Whew. The week before our school opens is always a whirlwind. There is always a paperwork explosion. But I'm not complaining, at least I ate lunch today. My boss? I know he warmed it up but last I knew it was still sitting on the counter under a fly retardant towel.
I'm still trying to figure out why I thought it necessary to stick a dental appointment in the middle of my week. I went flying out of work with just a few minutes to spare to make it to my 3:20 appointment. A crown. Not my favorite. I'm actually a pro at crowns. I should be, this totals 8 with one replacement.
From my chart, we figured I started going to Dr. Willis in 1987. Dr. Willis said "yep, that was back when I had color in my hair" and I replied, "yep, that was back when I didn't have this color in mine." We chuckled at the reality of our agedness. I've only gone to two dentists in my life and Dr. Willis was certainly the better! Of course, being a man and all he can be on a big of a quest at times. This was evidenced when he decided that we would cut down on the time I would have to spend in the dental office and he crowned three teeth at the same time. Needless to say, it wasn't worth it.
My oldest, Tanner, had a few little "pits" in his baby teeth when he was a young boy. He refused shots. In fact, the assistant I had today was the one who set him into hysterics by insisting that he would be getting a shot or two and he would calm down. Tanner wasn't buying what she was selling. Not a chance. After doing what I could to calm him down and keep him in the chair, Dr. Willis came in and smoothly spoke to him, relieved him and then set to work to fix all the "pits". It took an hour. Tanner trusted this silly dentist but never did like that blonde assistant.
One January night we were in Fall River watching Trevor play basketball. He shot the ball and went up for the rebound. A FR kid came down on his face with his elbow and totally avulsed his front tooth. He turned toward me, sitting in the stands, smiled. No tooth. Gone. I grabbed a towel, rushed out on the court. He said "mom, I can't find my tooth". "Spit into the towel". Paydirt! We hit it. It was there. Long story short, we made an emergency dental appointment with Dr. Willis' partner, Dr. Krant. He put the milk soaked tooth back in its home, secured it and sent us home. This is the same boy who flipped over the handle bars of his two wheel bike at the age of three and had to make an emergency dental visit to Dr. Willis and a subsequent surgery to remove a pound of gravel from his upper lip.
Sawyer's first dental visit was at the young age of five days. Pretty much he grew up in this office, just like his brothers. The older boys had cleanings right after he was born and heaven knows you don't cancel or change a dental appointment. Every six months since their first cleaning, just like clock work.
As I sit here this evening, knowing that when the numbness wears off, there will be dull ache at the point of entry of the shot. Reflecting that when numbness resides after life batters ya, the dull ache sticks around. But as many things in my life, I'm thankful for the years spent in the dentist chair or sitting next to a boy who needed mom support.
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