Maverick's Pirate Tooth

Although it's not something I'm personally proud of, Maverick now has a crown on his back molar.  The dentist called it his "pirate tooth" and so Maverick was happy and proud of that fact.

Maverick is four and has more than double his age in cavities.  This is a hard thing for me to hear because I feel like I am to blame.  Personally, I do not like dental care, and even less so doing it for my children.  Luckily for me, this is one of the things that Derek handles in the evenings.

Even with regular (1 x per day) flossing, Maverick developed several cavities between his back molars.  Apparently, one was severe enough to warrant the use of a crown.  Analyzing his diet, which is still mostly composed of fruit, gives a few hints as to why he is struggling with this.  My children really don't drink sugary drinks or have lots of candy, so I'm easily frustrated when it's suggested I need to change their diets.  It's like the dentist is thinking, "Stop feeding them all that junk and this wouldn't happen!"

Anyways, our pediatric dentist uses laughing gas to help keep children calm during procedures.  Too bad that costs over $100 each time and is not covered by insurance.  For that reason alone, we passed on the laughing gas.  The dentist was hesitant in not using it on somebody this young, but I assured him that as long as Maverick could watch the TV over his head, that he'd be fine.  And he was.  

Told ya so!  

The dentist told Maverick (and me) that he did better than some 15-year-olds.  He really did, and I'm so proud of how brave he was.  The dentist uses very kid-friendly vernacular, saying the numbing shot is "sleepy bubbles" and the numbing cream is "jelly" like peanut butter and jelly.  Honestly, Maverick had no idea that he got a shot, or really anything that they did.  He actually enjoyed the drill in his mouth because the dentist said it sounded like a motorcycle.  Maverick thought that was so cool.  While talking about the experience with all the boys around the dinner table that night, Derek pointed out that Maverick had a shot in his mouth.  Chandler immediately took interest and I told Derek to SHUSH because this was not something I wanted disclosed.  He didn't realize that even though the older three have all had this done, that they had no idea, and I wanted to keep it that way.  

Thankfully while this was going on, Kim and Jett were able to keep Jamison off my hands.  I'm sure that I would have been much more stressed trying to keep a two-year-old out of trouble at the dentist. Two peas in a pod, these boys!