Another Tooth Pulled

After a month of trying to get into our dentist here in ES, we finally got Liliana in for her dental work on Saturday morning.  We knew from the brief check-up that the two molars that were filled before had cavities again.  The fillings had come out.  Also, one of the two front teeth was going to get a crown since the tooth the dentist had built kept chipping because the tooth underneath it was clinging to was too tiny.  To read more about Liliana's teeth from the beginning, check out Liliana's Teeth and Liliana's Dental Surgery.  

We got there around 8am.  Luckily the dentist is only 2 blocks from our house:)  The dentist had hired a different guy to put Liliana to sleep and we were all a little nervous about it.  He does things differently than the first guy we used a while back.  The first time they put her to sleep completely.  It was really traumatic for me because they had to stick a tube down her throat and pump oxygen into her lungs the whole time.  This time the guy gave her a shot and it knocked her out right away.  It was different because it puts you to sleep, but not as deep as the other method and is supposed to have less side effects and she could breath on her own.  They still monitor he heart and everything, which was a relief.  I have to say this way was better because it wasn't traumatic for Liliana and when she woke up it was just like she was waking up from having a nap instead of really freaked out.

We snapped a couple pics for before and after, but it was hard to do.

The bad news is that when she went in to look at the front tooth, it had a huge whole in the back and was unable to be saved.  Also, one of the side teeth she has is super tiny.  The infection was taken out, but it looked really bad, like it's not being taken care of.  We asked if we should just take it out and the dentist agreed because she said it will be really hard to take out later since it's so small.  So the poor baby had 2 teeth pulled and 2 cavities filled.

The tooth on the right got removed.

Eduardo and I were devastated about pulling the front tooth because she is now left with 1 front tooth out of the 4 on top.  It's been bugging her a bit because it's rubbing on her lower lip, but I think it just needs time to adjust in her mouth.  We beat ourselves up for a few minutes in the waiting room and I had a little cry doubting our parenting abilities, wondering what we could have done differently to avoid all this.  After a few minutes, Eduardo reminded me that there's no point in thinking what we could have done.  We have to move and and see what we can do from here.

The dentist told us that Liliana's teeth decay 3 times quicker than anyone else's, adult or child.  She is just blow away at the rate of decay in her mouth.  So that means we need to be even more diligent about taking care of them.  They need to be brushed every time she eats, even snacks.  Especially if it's crackers or cookies she said since that stuff stays in your teeth longer.

So we have been good about it so far I think.  It's not easy because Liliana fights us every step of the way, but we are doing what we have to and as a good friend told me "someday when she is older she will appreciate the lengths you went through to save her teeth."

Daniela and Liliana with her 1 front tooth!  Still beautiful as ever!!

I think she is still detoxing all the anesthesia, medication and infection that was in her little body.  It took a while to stop the bleeding and the holes are still healing.  She threw up a couple times the following hours after the procedure.  I think it was a reaction to everything.  She wakes up at night and tells me not to take her to the dentist...poor baby!  I think she's having nightmares.  And she's also teething her molars!  But she's healing well and getting better.  And I know without a doubt, she will be feeling so much better getting all that infection out of her body.  I think we will see major improvements in her weight gain as well.  We already have.  Hopefully we can avoid any more complications.

We did quickly discuss the option of putting in "baby dentures" in the next year or so.  Eduardo and I discussed it right away and are pretty sure we will be getting that done on those 3 missing teeth.  It won't affect the big teeth coming in and it will look a lot better.  Since she will be like this for another 6 years or so, I think it would be best.  Maynor had the same thing happen to him when he was around 6 years old and he told me how devastating it was to only have 1 front tooth.  Hearing the anguish in his voice alone made me want to get the dentures.  It's not so bad in El Salvador, but honestly in the States people are way more vain and judgmental about appearances and for Liliana's sake I don't want her going through that.  I'll let you know what we decide when that day comes!