Shark Teeth Have Me Zig Zagging All Over the City

Two nights ago at dinner, Jada says to me, “Daddy, look at my teeth!” OK, whatever. But sure enough, behind her bottom teeth are poking out the tops of her grown-up teeth. That’s weird. I look it up online after the kids go to bed, and a dentists’ blog (yes, dentists blog, too) calls this “shark’s teeth,” says it’s nothing to worry about, that the grown-up teeth have just decided to take a detour behind the baby teeth instead of pushing them out, that the teeth will turn out OK in the long run, but it’s probably worth having a pro look at it to see if the baby teeth should be removed so that the grown-up teeth will slide back to their proper position.

I called the dentist the next morning while at work to see when I could bring Jada in, and they quickly replied, “How about 1 o’clock today?” Wow, sooner than I thought. I was really hoping for beginning or end of a day, though, so I wouldn’t have to pull Jada from school and then put her back in. But the receptionist said next available wasn’t until August. Today at 1 o’clock it is, then!

I called over to Jada’s school to find out where she’d be right before (having lunch), moved a few things around, and headed over to her school to eat lunch with her and then get us downtown to the dentist’s office. Soon enough, we were numbing her teeth, injecting her with Novocaine, and janking those two little baby teeth out. Even with the roots somewhat intact (normally, those roots get dissolved by the grown-up teeth pushing against them), her teeth were so teeny!

She grunted a few times – once when she was getting shot up, and once each when the dentist pulled her two teeth – but was otherwise more calm than I was, nervous as I was about my baby having this procedure. At first after it was all over, she was a little weirded out by having to clamp down on a bloody piece of gauze, and feeling the general numbness of the area. But soon enough, she was her normal bouncy self as we headed out of the dentist’s office.

I decided to reward her bravery by heading to the nearby Gallery Mall to pick out a toy at Five Below. She soon landed on a Beany Baby, and then we picked out a dinosaur toy for Aaron. Then it was back on the subway and back to Jada’s school. If you’re counting out home, that’s six back-and-forth’s for the day – (1) from University City to Center City for work, dropping off kids at school en route, (2) back to University City to pick up Jada for her dental appointment, (3) to Center City for the dental appointment, (4) back to University City to drop Jada back off at school, (5) back to Center City to go back to work, and (6) back to University City to pick up kids and go home. Whew!

Well, we wore a hole in my subway pass, and we have two fewer baby teeth than when we started. But all is good. And, even with the gap, Jada’s smile is still golden.