Tooth Update

Thanks for all your kind words in the comments of the previous post. It meant a lot to me. I really appreciated hearing from all of you, even those of you who are complete strangers to me. Thank you for taking some time out of your busy life to comfort someone you don't even know.

I took Vinny to the dentist yesterday morning. He's a pediatric dentist who was recommended by my (extremely young, fresh out of school) dental hygienist, who went to him when she was growing up.

Anyhow, the dentist took a look at his tooth and told me that it was unlikely that the baby tooth damaged the bud of the permanent tooth growing above it, and if it did, it probably didn't do much damage. The baby tooth could take up to a year to descend back to where it belongs. At this point, we don't know if it's going to die or not, but I'm to bring Vinny back in a month and we'll reevaluate then.

I felt relieved by the visit, but it was a bit traumatic for Vinny. The nurse and I held him down while the dentist checked his tooth and squeezed out some gooey white substance from under his gum. "Is that pus?!?!" I gasped in horror. But he said he didn't think it was, because not enough time had passed for so much pus to form. But just in case, he wrote a prescription for amoxicillin. And Jeff and I are to wipe Vinny's front teeth with a piece of gauze with peroxyl mouthwash solution on it, twice a day. It feels so cruel to do because it makes Vinny weep and beg for us to stop. But it has to be done.

Anyhow, I'm feeling better about the whole thing and Vinny is getting better. He's able to sleep through the night now (unlike the first two nights) and his appetite has returned. The mouth is still tender, though; tonight, he was goofing off and waving his arms around and accidentally bonked himself in the mouth, which clearly hurt a lot. But in time, it will be better.