Fun at the Dentist

Rylee got a filling on a baby tooth while I was out in Mountain Home.  She complained about it off and on, that it felt "cold" or weird.  The complaints became more frequent and she asked to have it looked at.  We have several awesome dentists in the branch, including the pediatric dentist who put the filling in.  He suggested taking her in for Sick Call and he would consult with the on duty dentist.  So we did that yesterday.  Consensus was that the filling may be close to the nerve and the recommendation was to just pull it, as a new tooth would grow in there in 2-3 years, and that would solve all problems.  Or, she could schedule a crown, but that would take a few weeks.  I might have pressured her for the extraction, but down the hall some kid was screaming bloody murder and it made me want to cry. And Rylee was rather opposed to getting the tooth pulled- mostly because she did not want to miss school, or her after school club, to Activity Days that night.  So we scheduled the crown for the day before Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, by the time Rylee got home from school, her tooth hurt. And it did not feel any better after Activity Days.  And I was up in the middle of the night for almost 2 hours with her and her sore tooth.  So, this morning, I was frantically trying to figure out how to get this done.  Our Pediatric dentist friend was not going to be at the clinic, and could not help till Friday.  So I messaged the darling wife of the guy who removed Josh's wisdom teeth.  I feel horribly guilty using friend and church connections, but desperate times call for desperate measures!  And they do not get the general dentists use nitrous.  I could not imagine trying to get her tooth pulled without it!  Our oral surgeon friend came through and had us come in at 8:30.  He gave her oral sedatives and I thought things were going to be great.  

It started off well.The meds kicked in and Rylee thought it was SO funny that the window blinds looked close enough to touch.  She giggled hysterically.  Unfortunately all giggles stopped when the work began.  I went into the hallway and she howled like a banshee when he did the shots and then cried hysterically.  I felt bad.  She continued to howl and I listened to the dentist, "Rylee, I'mnot even touching you."  Screaming response.  "Rylee, nothing is touching you."   Still screaming.  "Rylee, this is what I'm going to use, there is nothing sharp."  Still wailing.  I was getting concerned that he may not get it done, and she was still making a ruckus.  Then I heard, "I'm all done, you can stop now."  She did not stop for a bit.  She cried and cried and cried.  Those loopy meds made her loopy and sad!  The procedure itself was less than 3 minutes, but she took a lot longer than that to be okay.  They took her to the car in a wheelchair and she cried off and on all the way home.  And she cried off and on for the next 2 hours.  Poor baby.

On the plus side, she doesn't remember much of it and she's feeling pretty good.  Only one round of ibuprofen that I made her take before the numbing meds wore off, and she hasn't needed any since.  But wow, what an ordeal!! And I'm slightly bitter that she made me miss a hike with my friends this morning for all this.  Sigh.  But it is done, and it is over!

And she has recovered nicely.