Lydia Teeth

I took Lydia for an orthodontist consultation almost two years ago and Dr. Fairbanks (Fairbanks Orthodontics) recommended having 8-10 of Lydia' baby teeth pulled. That felt really drastic. I took her for a second opinion at a different Orthodontist (Dr Maxfield, Aloha Orthodontics) and he said that he would probably wait and they would probably fall out on their own. But here we are, two years later and even though I stubbornly just kept saying "They'll fall out!" only one of them actually fell out. The rest were not coming out on their own. There was concern that the adult teeth were going to solidify up in the bone making it much more difficult for them to drop down in the right spots - and so we finally made the preparations to have the baby teeth pulled. 

Because there were so many teeth that needed pulled (8), we decided to go to an Oral Surgeon and have them put her under so they could remove them all at the same time. The other option was to do it in stages and have the pediatric dentist do it while she was awake. Lydia was a little nervous, but she was very brave. When I brought her to the appointment, they wouldn't let me come back with her to the room or anything. I had to sit in the waiting room and she had to do it all on her own! On our way out to the car, I made a last minute grab for a blanket and her stuffed dog "Pup-pup". I'm SO glad that I did because I think that made a big difference to her. She did great in the surgery and even though she was a little disoriented and in pain when they said I could come get her and take her to the car, she was relieved to have me there and we were able to take her home and get her comfortable. 

After seeing her baby teeth with their GIANT roots still attached, it was clear that those babies were not going anywhere. We had to laugh a little because I kept telling Lydia that all of the roots were already dissolved and that the adult teeth just needed to push them out. Obviously I was wrong. 



Lydia's recovery was successful. She rested, ate soft foods, and kept her mouth rinsed. She was sore for several days and couldn't eat hard foods for a couple of weeks, but she handled it gracefully and with a good attitude. I'm proud of her and glad that we finally took care of this in hopes that it is the right thing for the best outcome. 

(We also have been joking that we had to have Lydia's teeth taken out but had to have Austin's teeth put back in! We've been going to a lot of dentist/orthodontist/endodontist/oral surgeon appointments lately.)