Extraction!

So, Matthew had 3 teeth pulled last week. Yes, they are baby teeth. Yes, they would come out anyway. It was still a little hard on me. You see, I had several teeth pulled when I was a child. Too many teeth, not enough room. They said that if they pulled my baby teeth (root and all) then my permanent teeth would come in straight and I wouldn't need braces. Well, I did have braces. Twice. So, fast forward 30 years and my son is in the same situation. Too many teeth, not enough room. He had a tooth that he lost at least 3 month ago that hadn't yet grown in. X-rays showed the problem. It was trying to come it, but the poor thing had no room. So back to the dentist for 3 extractions. Matthew was a trooper. He had never been numbed before, so he went through the alphabet, finding which letters he could and could not say with a "fat" lip. He made it though with just a little discomfort. The dentist was great with him. Even rinsed a drop of blood off his shirt before he knew it was there. We went home, gauze in mouth and three teeth root and all in a cute little container. It took a little time that evening to get back to normal. I had him with a tea bag in his mouth a few hours later to stop the last of the bleeding, something I remembered doing from my childhood and a dentist friend reminded my of. Something about tanic acid for any science people out there. Our dentist even called that evening the check on Matthew. What a guy! The next day, five dollars richer thanks to the Tooth Fairy, he had a couple of Tylenols, when to school, and then was fine. Kids recover so quickly!