Supernumerary, cont.

After three highly pleasant experiences with Dr. M (who had been highly recommended to me) I figured he was safe enough to introduce to my children.

This is where I have to say that I am not the best mother when it comes to taking my children to the dentist. I have only had one cavity in my life (due to extra crevices in my molars—yes, another weird genetics thing—and the ever calcium stealing event called pregnancy). My father visited the dentist once or twice in his LIFETIME, and never had a cavity. My kids never have cavities.

Also, I don’t push them to floss, and I only enforce tooth brushing once per day. Yeah, I know. Oxymoron—she has issues with teeth, and does not teach adequate dental hygiene. I know. Sometimes I wonder if I am trying to save my children from some of the horrific experiences I went through as a child. The last thing I want is for them to be scared of the dentist, like I am.

But with the wonderful Dr. M, I could rectify this situation!

Also, I wanted to see what could be done for Ant, when he is ready to have falsies. He couldn’t have dental implants until he was in his 20s, but he might decide soon that he wants a retainer with fake teeth, to avoid any awkward situations at school.

Again, J was of the mind that Ant would always be the largest child in class, and therefore exempt from any bully’s advances. It helped to allay the fears, but was not enough to stop me from fretting about it.

At my last cleaning, we discussed bringing in the children. Dr. M understands my fear of dentists, and does not talk down to me. He listens to me, and takes it seriously. He wanted to know more about my children before we set up appointments, and this is where Ant’s lack of teeth came into conversation.

He couldn’t believe that Ant was missing those central incisors, either. I made an off-hand comment about how it was so weird in my mind, with the extra teeth gene running through my blood.

Because Dr. M takes this patient seriously (I am sure he takes all patients seriously, but hey, I am only one patient), he cocked his head to one side, thinking aloud, wondering what kinds of x-rays had been done to search for the missing teeth. You could tell by the look on his face that he was intrigued. He then asked me if we could take a whole series of new x-rays to try to track down those teeth in Ant’s mouth, and I agreed.

That’s one perk of having boys. They love those kinds of things. A chance to see his own jaw and skull and teeth from multiple perspectives? Ant would not miss out on THAT.

We took both boys to the dentist this week. K was in and out. No problem, except that he might have an extra crevice on one molar with a bit of decay, and we can take care of that filling whenever we feel like it.

Sorry, again, kid, for the damn genetics. Sorry, as well, for the fact that your visit was nowhere near as exciting as your brother’s.

Ant’s appointment took over 1 ½ hours. There was the cleaning and exam, of course, but there were x-rays, and more x-rays, and panoramic x-rays, and oh my word! THEY LET HIM HOLD THEM AND LOOK AT THEM! He was in heaven.

“Well, Mom, you were right. You knew all along,” the dental hygienist said to me quietly as she entered the room with the films. I wondered at the fact that she even remembered our conversation, months back. Behind Ant’s shoulder, as he held up the x-rays to the light, I viewed film after film as he studied the x-rays. There were teeth there, hanging out in his upper jaw. You could see the shadowy figures of two perfectly normal central incisors in the film.

They just happened to be hiding out with some others. Teeth that is.

“I am a vampire!” Ant exclaimed.

Bright white against the shadowy teeth were two dagger shaped teeth. They are not canine teeth—they are even more exaggerated than that. They were brighter and more prominent because the double set was working together the over-expose the film. There were other shadowy figures too.

I had the presence of mind to sit down in the chair when I started feeling faint. The teeth nightmares from years past were in progress, running their images through my mind like a movie reel. I sat on my hands so that Ant could not see that they were shaking.

NO, my mind said. NO. Extra teeth belong in the back. In the back, not in the front.

The panoramic film was hard to read, it was so bright with teeth. All of the permanent teeth sitting in the mouth, or already fully developed under the baby teeth. Wisdom teeth. More teeth buds. And, of course, extra teeth where two were supposed to be, in the front.

Oh, so they were in the back too. Great.

“Well, he raised the stakes, huh?” Dr. M told us in the consultation room. “I want to consult with an oral surgeon, and perhaps even an orthodontist. We need a 3D image to ascertain exactly which teeth are in front. We might need to discuss how to draw the right teeth down. Of course, we’ll need to decide what to do with the extras.”

The dentist grinned at Ant, who grinned right back. They were both loving the challenge—the fact that my child is apparently part human, part shark. Ant did inherit J’s mellow nature. The idea of potential surgery and braces (and let’s not forget the dollar signs--ack) rolled off Ant’s back as if he were a duck in water. That’s all cool. That’s something interesting to tell his friends. I think Dr. M might be of the same mind. Plus, only big kids have metal in their mouths, you know.

So, we’ll be off soon, to visit Dr. A, who happens to be an oral surgeon and a MD. Dr. M, who took over his father’s practice, likes Dr. A, who took over his own father’s practice, a lot. He wanted to involve him in all of the fun. Plus he has the best 3D imager in town.