(Let’s just get this out of the way. No one has guessed the name. Yet.)
Last December, Whoorlito’s top teeth had a particularly shudder-inducing run-in with the bottom shelf of a steel baker’s rack. It was directly following one of his dramatic exits, usually involving my request to do something highly undesirable (such as finish eating his lunch or cleaning up his cars…I know, I am a TYRANT…) where he flails his arms, screams and runs full speed into his bedroom. I have no idea where he inherited these kind of ardent entrances and exits. This time, however, he tripped over his feet and made direct oral contact with a massive shelf.
I knew the minute he starting crying that this wasn’t any ordinary bump and bruise situation. That assumption was quickly verified when he looked up at me with blood spewing out of his mouth all over our kitchen floor. That’s the thing about mouth injuries in toddlers. Lots of blood + Lots of screaming = Bonafide Blood Sprinkler That Shall Not Cease.
Additionally, his two front teeth were not in their normal place.
I freaked the hell out.
I tried to stop the bleeding, called the dentist and hauled ass to her office.
I had all sorts of thoughts running through my head while driving to the office. Mainly, MY CHILD WILL HAVE NO FRONT TEETH. We might as well take up residence at a trailer park while donning matching mullets!
Now, a tooth being knocked out at any age is traumatic, but the thought is a little easier to swallow when the child is let’s say 5 or 6 and is expecting their permanent teeth to arrive within a year or two. Let me remind you, my child is three years old. We would be waiting for 3-4 years for his front permanent teeth to arrive. 3-4 YEARS IS A LONG TIME TO HAVE NO FRONT TEETH, PEOPLE.
I tweeted about it and received so many super helpful emails about pediatric partials, fake teeth and generalized “Oh girl, I’ve been there” responses. (Thank you, by the way.) When we met with Wito’s dentist, she made the executive decision not to pull the teeth. She explained that, although Wito’s roots had been 100% severed, toddler gums were extremely resilient and could tighten around the tooth and keep it in place indefinitely. It would be an uphill battle for us because Wito was a thumbsucker which couldn’t possibly help with the gums firming up, though. It would be a wait and see situation.
Well, I am happy to report that those (quite loose) teeth held on for 6 months. 6 months of thumb-sucking, 6 months of apple-biting, 6 months of crazed preschooler antics.
Pearly whites intact!
Until yesterday. Yesterday, one tooth tossed up the white flag. The Dangler, as we liked to call it. A quick trip to the dentist, some high-potency topical anesthetic and The Dangler was no longer.
Au Revior, Dangler.
Wito seems to be taking it well. Actually, I am too. What’s three years, really? (Uh, A REALLY LONG TIME, that’s what. Whatevs.)
Luckily for Wito, he had a very special visitor deliver a very special dollar bill while he snoozed last night.
Wito would like you all to know that he hopes to purchase a “toy and a drink” with his “one money.”
Rest in peace, Dangler.
Kristyn
June 10, 2010 at 1:12 pmP.S
I’m so sorry about his little tooth, but being adorable is clearly not going to be a problem for him.
martymankins
June 10, 2010 at 1:44 pmThe toy and should be a Hot Wheels car and a YooHoo. Of course, he may need his mom to kick in “a little extra” :-)
Kelly
June 10, 2010 at 1:49 pmI’m going to guess Marion/Marian.
Rebecca (Bearca)
June 10, 2010 at 1:54 pmHe’s a doll, teeth or no.
.-= Rebecca (Bearca)´s last blog ..I can’t believe I’m posting this =-.
Kristyn
June 10, 2010 at 2:05 pmOh I have more…
Mariska
Mina
Meadow
I think I’ll stop now….it’s just that my MIL is coming over and I am cleaning and a tad bored.
AmeliaMac (Christina)
June 10, 2010 at 2:06 pmI knocked out a front tooth when I was about 18 months old – a little accident involving my sister forgetting to close a screen door, me leaning up against it, it falling open, and me crashing down face first – with my tiny little tooth catching on the door on my way down, and ripping out. I had a mouthful of stitches for a WHILE.
