest tissue possible, I like to believe he felt nothing because I am just that good at what I do!
And what about the wonder tooth's next door neighbor?.....
Tyler took care of that one with an errant bounce pass that connected flush with Talmage's face playing basketball! (And Tyler says he can't take out loose teeth.....I give him 10 points for creativity!)
