Abscess and Two Teeth Extractions

Last Friday Julia shared that she had something on the right side of her gums in her mouth.  I looked at it and there were three small white spots that were raised up.  I called the dentist, but they're not open on Fridays so we had to wait to see him on Monday.  Over the weekend the three white raised spots meshed together to create one large spot.  She wasn't in pain, but it was obvious it wasn't just a cankersore and she needed to go in to the dentist.

I was able to share pictures of her mouth by email and Dr. Kachepa shared that it looked to be an abscess so he would need to do an X-ray and then possibly extract her tooth or a few teeth.

So yesterday (Monday) we went in to see Dr. Kachepa.  Julia had soccer practice at 5pm so we went in at 4pm knowing that it might be possible that she would be missing practice, but still possible for her to go.  Julia wore her soccer cleats and shin guards.  Because it's still COVID, we also wore masks, washed our hands as soon as we entered, had our shoes sprayed, and maintained social distancing of 6 feet.  Well, except when Dr. Kachepa worked on her mouth. :)

After the x-ray, Dr. Kachepa shared that it was an abscess and that it was caused by her baby tooth having decay along with the pressure of the adult tooth pushing down.  In the x-rays you could see the two baby teeth at the bottom and the two adult teeth right on top of both of them.  Because of where the abscess was located it would require taking out two teeth.  He gave us two options:

1 - get an antibiotic and Julia would spend time with the loose teeth and wiggling them a lot each day

2 - get an antibiotic and he could extract the two teeth 

Since #2 would help solve the abscess and it get it down quickly and Julia wouldn't have to wait possibly a few weeks of still having the baby teeth in her mouth, I encouraged her to do that one.  Julia kept shaking her head no and saying she didn't want to do it today.  Dr. Kachepa gave us time to talk and stepped out of the room.  Julia hadn't been mentally prepared for this and did not want to do it that day.  I told her that she is brave - she is strong - and God is with her.  That it wouldn't take much time and we were already there so it'd be nice to go ahead and get it done while we could.

Julia asked if she could do it next week.  I asked how she'd feel about doing it this week if they had an open time and she said that was okay.  But I shared that if they didn't have a time in the next few days that we'd need to go ahead and do it today.  So I checked with Sandy about their calendar and Sandy said they (wink, wink) didn't have room to fit us in the rest of the week because there were too many root canals to do and the times would be much too late.  I went back and shared with Julia.  She didn't want to do it, but I think she'd come to the realization that there wasn't another option.  To help make it easier Sandy brought in a little stuffed animal penguin that had a Christmas hat on its head.  Julia called him Benji and held him through the whole thing.

Dr. Kachepa walked her through each step.  As he prepared the numbing block on the stick, Julia leaned over and mouthed "SAVE ME!"  This made us both giggle.  She did this several times and then smiled.  The first step was to apply the numbing block on the stick on the gums.  It sat there for 4 minutes.  Then Julia asked what was next and I shared that he'd be using a needle to numb her gums. After her experience with her broken fingers she has no interest in needles.  So we talked about how it wasn't going to be the same or hurt near as much as when they numbed her hand because her gums were already pretty numb.  I did share that it might feel like a pinch and it might hurt a little, but then it'd be done.  She was such a trooper!  When he was finished doing the needles, Julia was like, "That was it?"

He gave it a few minutes to take and numb the area.  Julia was still holding my hand and she thought it was so funny as her cheek and gums felt more and more numb.  I don't remember what she said, but I know that we were both giggling and talking.  She kept asking me if I could understand what she was saying (which I could).

She reached out to make sure I'd hold her hand while he extracted the teeth.  Dr. Kachepa removed the first tooth and Julia felt practically nothing because it was already fairly loose.  The second tooth cracked and took more work to get out.  Julia said it hurt, but it was the pressure she was feeling - not the actual pain.  They came out quickly and Julia couldn't believe it was over.  She then had to keep gauze in her mouth and we replaced it a few times.

We went to Walmart and picked up her prescription for the antibiotic.  Julia sat in the cart while Riley and I walked behind pushing her.  We also picked up frozen fruit for smoothies, applesauce, and ice cream so that Julia could have some soft foods to eat.  Took about an hour and then we finally got home!

As the numbing wore off we had expected Julia's mouth to hurt, but she had no pain.  She said it feels weird when she moves her tongue across her teeth and then it just goes into this big whole where the teeth used to be.

She was such a trooper!  The abscess has already begun to decrease and I'm grateful we have such a great dentist!