One Tough Kid

Jake is starting the whole orthodontic thing. He, unfortunately, inherited my teenie tiny jaw and he really needs to have his teeth taken care. So far he has had all sorts of pictures, x-rays and impressions made, the actual braces won't be put on until January. In the mean time all sorts of groundwork has to be laid.

The spacers for the bands for the expansion bar drove him batty for a week. He was relieved when they came out for the actual bands. The expansion bar, so far, has not been a big deal and he has been very cooperative with the daily adjustment.

Tuesday was a very big day. He had four, yes four, permanent teeth pulled. There is just not enough room for all his teeth and it was determined by the orthodontic team that the premolars had to go. This news did not shock me in the least, I too had the same four teeth pulled and my lower jaw is still overcrowded. I pretty much assumed that the child I refer to as my clone would need the same thing done.

Anyway I picked him up earlier from school and brought him over to his regular dentist. I had dropped off the referral and x-rays last week and they were all set to pull his teeth. Jake was remarkably calm and willing walked to the far reaches of the office. They had me sign a few forms and then shooed me out to the waiting room. An hour later a hygienist poked her head out and announced he was all set and he was really good through out the whole procedure. Jake then ambled on out, his face a wee bit puffy from a combination of the pulling and all the gauze pack inside.

His only complaint was the numbness of his face and the resultant drooling.

That was it. He never said anything about pain. Mind you the complaints about the numbness were overly dramatic and never ending, but there is a bit of a dramatic streak in him.

I let him loll about on the sofa, watching tv until dinner. Mercifully the complaints died down once normal feeling returned and I'm sure the rice pudding he got after dinner helped. I thought he wouldn't want to go to school, but the next morning he was game. He had carefully done his homework before bed and was ready to go Wednesday morning. I was a bit shocked, but hey if he is willing to go to school than off to school he goes.

Man he can be one tough kid.