While we were on vacation in Yosemite, my oldest son (12) was playing in the snow in the courtyard with his best friend while my husband and I and the other boy’s parents were inside the lounge having a drink. He honestly wasn’t doing anything that SEEMED particularly dangerous…all the adults had seen what they were doing and shrugged it off. But just after our beers arrived, the best friend came running in to inform us that my son had broken his teeth. I am sure you can imagine my reaction!
Turns out they were throwing snowballs at each other. My son reached down to get a handful of snow, turned around, and tripped over a rock. He fell and before he could get his hands out to catch himself, he hit a low lamppost dead-on with his front teeth, chipping both of them pretty severely.
I defy any mother to see that and not a) want to weep and b) have visions of dollar signs dance in her head.
Fortunately, though, there was no nerve involvement and within a couple of hours, the pain had abated to the point that we decided to stay through our originally planned vacation (there was some talk about coming home early right after it happened), and the kid even went snowboarding the next day. (We earned the title of “the dental family” as apparently, the story of how he broke his teeth made it all over the mountain by the end of the day.
Yesterday, we went to the dentist, and the x-rays were reassuring. There’s no telling, of course, whether the trauma will ultimately kill the teeth, resulting in the need for a root canal/crown, but there was no visible internal damage. In the afternoon, we went back and the dentist (who squeezed us in at the last minute and stayed late for us) patched him up. And I swear, if I didn’t know…I’d never know!
This is one of those times when I’m exceptionally glad I live in the era of modern dentistry!
As a mother my heart skipped a couple beats for you! I am glad to hear all is well. Have a happy holiday!