orthodontic ordeal

A few weeks ago, when school was still in session, I received a phone call from the school nurse mid morning. Anytime I see the school's number show up on my caller ID my stomach jumps and my heart drops a little. These days you just never know why the school might be calling. Usually, it means one of my boys isn't feeling well and has gone to the nurse's office but this call was a bit different. When I answered the call the school nurse was on the other end of the line telling me that she had Ashtyn in her office. She said that one of his teeth had fallen out! At first, I wasn't sure why she was calling. Kids teeth fall out all the time at school and they usually just put them in one of those miniature treasure chests and send them back to class. When I asked if I needed to come pick him up for some reason the nurse went on to tell me that the tooth that had fallen out was actually attached to Ashtyn's braces and so was stuck in his mouth hanging by the wire! She said it was pretty uncomfortable for him and suggested we try to get into the orthodontist and have it fixed. I drove to the school, picked Ashtyn up and called the orthodontist's office.

At first, the nurse at the doctor's office suggested that I try to remove the bracket myself. I was a bit leery about it but she made it sound so easy so I decided to give it a whirl! You should have seen the look on Ashtyn's face when I told him I was gonna try to remove the bracket! I don't even know how to describe it! It was a mixture of fear and panic and possibly sheer terror! Ha! I was feeling the exact same way on the inside...believe me. The nurse walked me through the seemingly simple steps of removing a braces bracket but I was not successful...I think much to Ashtyn's relief! Thankfully the orthodontist's office had an open appointment time for us to come in immediately. 

Of course, with something as minor as this, Ashtyn had barely sat down in the dentist's chair when he was getting back up and we were walking out of the office! The bracket snapped right off the wire and we were leaving with a tooth, bracket still attached, tucked neatly inside a miniature treasure chest ready for the tooth fairy. Ash was eager to get back to school but he had missed lunch during our unexpected orthodontic ordeal and so we had to get some food in his belly! McDonald's is always his choice! I don't get to eat with my boys one-on-one often enough. I forget what it is like to have a full length conversation with just ONE of them! No interruptions. No competition. No distractions. Ash can hardly get a word in edgewise when little brother is around so this lunch was especially enjoyable. 

Before he knew it Ash was back at school, minus a tooth, and bragging that he got McDonald's for lunch! I think he earned those bragging rights!