Emergency Trip to the Dentist

Life with a 3 year old has its exciting and unexpected moments. One of Parker's favorite past-times after church (while waiting for Mommy to finish talking to all the people) is to run around in the pews with some of his little friends. Except this past Sunday he tripped and went mouthfirst into the end of the pew. Here's the damage:

A small scrape and nice bruise on the chin.



Some chipped upper teeth.



And two bottom front teeth that have turned and
moved forward from where they are supposed to be.
The bottom gums bled for what seemed like forever!

Fortunately we have an oral surgeon who is a church member. Dr. Peak checked Parker out and said things looked ok, but there could be some hidden damage. So just to make sure Daddy and Mommy checked out some pediatric dentists on our dental plan. We decided to go with TLC Pediatric Dentistry. We tried to get into their Citrus Park office, but they squeezed us in on Tuesday in their south Tampa office (almost to MacDill on Dale Mabry!). We have to say we thought Dr. Sanjuan and his staff are awesome and Parker did great - sat still, listened well, no crying or shying away - he opened right up and pointed out the teeth that hurt and told the dentist how it happened. Ultimately, the report is - no hidden damage. While the teeth won't go back where they were, the gums should heal and tighten back up around where the teeth are now. We have to make sure he eats nothing hard or crunchy for a few weeks until those gums heal and as long as Parker doesn't develop an infection, we should be ok.

On a sidenote, Daddy and Mommy are jealous in how far the dentist's office has come since they were kids. Digital x-rays that pop up immediately on the computer, with no more of those hard plastic bite-wings that hurt so bad.... toys everywhere in the waiting and exam rooms... personal tv's at every dental chair station (Parker watched Cars in the waiting room and SpongeBob in the dentist's chair)....and of course all of the wonderful flavor choices for everything.....