Since Ella lost one of her top teeth over a year ago and the adult tooth has never grown in, I insisted that she get a panoramic x-ray when she was at the dentist office this summer for her annual checkup. After the orthodontist reviewed her x-ray, he decided that it would be best to have all four of her baby, canine teeth pulled early to help with overcrowding that is already occurring with the arrival of her adult teeth. After scheduling the appointment almost two months ago, the day arrived today for her four teeth to be extracted. Since Ella's school now starts so late at 9:30, I ended up keeping her home since she would have only been in class for less than an hour. After my mom arrived to watch Emmett, we left for her appointment. Ella was both nervous and excited. Luckily, the dentist was running on schedule and we were called back very quickly to the exam room. After the assistant put the numbing cream on Ella's gums, she gave her four very painful shots to numb all of the areas where the teeth would be pulled out. Ella was extremely brave during this process as I watched her toes point with pain over and over again and tears roll down her cheeks. After the dentist came in, she began the difficult process of pulling out Ella's teeth. I was surprised at how difficult it was for me to watch this painful procedure happen to Ella as I sat on a chair a few feet away from her. It was quite the ordeal for the dentist to pull each of her four teeth as she had to administer more shots with every tooth to help dull the pain, on top of loosening each tooth with a tool that looked like an ice pick, and pulling out each tooth with another tool that looked like a wrench. There was lots of tears and lots of blood and Ella was so brave through the entire process. I even shed a few tears from the corner while I watched my little girl suffer so much. In less than an hour, all four teeth had been successfully pulled out. Poor little Ella looked like she had been hit by a truck when she stood up from the exam chair with her puffy eyes and her mouth full of gauze. Needless to say, I quickly took her home so that she could put on her pajamas, crawl into bed, take some pain medicine, and spend the afternoon cuddling her blankets and stuffies while watching NetFlix. After 2.5 hours, the bleeding finally stopped and her mouth was able to be gauze-free and she started to perk up by the evening. I am so proud of how brave and tough Ella was throughout this entire process and hope that she will be back to her energetic and happy self as soon as possible!
The dentist starting to work on pulling out Ella's first of four teeth.
Ella's before picture.
Ella's after picture with multiple missing teeth in the front of her mouth. I'm not sure how this little girl is going to eat for the next few months as she waits for her adult teeth to hopefully grow in!
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