My Brother, the Toothless Wonder
Have you ever been amazed at how trusting a child is? On Thanksgiving, my cutest, little brother, named Stephen, age two, broke his tooth. It was the front, middle tooth, on the right, so it was really obvious. It broke in 3 places, but none of it fell off. We didn’t know what to do, so we called out dentist. Since we were in Arizona, he told us to leave it alone till we returned. We showed his how to eat on the side, and he was really brave.
When we got home, we called the dentist back. Stephen was to go in early Monday morning. While examining his tooth, the dentist decided that the loose parts, two of the pieces, in the back, must be pulled. He didn’t want to get a shot, so he got absolutely no medicine, while they pulled the pieces. He just sat there, and he let them do anything. It turns out that the nerve had been sticking out, so Stephen shouldn’t have been able to eat or drink without it hurting. I can’t believe that he put up with it so well! Think about it, when a dentist is working on your tooth, you cringe if he gets anywhere near the nerve. Now think about how much it would hurt, if it were sticking out!
Then my dentist gave my mom the option of what to do with the other part of his tooth: put a cap on it or pull it. If he got a cap, if would involve many hours of surgery to get it in, and the dentist didn’t think it was a good idea. So, my mom decided to have the tooth pulled. While it was being pulled, he sat there, next to my mom, and didn’t cry at all. He kept his mouth open and was helpful. As soon as it came out, he cried a little, but I think that’s mostly on account of how much it bled. The dentist was really amazed at how well he had done (he said that usually they don’t try any of this on little kids, but he was really great).
Now, my brother is a toothless wonder. It amazes me that he could be so patient, and that he was willing to submit and do whatever was asked of him. It was a great example to me. I don’t think I could’ve been half as brave as he was. That’s a picture of him, by the way. He looks kind of bad because we've been at the zoo all day and it was 100 degrees, but I still think he's darling!
When we got home, we called the dentist back. Stephen was to go in early Monday morning. While examining his tooth, the dentist decided that the loose parts, two of the pieces, in the back, must be pulled. He didn’t want to get a shot, so he got absolutely no medicine, while they pulled the pieces. He just sat there, and he let them do anything. It turns out that the nerve had been sticking out, so Stephen shouldn’t have been able to eat or drink without it hurting. I can’t believe that he put up with it so well! Think about it, when a dentist is working on your tooth, you cringe if he gets anywhere near the nerve. Now think about how much it would hurt, if it were sticking out!
Then my dentist gave my mom the option of what to do with the other part of his tooth: put a cap on it or pull it. If he got a cap, if would involve many hours of surgery to get it in, and the dentist didn’t think it was a good idea. So, my mom decided to have the tooth pulled. While it was being pulled, he sat there, next to my mom, and didn’t cry at all. He kept his mouth open and was helpful. As soon as it came out, he cried a little, but I think that’s mostly on account of how much it bled. The dentist was really amazed at how well he had done (he said that usually they don’t try any of this on little kids, but he was really great).
Now, my brother is a toothless wonder. It amazes me that he could be so patient, and that he was willing to submit and do whatever was asked of him. It was a great example to me. I don’t think I could’ve been half as brave as he was. That’s a picture of him, by the way. He looks kind of bad because we've been at the zoo all day and it was 100 degrees, but I still think he's darling!
posted by Ashley @ 5:38 PM
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