Man, what a day.
Over a short period of time, the boy’s front teeth had shown signs of rapid decay as a result of what’s known as “bottle mouth.” This is when some kids who are given a bottle at bedtime fall asleep holding hold milk and/or juice with their tongue in the top of their mouth, allowing sugar and bacteria to eat away at the weak enamel on their teeth. While we never gave our little one a bottle of juice at bedtime as he was a nursed baby, it really makes no difference in this situation.
As a result, the boy had to have his top four front teeth extracted today to ensure that things would be okay when his adult teeth grow in. With no front teeth, he’s now going to be looking like 1970s former Philadelphia Flyers captain Bobby Clarke. For such a little guy, that should look pretty cute.
I haven’t asked him to say “horses” or “snakes” yet. That would be just plain mean.
Maybe next week.