Mackenzie's Tooth, or lack thereof

Our baby girl forever changed while we were at Oma and Papa Dude's. I was on the phone trying to register the older kids for school and could hear her playing on the stairs. I told myself as soon as I got off the phone I was going to go her her so she wouldn't get hurt... Well, my phone call lasted literally 30 seconds too long because Oma brought her to me screaming and bleeding. Her lip was busted, but I needed to check her teeth. Low and behold her front tooth was not in the right place. I knew we needed to go see a dentist immediately.

We called on dentist and they weren't helpful, so we called a pediatric dentist and were told to bring her in about 3 hours later.  I knew that wouldn't work so I hung up the phone and drove to the office anyway.  Papa Dude came with us and Oma and Zadi took the other kids to Target.  I figured if I showed up at the office and both of us were covered in blood they wouldn't turn us away.

Thankfully by the time we got there she was pretty calm and sat in my lap watching Frozen in the waiting room while the dentist finished with another patient.  After showing them a picture of what her tooth looked like, they let us go back next.  He examined her and told me the tooth had to be pulled and couldn't be put back in place without a lot of work and no guarantees.  So we took an x-ray to make sure the permanent tooth pocket wasn't damaged.  It was just fine so then he numbed her with some gel.  After that we strapped her in the papoose to get some shot to numb it.  We took her out and waited a few minutes for the meds to kick in then put her back to pull the tooth.  It came out really easy, but it was so hard to watch and listen to her scream.  I felt horrible. 

It did make me feel better when the dentist told me the same thing happened to his daughter and she was without a tooth for a long time too.  He showed me some pictures and she was still a cute little girl.  They were really good with Mackenzie and made the process easier than it could have been.  We left with 3 toys even though they weren't giving prizes away because of COVID.  It makes me really guilty and sad that she will be without a front tooth for a long time, but it could have been way worse with broken bones and head lacerations so I need to be counting my blessings. 

She really bounced back quickly and was jumping off the couch by the evening.  I'm just glad that she's so little she doesn't know to be self-conscious of it and still smiles just as big as before!    
 

 

Yep, it was pretty nasty!

Getting her all strapped down to do shots & then again to pull the tooth.

The dentist in position to pull it.  It was really hard to stand there and watch, but I couldn't walk away and leave her alone.  It was pretty heartbreaking listening to her scream.

An ice cream sandwich really helped to cheer her up!

I actually sat down and read a book to her, that's how bad I felt because I hate reading books.

Don't mind the blood on her shirt because that ice cream was good!

Talking to Dad and telling him all about it.  Next time he needs to be around for the emergency!

She really did bounce back really quickly.

Believe it or not that bump and scrape on her forehead came from the day before at the zoo.

Pretty good idea of what her smile will look like for the next 7 years!  It has taken a while to get use to, but it really does fit her personality really well.