Friday, October 03, 2008

Teeth Wars

Ok, so the dentist cleaned Nate's tooth out again today and was impressed that some of the swelling had gone down. There really is no other choice but to wait and see if the amoxicillin, carrot juice etc will work. She said that since some of the swelling had gone down in the past 24 hours, she was willing to wait and give it a few more days before doing anything drastic like cutting the gum and letting it bleed out (*shivers*).

We stepped up the carrot juice (vitamin A for fighting infection) to 4 + glasses a day and Nate has been such a trooper, drinking it even when he felt like he'd had all he could stand. I love that about Nate; when the going ets tough, he never backs down.

Right now, he still has a knot on his gum and his face is still a bit swollen but he doesn't have much pain. He's practicing his violin right now without a care in the world. He's my HERO!

Nate still has a hole in his tooth where the dentist cleaned out and drilled. She taught me how to change the cotton in it and clean it out. We're doing that every few hours or so. I'm so thankful that I found a Mongolian dentist who is willing to work with Nate and doesn't want to jump into doing something so invasive as pulling the tooth or cutting the gum.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging comments. I really appreciate you all taking the time to pat me on the back. I really have no idea how I'm supposed to treat something like this. I had my first and only cavity so far when I was 17 and it was not bad at all. I know the infection in Nate's mouth needs to be dealt with quickly but I want to give his body a chance to heal first so that he's not traumatized unnecessarily. Any thoughts on this? Am I doing the wrong thing?

We still need to finish this deal so please continue to pray for Nate through Monday. Hopefully (prayerfully) the swelling/infection will be gone and she'll be able to fill the tooth and we'll be DONE.

3 comments:

Twila G. said...

So sorry about Nate. Heidi has had at least one cavity every time we've gone to the dentist for the past two years. She even had to have a kid version of a "root canal". It was horrible. I don't know what the deal is. My kids don't eat alot of candy either and she probably brushes and flosses better than Caleb who has maybe had one cavity. Fortunately, this most recent dentist visit,which Heidi dreaded terribly,turned out to be a celebration when she found out that she was cavity free!! Tell Nate we're praying for him.

mandkhaic said...

Nate is so brave and tell him that he is my hero too.
You are handling this yourself and that is more than a lot of mothers can do. Instead of handing this problem to a dentist, you are taking care of him yourself. I am praying for Nate and the rest of you guys. Love you and give Nate a bear hug in behalf of me( I know he won't accept it if he found it was from me lol)

Marnie said...

Hi Melanie, I'm just checking in to see how Nate is doing and if the infection is gone. I hope that all is well with you and your family.