The Tooth Fairy is Working Overtime

Obviously we have had our share of teeth issues. Today before we took the girls to the dentist, I knew with about 99% certainty that at least one of them would be getting a tooth pulled. At the worst I figured they would each get two pulled.

So I was a little in shock when they called us back to tell us that yes, extraction of the teeth was necessary, and that there would be a grand total of SIX teeth pulled today. Four for Lauryn (top row this time!) and two bottom ones for Allie.

*sigh*

Thankfully everything went as smoothly as possible. Believe it or not, there were NO tears from either one of them. At least not until we got home and the numbness started to wear off. Lauryn was in pretty serious pain for the first thirty minutes.

DISCLAIMER: There are pictures of the pulled baby teeth at the bottom of this post. If you do not want to see pictures of baby teeth and their roots, DO NOT SCROLL DOWN! I was a little grossed out just taking the picture, so I want to be fair and put that warning out there!

Here are the girls just before leaving for the dentist. They are showing me their baby teeth one more time!

And here they are after getting home. (I crack up at how much wave Lauryn's hair gets when it dries!) I told them to stick their tongues where their teeth used to be. If for no other reason than their gums aren't exactly ready to be photographed. They are pretty swollen and red with some fairly large holes in them.

And here is the picture I warned you about :) These are Lauryn's top four teeth. Those front ones were almost ready to come out on their own, but just had a little too much root left over. Those side teeth were NEVER coming out, as you can see by the size of the roots. If we didn't pull them, the permanent teeth (which were already coming in behind) would find the path of least resistance, meaning they would come in crooked or push the other teeth out of the way to make their way through.

I have learned quite a bit about teeth in the past year. Probably more than I ever wanted to! After looking at these roots I can see why she was in so much pain. Luckily she is doing much better after some Motrin and a milkshake to numb the gums!

Allie has done beautifully and not complained a bit. She doesn't care for the "taste" (which I think she is describing a combo of the feel of her gums and the taste of blood. Gag.)

It's nice to have them both home for the day, even under these yucky conditions.

And now I'm off to whip up a quick a tooth pillow for Allie because both girls will need one under their pillow tonight. I sure hope the tooth fairy has a sizable savings account.

Missing Teeth and Growing Up

Today Lauryn had four baby teeth pulled. She has a small mouth like her mommy, and there is just not room for all those teeth, so four of them were evicted today.

This is an effort to hopefully prevent worse crowding in the future. Those adult teeth were already coming in behind the baby teeth...which weren't loose. We were told they wouldn't ever fall out because the adult teeth were so far back they wouldn't push them out.

It was hard for me, because she has wanted a loose tooth for the longest time, and here she is losing four...none of which she got to wiggle and pull out on her own. I felt like she was cheated out of that experience. I do trust her dentist, and believe this was necessary, but I just feel sad.

I literally teared up this morning as I watched her brush her teeth. I took the brush from her and just kept brushing long after the toothpaste was gone. She protested, but I told her this was the last time I would ever see those baby teeth in her head, so GIVE ME A BREAK!

She obliged.

Here she is first thing this morning...this is the "Before" picture...

And the "After!" I love the little tongue sticking through! She looks so cute and BIG!
I quickly made a tooth fairy pillow (we only found out two days ago at her appointment that she would be losing her teeth today) and she is excited but worried that the tooth fairy won't know she lost her teeth because the dentist had to take them out for her.
The tooth fairy will literally give this girl anything she wants after going through this today.

She did great during the actual procedure. She was nervous, but never cried. We did not go back with her, which was huge. I still can't believe she just walked off with the hygienist like such a big girl. Just an example of how far she has come, and how fast she is growing up.

Here's another example. After I took these pictures, she said, "Ok...now go put those on Facebook".

Please someone....make time stand still.