A little while ago Natalie started to complain that her tooth hurt her. We had an upcoming dentist appointment, so we tried to just monitor it and make sure it didn’t get out of hand. Then one morning she comes to me and says she has a bump on her gum. So I act all casual and ask her to show it to me and SWEET MOTHER OF GOD it’s horrible! Like this huge, purplish lump growing out of her gum. So I manage to get her a dentist appointment for the next day.
The following morning I’m at work and I start getting the results by text from Junko: “we need to find pediatric dentist for urgent root canal.” Root Canal?!?! For a 6 year old!?!?! Oh yes, that’s what it will take. Not only that, but it has to be done that day or the next, and the dentist can’t do it because he was on his way to vacation. So I start working the phones and find a new pediatric dentist that can do a root canal and has a slot the next day.
So day three of this adventure finds Natalie sitting in the dentist chair and me sitting on the corner stool trying my best to be supportive. The dentist is a super nice lady who laughs constantly. She takes a quick look and confirms that it’s root canal time. Ha ha! Natalie gets her dose of Nitrous Oxide, and I get to watch my little girl get high for the first time. As it starts to kick in she tells me, “daddy, going to the dentist is SILLY.” Soon after that they give her a needle of novocaine and start with the drilling. If you ever get the chance to watch a root canal, SAY NO! It’s horrible. The dentist drills right up through her tooth and into the gum behind it. When the drill broke through I actually saw the blood come spurting out around the drill. Natalie can see my face the whole time, so I have to keep a big, supportive smile going while the Dentist packs gauze into the hole and pulls out blood and puss. Thankfully the nitrous holds as Natalie is waving her hands in the air like she’s dancing and giving me the double thumbs up.
Before long the tooth is filled and sealed and the job is done. The dentist continues laughing as she tells me that the kind of bacteria that rot teeth will happily eat bone, and this infection is now working it’s way through Natalie’s upper jaw and into her skull. Ha ha! But no fear, a course of antibiotics will knock it out. This sounds great in theory, but as any parent knows, kids won’t take medicine. Like in my mind it’s like the movies where the hero brings the antidote just in the knick of time as the damsel is fainting from the poison coursing through her veins. The hero hands over the antidote as the dramatic music plays and the damsel says “No, it’s yucky, I won’t drink it!” “But, but, it’s the antidote, if you don’t drink it you’ll die.” “No! It’s yucky.” “But it bubble gum, cotton candy, cherry, sugar flavor, you love bubble gum, cotton candy, cherry, sugar.” “No, I don’t like it!” Etc etc etc.
Thankfully Natalie is now a very mature 6 year old so she managed to take her antibiotic for the full 10 days. She didn’t miss a dose. So her skull won’t rot out. Ha ha!