a pirate tale

Don't be offended, but I was a mom who judged when kids had silver caps on their baby teeth.  I did.  It's okay to have them, but I would always think- they probably don't have a good brushing routine or really, they don't brush their teeth very much at all.  Please forgive me for my judgmental ignorance.  

I was completely distraught when the dentist suggested McKay  might need a "baby root canal".  It was probably one of the first of many situations where I wondered if the dentist was doing something he wanted to do as opposed to something my kid actually needed.  Sadly, there really is no way to tell.  I took McKay to the office and asked the dentist to be as conservative as possible.  He assured me he would, but I walked away knowing that my boy would come out with a silver tooth.  

I was right.

The good news is that McKay was completely thrilled with the results.  There is nothing wrong with a pirate tooth in his eyes.  

After the appointment we stopped at Target to return something.  As the lady at customer service scanned my receipt I noticed McKay's mouth hanging open.  He was desperately trying to get her to notice his new tooth. I mean, it was almost painful to watch him twist and maneuver his mouth, hoping she would catch a glimpse of the new bling and be utterly impressed.  So I had to step in.  I called her attention to his new tooth and she pretended to be interested, although I could tell she was kind of confused as to why we were so happy about a sliver cap.  She was probably judging like I used to.    

No matter to us.  We strolled the aisles of Target and he hung his mouth open  wide, hoping someone- anyone- would notice and maybe even walked up to a few more sales associates to tell them the good news.  I was dying watching him.  It was pretty adorable.  

After this experience I became rigid about our dental hygiene routine.  Rigid!  We were excellent brushers, but flossing is where we lacked big time.  So ever since I found out he had two cavities, one resulting in the pirate tooth, I committed to brushing and flossing every day.  We'll see if I can prevent anymore of these.

But this boy might be a bit disappointed next time he goes to the dentist.  Oh there never was a cuter pirate.  Arrggghhhh!

p.s. I forgot to mention that he did this big procedure all by himself.  I had the girls out in the waiting room and just sent him back.  He was so brave and thankfully had no pre-determined fear.  I asked him how it went and he said that he would moan and they would ask if he was okay.  Then I praised him for not crying and he said, "I did cry mom.  The tears were just hidden by my movie glasses, running down my neck."  Awwww.

p.p.s.  Ellery was still a member of the No Cavity Club, and obviously McKay was not.  This caused some confusion because I had to be positive about how fillings were not a big deal and how mommy has a million of them, but still be proud of Elle for not having cavities.  It was also kind of sad to have one kid kicked out of the club.  He got over it as soon as he heard he might get a silver tooth.  Go figure.