Unexpected Trip to the Dentist

For those of you who don't know, Elyse chipped her tooth yesterday. We were out running some errands yesterday at the mall. Elyse was running ahead of me, tripped and landed on the floor, apparently mouth first. There was a lot of blood and when I finally cleared it from her mouth I noticed her right top middle tooth was a bit chipped.

She was so upset! When she tried to comfort herself by sucking her thumb, it seemed to hurt even more so she just continued to cry. In between sobs she was saying "No going home" and "Get Miriam present." We had planned to buy a present for Elyse's friend and she still wanted to go shopping for it, but it didn't seem like Elyse was going to calm down. I decided to head home so she could have a popsicle and watch some TV to calm her down. On the platform waiting for the train, the only thing that calmed her was me singing songs, but by the time we got on the train she started to cry and say "no more singing," so I stopped and just endured the crying.

At home she did calm down, but didn't want to eat anything- including popsicles. She was like that until dinner- going from 10 to 6ish without eating- and then she began to eat which made me so happy.

Today we went to the dentist and I was expecting the worst- in terms of Elyse's reaction to a dentist. My fears were confirmed in the beginning. We walked in and she started to cry and say "No hairdryer." I don't know where she got the idea there would be a hairdryer at the dentist but it scared her. After a short while she calmed down and she began to play with all the toys in the waiting room. It was a great waiting room with a playhouse, books, puzzles, a Foosball table, video games and other random toys.

When it was our turn the dentist was very nice and kid oriented. He gave Elyse a toy to play with while he explained things to me and then he let Elyse hold his tiny mirror and count toy teeth and then her own teeth. It was then time for the real exam and she started shouting about a hairdryer again, but when she noticed the TV on the ceiling, she calmed down again. She was great. She opened her mouth and let the dentist examine her teeth. I was very proud of her.

In the end the dentist saw that her two front teeth were a little loose and she had a cut on her gum in addition to her cut lip and chipped tooth. After hearing all the options and discussing it with the dentist, we are not going to do anything except give her a diet of soft foods for a week, continue to keep it clean, look for infection and then go back in a month. One bonus side effect is that she isn't sucking her thumb as much. I am hoping that continues. I haven't got any pictures yet, but you are sure to see her tooth since it will be in all her pictures until she looses it in about 3 years.