Teeth, teeth, teeth, Titanic!

Last Monday, M and N had their pediatric dentist consultation appointment: results were as stated in my last post: M needs 2 silver caps, N needs 3 fillings (and has 2 more spots to watch).

Tuesday I bought ACT and a hundred little flossers.  They are getting better.

Wednesday they got in on a cancellation to get  the work done.  I was pretty nervous.  You may remember I was no fan of getting my own crown done in January, although I dare say that it was worth it in the end.  I was unsure of how my sweet fella would take it.  And N was just terrified of getting a shot (thanks, Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist) and I nearly had to carry him to the chair because of COURSE he was chosen to go first.

I allowed them to take a "stuffie" with them because I wasn't allowed to stay in the room.  Not sure why they are calling them "stuffies" suddenly because we've never used the term, but N was crying that he had fewer "stuffies" than M this morning and filched some out of a rarely-used toybox to get even.  Now the bunks are covered with mostly meaningless "stuffies" that they've collected from all random places.  Weird.

Twenty minutes later N was literally bouncing into the waiting room, excited to play with his prize - a toy soldier with a plastic bag parachute tied to his head.

M wasn't at all nervous, likely becuase N seemed so happy, and marched back holding onto Koala-ie, the "stuffie" who made the cut due to me nixing the 3 foot long caterpillar.

M was bouncing around when he came out, too, looking nothing like the way I felt minutes after my crown.  Poor buddy actually got a pulpotomy, which is a baby tooth root canal!

The fellas threw their army guys all around the waiting room while I scheduled their next appointments for the end of April because only half the work was done that day.

I gave M a dose of acetaminophen in the van for the ride home, despite him saying he felt fine.  I knew it was coming and wouldn't be able to reach him for the 30 minute drive.  Sure enough, about 15 minutes later, he was whimpering and whining in the back, wondering why his "spiderman" tooth hurt so bad.  (I don't know why it's "spiderman" either, but he keeps calling it that and we aren't allowed to brush or floss it, which I do understand.  I'm sure it's still sensitive.  Don't touch Spiderman Tooth!  Okay, Okay!)

After the local wore off, M was back to his normal bouncing self.  N didn't seem phased at all - they said he didn't get a shot, just the laughing gas.

THEN, the next day, Hubs found N's bottom tooth was loose after dinner!  We were pretty surprised and had to explain the whole thing.

At Friday's playdate, I overheard the boys' friend K saying, "Let me explain the tooth fairy basics!" and proceeded to fill them in.

Then at lunch, less than 24 hours after loose tooth was discovered, N bit into his grilled (soy) cheese sandwich and it fell out on the floor!

K found it and we kept it safe in a baggie to give to the tooth fairy.  Until N swiped it, tried to put it under his pillow, lost it, and we had to search the carpet with a flashlight to find it.  It was small!

TF gave him a golden dollar.

Which he wanted to spend right away - on a cupcake!

So Saturday Hubs took the twins out for a celebratory first tooth losing cupcake.

N chose a peanut butter and jelly cookie.

Whew.

Can't wait to do it all over again!

M and C posing with the "Kings Crown" sticker devotional we do at bedtime. 

M showing off his silver crown.

N showing off his missing tooth.

Oh, did I mention the kids are fascinated with the Titanic?  Yes, the 102 year old ship that went down KILLING over a thousand people!  I'm trying to keep it rated G, but how do you explain this tragedy?  They wanted to watch it on Netflix, and wouldn't you know there are a half dozen shows?  I chose the IMAX one where they explore the wreckage, so there would likely be no recreation of a thousand people drowning.  Oi.

Fillings, Flossing, Caps and Crowns

More dental work for the A family coming up this week...

We now have a pediatric dentist. M's cavities are so bad, they're not even in the cavity category anymore. He's getting two crowns tomorrow- if all goes well and the worse tooth can be preserved. And N is getting 3 fillings.

Dr. B explained this sometimes happens with premie twins - the enamel doesn't completely develop.

Yesterday Hubs said, "I had 4 silver caps as a kid."

Say what!?

I guess that means it's not ALL my fault, then- oral hygiene was not at the top of my priority list for most of 2012.  M is the one who broke his water sac at 35weeks, 3 days, and Hubs' faulty teeth genes are at work in M's mouth.

Still. I feel bad. My crown experience in January was less than awesome and my poor kids are just terrified of  the shots that Brother and Sister Berenstain get when they visit the dentist.

My moms were comforting, though...MIL says that hubs and Aunt L had terrible teeth as children but their permanent teeth were just fine. My mom told me tonight she didn't brush our teeth regularly before age 3 - we've been brushing the twins' teeth (mostly!) since age 1.

Still, I feel bad. I bought ACT and flosses for the kids today in hopes that their summer cleaning nets us zero cavities.

In typical fashion, however, after getting all 3 kids' teeth well brushed and attempting an ACT swishing lesson wherein N swallowed his and C nearly dumped my Crest complete, flosses were forgotten.

Sigh.

I feel like this spring I'm getting an education in motherhood all over again. Now that I'm long past breast feeding, baby food and sleep training, I'm entering a whole new world of big kid parenting, mostly, their medical maintenance!