Dental Trauma
After a busy day today, we arranged for a sitter to watch the four older
kids while the adults (plus Olivia) went over to JaK's for some quality
steaks. We had just finished our meal, paid our bill, and were
preparing to leave when our sitter called and
explained that Eliana had fallen and cut her lip pretty bad but that
"[she] was eventually able to stop the bleeding." When we arrived home
we discovered Eliana not only had a very fat and battered lip, but a
pretty nasty bump on her forehead, as well as some stomach wrenching
dental trauma - one of her front teeth was pushed up into her gum and
another was pushed inward.
When I saw her, I felt pretty sick to my stomach... not because of the
blood, but because of how much it looked like it had hurt her and the
possibility that she could have sustained permanent damage to her teeth.
She was
in a pretty decent mood by the time we got home, but her lip, gums, and
teeth were very tender to the touch. I called up her dentist and left a
message on the "dental emergency hot-line". An assistant called me back
shortly and suggested that I take a few picture and e-mail them to her.
I did so (see here).
She promised that she would consult with the dentist (who is on vacation)
and that she would call me back.
She called back after about half an hour. She relayed to me the message
that the dentist believes (based on the pictures) that the root of the
injured teeth is probably undamaged and that the teeth will,
over a matter of a few weeks, return to a position very close to
original. If the root is damaged, then the tooth will probably die,
turn yellow or brown, and may have to be removed. Either way, she'll
lose both teeth eventually as they are both baby teeth.
We scheduled a time
next week to take Eliana into the dentist's office and have some x-rays
performed.
|