The Chipped Tooth

My oldest daughter lost a tooth yesterday. It wasn't the first one she lost but it was special. I've been waiting for this tooth to fall out since she was 18 months old. Let me explain! One day she was in her crib and chattering with my husband. Hailey has always had lots to say. He was playing peekaboo with her and she lost her balance and fell forward, hitting her mouth on the crib rail. She cried and we looked her over and realized her front tooth was chipped. Well, at that point, I started crying too. My husband felt terrible but of course it wasn't his fault. Like so many things with kids, it just happened! Now, remember this was my oldest, so I was pretty upset. Three kids later I have the wisdom to realize I should have been thanking my lucky stars there was no blood and no need for a long wait at the ER! Oh the things you learn with time!

Anyway, the tooth was really sharp because of the way it chipped. We had to find a pediatric dentist to file her tooth down a bit so it would be smooth. Hailey wasn't thinking this was so fun so we had to hold her to do it and she was hysterical. It didn't hurt but she was scared. At this point, my husband cried. It's so hard to watch your kids go through anything that makes them uncomfortable. The dentist warned us the tooth might turn black and die depending on the impact (it didn't, phew!). We were glad when we walked out of there! I remember asking my mom how long she would have this chipped front tooth, when do they fall out?! She told me 5 or 6 and I was very upset. That sounded like SO far in the future for her to keep this now damaged tooth. Well, she is 8 and the tooth came out yesterday. How time flies huh?

I look back on it and think about how silly it was for me to be so upset about it. And how it will always be a story to remember. The Tooth Fairy came and gave her a dollar but left the tooth. I told Hailey the Tooth Fairy probably realized just how special this tooth was and wanted her to hold on to it.

All that time I couldn't wait for her to lose this tooth, worried about her being upset when other kids asked her about it......now her second grade school picture will be extra special to me, it will be the last one with "the tooth."