His Toothache My headache

Micah has bad teeth.

It's been a problem I did not deal with from the start, maybe because I was uncertain and I sat on the issue. Sometimes I forget. Mostly I was just clueless.

Micah's first 2 teeth popped out of his gums at four and a half month. After that they just kept coming out 2 by 2. The first set of molars, 4 of them, came out together. By the time he was one and a half he had all his teeth and signs of tooth decay.

I read a bit of a book about caring for your child's teeth and concluded that it was due to his bad habit of drinking milk from a bottle while sleeping. Of course there is also his love for sweets and chocolates which his grandparents give without any qualms. Yeah, yeah, they just can't help but spoil the grandchildren.

Last month we went to the dentist for the first time because Micah's been crying about a toothache. After the visit I was pretty upset, almost depressed, by that the dentists said: His teeth are beyond repair. We will just have to hang in there for the next 2 years until his permanent teeth come out. Worse case scenario we put him under general anesthetic and pull out all his bad teeth, which totals about 8 - 4 top front and 4 molars. EEK! I almost feel off my chair. Or If I had no self control I would have burst into tears. It sounded almost like a death sentence.

So what is a desperate mom to do? She takes the doc's advice to brush his teeth as often as possible and immediately when he has had a sweet or cookie. Also we had to buy this tooth mousse which cost me RM80! Almost fell off my chair again!

I brooded for a week. Micah's daddy could tell. He'd ask often, "Are you ok?" and knew what I meant when I said, "yeaah... I'm.. ok... *sigh*" Now there is this cloud hanging over my head, a preoccupation at the back of my mind. Brush Micah's Teeth! So I get him to brush when he takes his shower and before bed. And if he has had sweets/ chocolate/ ice-cream, it's almost immediately. Brushing his teeth sometimes is like a battle. Most of the time it's also trying to get him not to mess with the stuff on the counter. Occasionally he would co-operate and it would be a breeze. So Micah has 3 toothbrushes and 4 tubes of toothpaste on use. One set is downstairs in grandma's bathroom - he usually showers there. Another set is in our bathroom and one more in my backpack.

I know.. I know.. There will be better days ahead with better teeth...
Now I am dutifully brushing Max's teeth too...