Because my luck is awesome, I was completely without a front tooth until I was about 7 (only 5.5 years, right?)… and then that bastard tooth took THREE YEARS to fully grow in. I have so many damn pictures where I have HALF a front tooth. It was hot, let me tell you.
All that to say, I turned out to be a fairly well-adjusted adult with some perfectly normal teeth – despite the trauma caused by spending 7 years with awful hair and no/half a tooth ;) Wito looks adorable, with or without a front tooth!
mommymae
June 10, 2010 at 2:12 pmwe’re in the throes of a tooth losing debacle in my house. my 8 year old passed out, fell on her face & broke a permanent tooth in february. she got a crown, but the root didn’t heal, so she’s getting a root canal next week. ugh.
little dude looks pretty stinkin’ cute with a missing tooth.
.-= mommymae´s last blog ..that blasted tooth =-.
Erin
June 10, 2010 at 3:43 pmMalone. (Just b/c this is the name that I’m loving right now.) (And going to shorten it to Mally.)
cj4
June 10, 2010 at 3:52 pmI can’t believe he beat his five year old (tomorrow!) cousin to the tooth fairy sweepstakes. She. Will. Not. Be. Happy.
On the bright side, he’s really ready for NASCAR now.
slynnro
June 10, 2010 at 5:14 pmThat’s a nifty tooth fairy money holder ya got there!
.-= slynnro´s last blog ..Welcome to my Bedroom. =-.
Gillian
June 10, 2010 at 6:27 pmPoor Wito!
When I was 2-almost-3 I tripped over a balloon and went face first into a fireplace hearth. I lost both of my front teeth and didn’t get my adult teeth until I was 7.
But I was fine! I was so young I don’t remember the accident at all, and because I was so little I adapted really quickly to having no front teeth. I promise he will be fine!
If I may make a suggestion from personal experience though, we tried the false teeth thing and I vividly remember hating them. I wasn’t allowed to eat anything even remotely chewy, and because I was a clueless 4 year old I took this to mean “eat every jelly bean you can find. And also the fruit stripe gum hiding in your mum’s top drawer.” I had to go to the dentist weekly to have them adjusted and I hate-hate-hated the way fake teeth felt. Mind you, this was in the early 90’s and I’m sure they’ve come a long way since then!
All the best to you and your lovely family!
Rhi
June 10, 2010 at 7:26 pmMy friend’s 1.5 year old got into an altercation with their English Bulldog’s leash and now is also missing a front tooth. Like Wito, he’s a doll, and he makes it work.
CarrieP
June 11, 2010 at 12:29 amMy little guy is going on two years down two front teeth, with no end in sight. (He’ll be six in August; no truth for us about the tooth coming in faster after 4. To be fair, kid didn’t get a single tooth until after he was one, which was a total nursing win.) Wito looks darling, and a gap-toothed smile really is the best. Now, just prepare yourself for when he gets another loose tooth. My son’s tooth accident was a little traumatic (mostly for me; he was pretty zen) and I had a raging case pf PTSD when I felt a wiggle.
And if I never hear an “all I want for Christmas” reference again it will be too soon.
joAnn
June 11, 2010 at 5:52 amGod, is he ever adorable. Even more so with the missing tooth. You sure do make some unbelievably beautiful children!
AJoanna
June 11, 2010 at 6:14 amThis post reminds me of my youngest brother. I think he was about 4 when he fell off a bunk bed. He didn’t lose the tooth then, it just kind of stuck out. We called it his snaggle tooth and the dentist said there was nothing he could really do. He looked really messed up. :P Every time he smiled just a little bit that darned tooth stuck out over his lip, even when you couldn’t see the rest of his teeth. Mercifully, a few months later, he tripped on our front steps and knocked it completely out. (No, our house was not a health risk. He was just really unlucky.) It grew back in about a year later, although unfortunately, it still sticks out a bit.
Hopefully Wito’s will grow in nicely. He is truly adorable.